Living Dead is a blanket term for various films and series that all originated with the seminal 1968 zombie movie Night of the Living Dead created by George A. Romero and John A. Russo. Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the undead. ... This article is about the 1968 film directed by George A. Romero. ... George Andrew Romero (born February 4, 1940) is an American director, writer, editor and actor. ... John A. Russo (sometimes credited as Jack Russo or John Russo) is an American screenwriter and film director most commonly associated with the 1968 horror classic Night of the Living Dead. ...

After the film's initial success, the two creators split in disagreement regarding where the series should go and a contract was drawn up. Any future Romero films would lose the "Living" prefix and simply be referred to as Dead movies and Russo, who wanted to branch the series off into literary territory, would retain the rights to "Living Dead" (though fans nevertheless refer to Romero's as Living Dead films). Thus, both series would be considered canon and each would be able to do what they liked with the continuity of the projects.

Romero's Dead series

1. Night of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968)
2. Dawn of the Dead (Romero, 1978)
3. Day of the Dead (Romero, 1985)
4. Land of the Dead (Romero, 2005)
5. Diary of the Dead (Romero, 2007)

Labeled Trilogy of the Dead until Land of the Dead, this is considered by most fans as the one true series. Each film is laden with social commentary on topics ranging from racism to consumerism. The films are not produced as direct follow-ups from one another. The films' only continuation is the epidemic of the living dead, the situation advancing with each film, but with different characters and even moving the time ahead from the last to the time in which they were filmed despite the world's progression being the only interlocking aspect of the series. They are different stories telling how different people react to the same phenomonen ranging from citizens to cops to army officials and back again. There are no real happy endings to the films as each takes places in a world that has gotten worse since the last time we saw it, the number of zombies ever increasing and the fate of the small amount remaining living always in the balance. This article is about the 1968 film directed by George A. Romero. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Day of the Dead (also known as George A. Romeros Day of the Dead) is a horror film by director George A. Romero, and the third of four movies. ... Land of the Dead (also known as George A. Romeros Land of the Dead) is the fourth in George A. Romeros Dead Series started by Night of the Living Dead, which continued with the sequels Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. ... This article is about the George Romero film. ...

Official reports of the fifth film, which premiers on September 8 at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, is that it will not continue the depiction of the progress of the world; instead it will go back to the beginning of events from the first film, but will be nonetheless contemporary as the sequels are. Romero does not consider any of his Dead films sequels since none of the characters or story continue from one film to the next. Only the premise that there are zombies is the same. is the 251st day of the year (252nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Poster for the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival Box office at the Manulife Centre The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), held in Toronto, Canada, is widely considered to be one of the top film festivals in the world. ...

Film critic (and avid Romero defender) Danél Griffin, who writes online for the University of Alaska Southeast, has speculated that Romero's segment of Two Evil Eyes, an anthology film co-directed with Dario Argento, serves as a kind of prequel to the Dead series. The segment, based on Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar", deals with metaphyisical experiments that cause the dead to return to life. Though Griffin admits that Romero probably did not intend the film to be seen as part of the series, he writes that like Romero's official series, the segment "concerns zombies and uses them to represent the rich class’s pathetic attempts to exploit the feeble and then turn on each other as they fight for the bones." Griffin further argues that Romero's segment "might explain the metaphysical events that ruptured the relationship between the living and the dead that would compel the latter rise in the first place."[1] The University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) is a regional university in the University of Alaska System. ... Two Evil Eyes (Italian title Due occhi diabolici) is a 1991 portmanteau horror film written and directed by the Italian Dario Argento and American George A. Romero. ... An anthology, literally a garland or collection of flowers, is a collection of literary works, originally of poems. ... Dario Argento (born September 7, 1940) is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. ... A prequel is a work that portrays events which include the structure, conventions, and/or characters of a previously completed narrative, but occur at an earlier time. ... Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short story writer, playwright, editor, literary critic, essayist and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. ... The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...

Dead series remakes

1. Night of the Living Dead (Savini, 1990)
2. Dawn of the Dead (Snyder, 2004)
3. Day of the Dead (Miner, 2007)

The films that originally made up Romero's trilogy have all have been remade in order, although the remake of Day of the Dead is still in production. However, with the exception of the Savini's Night, these remakes do not follow on from each other and are entirely different films. This is because they were all made by different people and have no real link between. Night of the Living Dead is the 1990 remake of George A. Romeros 1968 classic, Night of the Living Dead. ... Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 horror film reimagining of George A. Romeros 1978 film of the same name. ... Day of the Dead is the 2007 horror film remake of George A. Romeros classic zombie film of the same name, the third in the Living Dead series. ...

