The late, great George A Romero is in many ways the father of the modern-day horror movie.

Up until his seminal 1968 Night Of The Living Dead, horror had typically taken place in Victorian drawing rooms and the forests of Transylvania, first with Universal monsters in the 30-40s, and latterly with Hammer Films’ output. Night… certainly wasn’t the first movie to set horror in a realistic, contemporary environment but it very much set the template for the horror movies to come in the 70s.

Romero’s lasting legacy is he brought us the zombie as a shuffling, ravenous commentary on the ills of modern society. Night… still packs a punch today in graphic black and white, not least its nihilistic ending. Its influence is writ large both on horror movie makers and other genres.  (Check out John Carpenter’s classic urban thriller Assault On Precinct 13, for starters…)

Romero himself went on to direct several sequels – somewhat pigeonholing himself in the process. (Which was a a pity as he also made a number of excellent non-zombie horrors – Martin, The Crazies, Monkey Shines – which by comparison all rather fell under the radar).  

Zombies was the UK title for his first sequel Dawn Of The Dead. It has been released in various versions, some of which were censored for gore, and like its predecessor has become one of the most famous of modern horror movies. (Zack Snyder’s remake is surprisingly decent also).

These are both UK quad posters, for a re-release of Night and the original release of Zombies. The tag-line for the latter ‘when there’s no more room in hell…” is a classic one – although the reason for the zombie outbreak is never actually explained in the movie itself!

The quad posters have both sold at auction. The Spanish lobby card above is for sale here.