You might have heard that way back in 1973, George A. Romero created a film called The Amusement Park at the behest of the Lutheran Society, who wanted to raise awareness about ageism and elder abuse. The end result was a nightmarish allegory about the realities of growing older, staring Lincoln Maazel (Martin) as an elderly man who finds himself disoriented and increasingly isolated as the pains, tragedies, and humiliations of ageing in America are manifested through roller coasters and chaotic crowds.
That film was sadly considered lost for decades. But in 2018, frequent Guillermo del Toro collaborator Daniel Kraus tracked down a print, which was then restored in 4K by IndieCollect in New York. And you won’t have to wait long to watch it, because horror streaming platform Shudder plans to release the film this summer in the UK, Ireland, US, Australia, and New Zealand!
“The moment we heard ‘The Amusement Park’ had been rediscovered and was being restored, we knew we had to bring this unseen George A. Romero masterpiece to Shudder members,” says Craig Engler, general manager of Shudder.
“Though not in the horror genre it is George’s most terrifying film,” notes Suzanne Romero, founder and president of the George A. Romero Foundation. “It has Romero’s unique footprint all over it!”
Words: Samantha McLaren (@themeatispeople)
