Go mad for The Crazies with our must-have George A. Romero merchandise

With another Romero remake on the way, we salute the horror movie legend.

When Quentin Tarantino presented George A. Romero with the Mastermind prize at 2009’s Scream Awards, QT quipped that the A initial stood for “A f***ing genius”. And who are we to argue with the Chin? George A. Romero has become known as the grandfather of the zombie flick, having scared us senseless with the Living Dead movies for years beginning way back in 1968 with the seminal Night of the Living Dead and continuing into this year with the upcoming Survival of the Dead.

And while he’s often used those crusty zombies to have us spilling our popcorn, the New York-born filmmaker has also branched out into other horror genres. In 1977’s Martin, he gave us a new spin on the vampire myth (we’d like to see those Twilight pretty boys take on Martin!), 1973 saw witchcraft given the Romero treatment with Season of the Witch and in the same year he got to grips with biological weapons in The Crazies, which has now earned a remake due to hit cinemas next week.

This re-telling of the Romero classic hasn’t strayed too far from its roots, focussing on one community’s fight to stay sane and alive after a poisonous toxin is released into their small town. As with all remakes, it’s been given a modern gloss that sees the action transfer from Pennsylvania (most of Romero’s work revolves around his favourite city of Pittsburgh) to Iowa, our hero is now a Sheriff (played by Hitman’s Timothy Olyphant) rather than a fireman (as per Will MacMillan’s David) and with less screentime given to the military trying to contain the problem and more to the band of plucky individuals struggling for survival.

On these changes, director Breck Eisner (Sahara) explains. “Scott’s [Kosar, co-writer] initial draft had significantly more military in it,” he recalls. "It was closer to the original movie in that it was told from the point of view of the townsfolk as well as the military itself. We developed this version of the movie more towards the horror, more towards the people in the town. We kept the military in it but we took the movie out of their point of view and told the whole story through David and [his wife] Judy’s eyes.”

The remake also boasts a bigger budget than the original, $270,000 compared to about $20 million, allowing a more epic scope to Romero’s version. “We had military convoys and planes,” says the director. “There was an armada of helicopters that came in and corralled all the people in the town. Every day we had some kind of big stunt. It was nonstop.”

Yet those of us who love the intimacy and credibility of Romero’s low-key approach won’t be disappointed as all involved in this new retelling clearly share QT’s appreciation of the zombie guru. “The thing that makes the original film interesting is George Romero,” says associate producer Brian Frankish. “It has great writing and the concept he came up with is the same concept we’re dealing with here. It’s not women or teenagers in jeopardy. It’s not a terrible monster stalking a small group of people. This is something bigger. It’s terrifying in a much larger sense.”

Good to know that the original isn’t being bashed just ‘cos there’s a new one on the horizon and with George there’s always a remake looming. We’ve already had second helpings of Dawn of the Dead (1978 and 2004) and Day of the Dead (1985 and 2008), three of Night of the Living Dead (1968, 1990 and 2006 in 3D form), and The Crazies makes it four.

So whether you’re an authority on Romero or looking to swot up on the grandfather of the zombie movie, we’ve got some great merchandise to welcome back those Crazies.