The official Night of the Living Dead remake, released in 1990, was produced for two reasons. First, a rival company was planning a remake which Romero did not want to see happen without his involvement. Second, it was seen as an opportunity for a way of the original creators to finally get some money back from the name Night of the Living Dead. The film saw another team-up with Tom Savini and Romero, though not in the same roles, as Savini directed the film based on a script by Romero. Thomas Vincent Savini (born November 3, 1946) is an American actor, stunt man, director and award-winning special effects and makeup artist. ...

The Dawn of the Dead remake also received mixed feelings, with common criticisms such as the altering of the "rules" by having the zombies running rather than the standard slow lumbering. However, reviews were generally favorable, with Romero himself stating that it was "much better" than he had expected, but he considered it an action movie rather than a horror film.

A remake of Day of the Dead is expected to be released in 2007 and directed by Steve Miner. Stephen C. Miner (born June 18, 1951) is an American film and television director. ...

Russo's Living Dead series

• Return of the Living Dead series
  1. Return of the Living Dead (O'Bannon, 1986)
  2. Return of the Living Dead Part II (Wiederhorn, 1988)
  3. Return of the Living Dead 3 (Yuzna, 1993)
  4. Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis (Elkayem, 2005)
  5. Return of the Living Dead: Rave from the Grave (Elkayem, 2005)
• Alternate Night of the Living Dead series
  1. Night of the Living Dead 30th Anniversary Edition (Russo, 1998)
  2. Children of the Living Dead (Russo, 2001)

Russo actually has two separate series that claim the Living Dead name. The first was Return of the Living Dead, which originated as a book written by Russo. It was later adapted to a film by Dan O'Bannon, which spawned its own series of movies, with a total of four sequels. This could be seen more as a spin-off of Night of the Living Dead rather than sequels, as the first movie treats Night of the Living Dead as a movie that was based on real events in Return of the Living Dead's universe. The first two films in this series differ from Romero's Living Dead films in that they are not serious and employ silly humour, as well as using different zombie "rules." Return of the Living Dead is a series of films that was produced between 1985-2005. ... Return of the Living Dead is a series of films that was produced between 1985-2005. ... Return of the Living Dead Part II is a horror film that was released in 1988. ... Return of the Living Dead 3 is an American horror film released in 1993. ... This article is about the 1968 film directed by George A. Romero. ... Children of the Living Dead is a 2001 film, a sequel to Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition, which was a special edition of Night of the Living Dead with added scenes and a new score. ... Dan OBannon (born Daniel Thomas OBannon on September 30, 1946 in St. ...

Then, in 1998, Russo went back to the original Night of the Living Dead to reshoot extra sequences into the film. This version, which was officially named Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition, added a subplot, alternate opening, and new score. Children of the Living Dead was then produced as a direct sequel to Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition, as it followed up on scenes that were newly inserted.

Romero's vs Russo's Zombies

While the 2 kinds are physically the same (you would not really be able to differentiate the look of a Romero vs a Russo), there are notable differences:

