Shudder 10: The Amusement Park (1973)
Director: George A. Romero Run Time: 77 min. Rating: NR Release Year: 1973
Starring: Lincoln Maazel, Marion Cook, Michael Gornick, Sarah Kurtz
Country: United States
Language: English
Screening as part of the Shudder 10 Screening Series
Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium horror streaming service, celebrates its 10-year anniversary in 2025. Learn more below.
“The film is far too powerful for American society… It must remain under lock and key never seeing the light of day.”
– Tony Williams, author of The Cinema of George A. Romero: Knight of the Living Dead
About the film:
George Romero’s long lost 1973 film has been rediscovered and restored. Originally commissioned by the Lutheran Society as a movie about poor treatment of the elderly, the film was found too horrific for mainstream audiences, and may have never been released.
An elderly gentleman goes for what he assumes will be an ordinary day at the amusement park, only to find himself in the middle of a hellish nightmare instead. The Amusement Park is a bleak, haunting allegory where the attractions and distractions of an amusement park stand in for the many abuses that the elderly face in society.
About the filmmaker:
A pioneer of zombie horror, George A. Romero helmed the “Living Dead” films, including his groundbreaking debut feature Night of the Living Dead (1968), Dawn of the Dead (1978), and Survival of the Dead (2009), which screened at Toronto and competed for the top prize at Berlin. His other projects include The Crazies (1973), Knightriders (1981), Creepshow (1982), Monkey Shines (1988), Two Evil Eyes (1990) with Dario Argento, and his long lost unreleased 1973 film The Amusement Park. Celebrating his legacy, Romero’s wife founded the George A. Romero Foundation in 2018 to continue championing independent horror filmmaking and preserving and documenting the genre’s history.
About the series:
Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium horror streaming service, will mark its 10-year anniversary and a decade of the best in horror with its most terrifyingly ambitious programming slate to date, special fan events, customized merchandise and more.
Kicking off in April and running through the fall, Shudder’s nationwide screening tour, “Shudder 10 Screening Series,” will feature a curated selection of Shudder films that are making their big screen debut.
The tour will make stops at IFC Center in New York City, Music Box in Chicago, SIFF in Seattle, The Coolidge in Boston, Popcorn Frights Film Festival in Fort Lauderdale, Gateway Film Center in Columbus, Screenland Armor in Kansas City, all Soho House locations and more.
This film restoration premiered at the Film Center on May 28, 2021.
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