Horror Master John Carpenter Shades ‘Walking Dead’ Stealing From Romero
Robert Kirkman began The Walking Dead under curiosity of life in the zombie apocalypse after most movies roll credits, but horror icon John Carpenter isn’t impressed with the creator cribbing from George Romero. The Thing and Halloween director believes The Walking Dead has been “milking” its zombie forefathers, and isn’t worth our time
Speaking with Marc Maron on his WTF Podcast, Carpenter laid out in no uncertain terms his disdain for AMC’s flagship hit, and its connection to the 1968 film that began the zombie genre:
[The Walking Dead] was a movie that George Romero made back in 1968. And they have milked that, and they are still milking it.
That said, Romero is exactly right about The Walking Dead milking an idea that gained popularity with Romero decades earlier, but unappreciative of Kirkman’s interest in exploring the genre. After all, the vast majority of zombie fiction has trafficked in similar storytelling, from initial outbreak to temporary resolution, without plumbing the depths of a world struggling to rebuild itself thereafter.
The Walking Dead itself isn’t without missteps, but does Carpenter have a point about Robert Kirkman borrowing too much from undead patriarch George Romero?
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