• Infection:
  • Romero - It is undetermined how the dead come back to life whether it's viral, chemical or magical(Vodoo). We only know that if bitten, anybody will turn into a Zombie. Infection can therefore spread really fast to pandemic levels and are hard to contain.
  • Russo - The state is induced by a chemical compound; the Trioxin, a chemical compound usually stored in the state of gas. The "Trioxin Zombie" however, cannot poison other people himself unless they have a form of solid Trioxin(Like the remains of a trioxin pill in their mouth). Direct exposure to Trioxin is necessary and it can poison both living people or dead corpses. This makes it easier to contain into a specific area or group of people as exposure to Trioxin is needed.
• Memory:
  • Romero - The Zombies have very limited to no memory of their previous life. But they all remember how to walk, how to use their hands for several tasks like opening doors, holding something or someone. They recognize a lot of objects like cars, houses and other structures and they recognize the doors to enter in them. They also kept the instinct of eating and biting.
  • Russo - The Zombies keep their normal memory, they remember everything from their life.
• Behavior:
  • Romero - They actually seem to be in constant hunger for the living flesh, even if feeding is not necessary since they cannot really digest anything anymore. If no living is present, they tend to wander around randomly, they are not interested in other Zombies most of the time and can fight for living flesh. They are very stupid, compared to a living human.
  • Russo - If the body is still in excellent condition, they really are capable of the same things as normal living humans. Basically, they are like normal humans but with an uncontrollable need to eat brains, which ease the great and constant pain felt from their own decomposition. Depending on their own intelligence, from the previous life, they can actually resist their need for eating brains to the benefit of survival and to elaborate some "brain hunting" tactics. This goes as far as posing as a normal living human like a cop signaling cars to stop on the side or like someone calling friends or people and asking them for help, basically anything to attract and trap new living fresh brains when they get close enough.
• Locomotion:
  • Romero - A zombie cannot really run and has very limited motricity even with no major injury.
  • Russo - A zombie can run if not physically injured and displays quite normal motricity if not too much rotten.
• Locution:
  • Romero - A zombie cannot speak and only makes some basic vocal sounds.
  • Russo - A zombie can speak normally but any conversation will tend to lean towards their attraction to your "Brain", how good it must taste and the need of eating it ASAP. They will also sound like obsessive-compulsive people as they are constantly obsessed by the need of eating brains.
• Termination:
  • Romero - They will keep on "living" unless their brain gets seriously damaged. They will remain unaffected by any other injury, except maybe if injured in a way that affects their body mechanics, like loosing a leg which will obviously affect their locomotion. Once the brain is damaged, one could still become infected by a corpse. So precautions are necessary if wanting to bring them in a lab for testing and research.
  • Russo - A typical Russo Zombie cannot "die" and there is no way to safely stop them unless you burn the entire body or completely destroy it someway. If you separate any body part, it will still stay alive and you end up with 2 living parts. So cut the head and you end up with a living head and a living body wandering around and still trying to catch a living human. The only safe way if wanting to bring them in a lab for testing and research, is to put them into a container like a sealed drum for transportation and then to keep them confined and restrained in the lab for testing. However, If kept for too long in the sealed drum, the decomposition process will generate gases containing traces of poisonous Trioxin, So the drums have to be opened in a sealed lab environment.

This article is about large epidemics. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Return of the Living Dead. ... For other uses, see Gas (disambiguation). ...

Unauthorized sequels/remakes and parodies

There are also some other films that have been released as sequels to various films in Romero's Living Dead series, most likely to ride on the name recognition that Romero's films enjoy. They have been produced because due to various mix-ups with the copyright and ownership of the movies, Romero himself owns only Dawn of the Dead from his four films.

These include:

• Zombi 2 (known as Zombie in USA) (Fulci, 1979) is a film that was already in production when Dawn of the Dead was released, but was renamed to be a sequel upon its release (Dawn of the Dead was titled Zombi in Italy). This movie has a history of official and unofficial sequels itself. See Zombi series.
• Day of the Dead 2: Contagium (Clavell, 2005), while billed as a sequel as Taurus Entertainment holds the original's copyright, it has no actual ties to the original Day of the Dead or the series (although the prologue is set in Pittsburgh, 1968).
• Night of the Living Dead 3D (Broadstreet, 2006) is a remake/reimagining of the original film made in a 3D format. The original's status as public domain made it possible to produce this film without the involvement of either Romero or Russo.

There have also been ultra-low budget parodies such as: This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Zombi series is a series of Italian zombie horror movies. ... Night of the Living Dead 3-D is a 2006 horror film made in 3-D. It is a remake of the 1968 horror classic Night of the Living Dead. ...

• Night of the Living Bread A parody of the original film, where a sattelite crashes to Earth bringing radiation that promptly animates--as opposed to re-animating--all manner of homicidal bread, from buns to biscuits to Communion wafers.

Also, there have been films that pay homage to the genre: Night of the Living Bread (1990) is a short film parody of Night of the Living Dead, directed by Kevin S. OBrien. ... For other uses, see Bread (disambiguation). ... A Swedish-style saffron bun traditionally consumed en masse with Christmas at hand. ... For other uses, see Biscuit (disambiguation). ... The Eucharist is either the Christian sacrament of consecrated bread and wine or the ritual surrounding it. ...

• Shaun of the Dead, a film about an unmotivated slacker who must cope with a zombie uprising, in London, while trying to sort his life out. Features numerous references to not only Romero films, but several other horror/science fiction movies too.

Shaun of the Dead is a zombie-themed romantic comedy (or rom zom com as it dubs itself) or zombie comedy released in 2004. ...

Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane

A newer film, Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane, hit DVD shelves October 2, 2007. It's directed by Scott Thomas, and contains Living Dead in the title so it could be classified as part of the Living Dead series, but does not have any direct correlation to any of the previous films other than zombies or undead. There is also a comic book series called Flight of the Living Dead by Scott Ewen and is currently disputing the rights to the title. The movie and comic contain similar plot lines, but were not created in conjunction to one another. Scott Ewen's Myspace page October 2nd is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 90 days remaining. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Scott Thomas may refer to: Scott Thomas (DA), an American district attorney Scott Thomas (hockey player), an ice hockey player in the NHL Scott Thomas, director of the film Plane Dead and creator of Pacific Entertainment Group Inc. ...

