By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The worldwide rights to the recently discovered movie have been picked up by genre sales outfit Yellow Veil Pictures.
The George A. Romero Foundation restored THE AMUSEMENT PARK 46 years after its completion, with Suzanne Romero overseeing the process and New York’s IndieCollect company handling the 4K restoration. As Yellow Veil describes, “THE AMUSEMENT PARK is an alluring snapshot of the filmmaker’s early artistic capacity and style, and would go on to inform his ensuing filmography. The film was originally commissioned by the Lutheran Society to raise awareness about ageism and elder abuse. Romero, however, conceived of what was perhaps his wildest, most imaginative movie, an allegory about the nightmarish realities of growing older. THE AMUSEMENT PARK stars MARTIN’s Lincoln Maazel as an elderly man who finds himself disoriented and increasingly isolated as the pains, tragedies, and humiliations of aging in America manifested through roller coasters and chaotic crowds.”
Yellow Veil co-founder Justin Timms says, “We couldn’t be more excited to team up with the George A. Romero Foundation to bring this horrifying lost film to audiences. George’s work here, as always, is an unnerving criticism of American society, this time embodied through a relentless amusement park.” Adds Suzanne Romero, “Though not in the horror genre, it is George’s most terrifying film. It has Romero’s unique footprint all over it!”
This writer caught a special screening of THE AMUSEMENT PARK at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art earlier this year, and it does indeed contain many of Romero’s familiar touches and concerns, to overwhelmingly emotional effect. Keep your eyes here for further updates on the movie’s release.
