Night of the Living Dead Event

Thanks to AFI Dallas and Texas Frightmare Weekend, I was invited to join them for a special screening of George A. Romero's 1968 classic film, Night of the Living Dead. Attending the event would be:

Members of the original cast: Judith O'Dea (Barbara), Russ Streiner (Johnny), Bill Heinzman (cemetary zombie), Marilyn Eastman (Helen Cooper/Bug Eating zombie), Kyra Schon (Karen Cooper aka the little girl who eats her dad and kills her mom), George Kosana (Sheriff McClelland)

John Russo, the writer, and the man himself, George A. Romero would also be attending.

If that wasn't enough, also attending would be Dee Wallace Stone (E.T., Critters, the Howling), Scott Reinger (Dawn of the Dead), Eugene Clark (Land of the Dead), Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead), Tom Savini (Dawn of the Dead, Planet Terror), Michelle Morgan (Diary of the Dead), Shawn Robers (Diary of the Dead, Land of the Dead), and several others.

Hosting the event alongside AFI Dallas and Texas Frightmare weekend would be...

Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange, Rob Zombie's Halloween, Heroes, to name a few)!!!!

The event was in true Hollywood style. A red carpet was set up outside the theater and the guests were ushered out of Escalades and escoreted onto the red carpet. Paparazzi was all around, along with local news affiliates trying to get interviews. Jeff and I made our way inside the theater and grabbed seats before I rushed outside to take some pictures with the paparazzi.

People were already getting into the zombie spirit. Several of them showed up in full zombie costume.

As I walked up, Dee Wallace Stone was just finishing an interview.

She's the one farthest down, next to the lady with the red scarf.

This was my first red carpet event and I was nervous to get up close and get in the way of the paparazzi.

Tom Savini.Ken Foree.

As you can see, the paparazzi are all over the place.

Then I got a little more courage and pushed my way to the other side of the crowd to get some better shots.

Honestly, I could not remember who this was. He looked so familiar. I think he's Scott Reiniger, but I'm not 100% sure.

In this picture, he was telling this really funny story about when he is cut in half in Dawn of the Dead. They had such a small budget, they had to get creative with the effects. So for his guts, they used pig guts. They weren't fresh pig guts either. They were rancid. He was talking about how the putrid pig guts were all over him, and then he had zombies all over him as well, and everyone just couldn't stand the smell. It was a very funny story.

This debonair looking gentleman is Eugene Clark from Land of the Dead. He was so cute, he was the only one, other than Michelle Morgan, who posed for the camera.

Don't recognize him? This will help.

Quite the difference, huh?

Here is Michelle Morgan from Diary of the Dead. In my opinion, she was one of the only ones in that movie who knew how to act.

Blogger is messing around with me. It shows that she's sideways, but on in my photobucket, she's right-side up. Oh well. Tilt your heads.

And Shawn Roberts from Diary of the Dead.

Original Night of the Living Dead cast member George Kosana.


Original cast member Judith O'Dea.

She was so cute and expressive, I got another picture. I really like this one.

Then it was time for the host, Malcolm McDowell.

And we all knew what that meant. That the man himself was coming next.

After Romero came out and entertained the crowd, we all shuffled in. The film was introduced by the President of AFI Dallas, and he informed us that not only would we be watching the film with the cast, but we would be watching one of the original copies of the film. Complete with scratches and reel changes. What an experience! The audience is composed completely of die hard zombie fans, laughing at all the funny lines, applauding every time a famous line is said and every time someone dies or a zombie shows up on screen. Such energy!

After the film, the cast filed onstage for a Q&A led by Malcolm McDowell.

During the Q&A, Romero talked very candidly about losing the copyrights to the film. He was visibly upset about it, as can be expected, but it was touching to see such a human side of him. Especially after he spent most of the night as Romero the Entertainer.

The evening was one to remember, an experience of a lifetime. Unfortunately, I was unable to get any picture with anyone, or talk to anyone personally. That was all going down at the after party that I was invited to but was unable to attend. If I had the time off to burn, I would have taken the following day off and partied my little heart out, but I did not.

Lucky for you, the tour is going around the country. Look it up and see if it's coming to a city near you!