More zombies than a pub crawl
In 1968, George Romero took a $6,000 budget, a loose notion based on a short story he wrote and zombies — which until then had been limited to references in Haitian voodoo lore — and worked magic. His feature debut, "Night of the Living Dead," moved undead ogres out of foreign myths and into everyday American life. It became a monster hit that continues to influence pop culture today. The filmmaker, who passed away in July at the age of 77, is being honored this Halloween week with a four-part retrospective of his early thrills, kills and chills. The insightfully titled "George A. Romero's Blue-Collar Monsters" runs Friday through Nov. 2. In addition to the new high-definition restoration of "Night of the Living Dead" (the better to see the cadaverous cannibals chomp on genuine intestines from a Pittsburgh butcher shop), the survey includes "The Crazies" (with a madness-infected small town in an epidemic of homicidal rage), "Season of the Witch" (featuring suburban sorcery and Donovan's song of the same name) and a special screening of 1978's allegorical-political shopping mall satire "Dawn of the Dead." Zombies have become the most popular ghouls of the 21st century, but to truly understand them you need to study the classics. (St. Anthony Main, 125 SE. Main St., Mpls. Tickets: $6-$8.50. Call 612-331-7563 or visit mspfilm.org.)
COLIN COVERT
