The Darkest Day Seattle Has Ever Known!

It has been established the George A Romero is the indisputable godfather of the living dead. Recent reports trickling in issue a warning that Friday October 29th will prove to be the darkest day of horror Seattle and the world has ever known, and by darkest I mean brightest. zomBcon is bringing the original patriarch of the modern zombie, George Romero to Seattle for the 25th anniversary of Day of the Dead.

Romero himself will be honored for his body of work in the genre. To showcase the 25th Anniversary of Day of the Dead we've gathered the stars of the movie Terry Alexander (John the chopper pilot), and John Amplas (Ted Fisher) for the biggest red carpet event catered specifically for the living dead.

The story moves from Romero's usual locale of Pennsylvania to Florida where the seemingly last living survivors are forced to band together underground in an abandoned missile facility. A small squad of soldiers oversee the safety of a few scientists racing to try and find a cure before the human race becomes extinct.

Cinematically the film was overshadowed during its July 1985 release of Back to the Future that same month and Dan O'Bannon's Return of the Living Dead less than a month later. At the time Day received criticism for being overly 'dark' or 'preachy' when compared to Romero's take on 70's consumerism in his classic Dawn of the Dead.

Day was meant to be Romero's epic conclusion to his Dead trilogy with a budget of seven million dollars (Night had $114,000 while Dawn had $650,000 for budgets). Romero had stated that he intended it to be his 'Gone with The Wind' of his Series ending when the dead stop rising. The original script had human trained SWAT zombies living underground with a scientific research staff and being pitted against the wild zombies that roam above ground as well a band of rebel civilians within the complex.

Sadly the studio was not impressed and slashed the films' budget by half down to a mere $3.5 million. This massive dent forced Romero to do some heavy rewrites, abandoning several plot points and many supporting characters. Though most of the story's main points remained intact, some of the elements of this original script would not be expanded upon until 20 years later when Romero would return to the screen in Land of the Dead.

Today the film stands as a testament to the Reaganomic politics of the day and hints at the paranoia of war with our nuclear neighbors. Among the gorehounds and horror movie fanatics Day of the Dead doesn't disappoint with some of the most shocking effects ever done by Tom Savini and the Kurtzman, Nicotero and Berger SFX crew.

Join us this weekend to welcome George and the cast of Day of the Dead for its 25^th Anniversary Reunion at zomBcon at Seattle Center. George and the cast will be on hand to discuss the filming, answer your questions, pose for photographs and be signing merchandise on Friday at 12 o’clock at the Exhibition Hall Showcase Stage. We’ll see you at Seattle Center Halloween weekend!