Living Dead books/graphic novels

There have also been a number of publications, both authorized and unauthorized, that have appeared over the years. Some claim to take place in the universe that Romero established in his four Dead films; others don't make this claim but nevertheless follow his "rules" (dead eat living flesh, can only be destroyed if you stop their brain, etc.).

These include:

• Night of the Living Dead (1974) by John A. Russo
• Return of the Living Dead, by John Russo (1977). A stand-alone sequel to Night of the Living Dead, with few similarities to the eventual film of the same name.
• Book of the Dead, parts 1 and 2 (1992). Anthology books meant to take place in Romero's universe; not authorized by Romero himself.
• The Death of Death, issues #1-6 of DC Comic's title Toe Tags (late 2004 to mid 2005). An authorized sequel to the Dead films, scripted by George A. Romero, drawn by Tommy Castillo and Rodney Ramos, with covers by Berni Wrightson. Romero's story is actually based on an unused script for a sequel to his Dead films; the miniseries therefore follows his similar tropes: Extreme gore, social commentary, evolving zombies, and the heroes riding off in the end into an unknown fate.
• The Walking Dead, debuting in 2003 for Image Comics. Created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore. The ongoing adventures of a motely crew of humans struggling in a world overcome by the walking dead. Doesn't take place specifically in Romero's universe, but the established zombie rules are identical, and its creators cite Romero as their foremost influence. In an interview, Kirkman explains: Originally I was going to use the name "Night of the Living Dead" for the sake of recognizability, since I had heard that movie had fallen into public domain. Jim Valentino, then publisher of Image, suggested I just make up my own name, so that I would own the whole thing. I then came up with the title, "The Walking Dead". [2]
• Escape of the Living Dead (2005) Takes place between the events of Night and Dawn, and it explains that the zombie hunters were able to kill most the zombies, but a few had been kept "alive" in a military base for study, but they inevitably escaped and started it all over again.
• The Zombie Survival Guide (2003) by Max Brooks
• World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (2006) by Max Brooks

Return of the Living Dead is a direct sequel to John Russos book, Night of the Living Dead, and was published in 1977. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... This article is about the 1968 film directed by George A. Romero. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... DC Comics is one of the largest American companies in comic book and related media publishing. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Berni Wrightson, born on October 27, 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, is an American artist. ... For other uses of Walking Dead, see Walking Dead (disambiguation). ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image Comics is an American comic book publisher. ... Robert Kirkman is a American comic book writer. ... Tony P. Moore is a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the states fifth Senate district, including constituents in Pitt and Wilson counties. ... The Zombie Survival Guide, published in 2003, is a fictional survival manual that deals with the potentiality of an undead attack. ... World War Z (abbreviated WWZ) is a novel by Max Brooks which chronicles the fictional titular Zombie World War. It is a follow-up to his previous book, The Zombie Survival Guide. ...

Documentaries

• Document of the Dead, directed by Roy Frumkes (1985). A documentary about the making of Romero's Dawn of the Dead, featuring on-the-set interviews with Romero and various cast/crew. A cult-classic in its own right, particularly for Romero fans.
• The Dead Will Walk, directed by Perry Martin (2004). Documentary about the history and making of Dawn of the Dead, includes extensive interviews with George A. Romero, the main actors, memorable zombie actors and others from the filiming team.
• Dream of the Dead: George Romero, directed by Roy Frumkes, released in 2005 on the Independent Film Channel. A 24-minute documentary about the making of Land of the Dead.
• Roadtrip of the Dead, currently filming and with a 2006 release date. Created by filmmakers Justin Ferrari, Shaggy Miller, and Michael Votto. The film is slated to follow the three filmmakers on a ten-day trip from Wisconsin to Pennsylvania to Fort Myers, all the while documenting the sites where Romero's Dead films were shot and how the films have affected these public places. The Wisconsin-based filmmakers intend on visiting Monroeville, Evans City, Fort Myers, and Sanibel Island in late May, 2006.
• Fan of the Dead, filmed in 2003 in Pennsylvania with a 2007 DVD release date in France, Italy and Germany. Created by filmmaker Nicolas Garreau. The film is a 52 minutes road-movie about filming locations of Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead and Night of the Living Dead 1990.