George A. Romero’s Lost Film ‘The Amusement Park’ is Coming to Shudder
With every great filmmaker, there is a plethora of unreleased and unfinished works, often from their days as a work-for-hire director. It seems that master of the zombie genre, George A. Romero, is no exception. Two years ago, Suzanne Desrocher-Romero, the filmmaker’s widow, announced that Romero’s 1973 shelved project The Amusement Park had been rediscovered and that a 4K restoration was in the works. Shudder have just announced that they have acquired the rights for The Amusement Park and say it will be streaming on their platform sometime this year. This will be the first time the film has ever been seen by audiences.
Commissioned by the Lutheran Society and starring Lincoln Maazel, The Amusement Park is an allegorical tale about the horrors of ageing and elder abuse in modern America. An elderly man finds himself disoriented and isolated in a world of rollercoasters and bustling crowds. The finished product was deemed too disturbing for the Lutheran Society, so they decided not to air it, and to just let it gather dust.
Shudder’s General Manager Craig Engler said, “The moment we heard The Amusement Park had been rediscovered and was being restored, we knew we had to bring this unseen George A. Romero masterpiece to Shudder members… We’re beyond thrilled to work with Yellow Veil Pictures, Suzanne, and the George A. Romero Foundation to give this important film the wide release it deserves.”
Lost for 46 years, it’s safe to say that The Amusement Park has a lot of expectations to live up to, and we’re sure it will be a fascinating look into the early artistic vision of one of horror’s greatest icons.