Comfort Films 98: The Amusement Park (1975)

“The grotesque has never really affected or frightened me. I guess it’s real-life stuff that frightens me much more.”  (George A. Romero)

In this special bonus horror episode, John and Georgia are pleased to welcome Ryan Carr, artist in residence at the George A. Romero Foundation, to discuss The Amusement Park, a recently rediscovered and restored Romero film that takes a unique and terrifying look at the true horrors that await us all as we age and enter our final years.  Ryan is currently hard at work illustrating a graphic novel adaptation of the film (written by Jeff Whitehead).  We discuss the unfathomably efficient three-day shooting schedule of The Amusement Park; Romero’s editing style, visual storytelling genius, and ability to perfectly balance empathy and cynicism; the challenges of translating a film into a graphic novel; how society’s treatment of the elderly (on both the micro and macro levels) has failed to improve since the time the film was made in the 70s; the amazing lead actor Lincoln Maazel and his unforgettably expressive face, which Ryan has now drawn an uncountable number of times; and we honor George A. Romero and his team from The Latent Image, who took a commission project from Lutheran Services and made it into a vivid, thought-provoking, timeless piece of art and social commentary.  This is truly a ride you don’t want to miss, so queue up and give us a listen!