Joseph Pilato dies at age 70

Captain Henry Rhodes, played by Joseph Pilato in George A. Romero's zombie classic "Day Of The Dead" (1985), is one the most iconic figures in all of horror cinema. Pilato as Rhodes is to horror cinema what Sean Connery is to undercover agent films, Sylvester Stallone to boxing films, or Juergen Prochnow to naval war movies: the definitive incarnation of the character he's supposed to be, where the actor becomes synonymous with his role, the one that sets the standard in it's class.

Never before or after has the army-general-gone-mad been portrayed more boldly, Joseph Pilato made it look as if the man was physically burning on the inside. Pilato plays Rhodes, a character driven by fear and despair, full of hatred and impatience, with such grotesque intesity, you're shocked, and break into laughter at the same time.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRWbg8A3rDg

This is not your average gun crazy soldier - this man has serious issues. He feels the ground slipping away beneath his feet, his own redundancy imminent, unable to adjust and cooperate. In the end, when it all falls apart, all that's left for him is to sacrifice himself for his narrow minded cause: "Choke on them!"

Joseph Pilato's screen time in "Day Of The Dead" is one of the (many) outstanding features of the film, a perfect match for George A. Romero's comic strip inspired style of direction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BKJHtobSvE

Joseph Pilato passed away on March 24th 2019 at age 70.
R.I.P.



Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Pilato

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0683334/

https://twitter.com/tedgeoghegan/status/1110250966606065670

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/joseph-pilato-day-of-the-dead-captain-rhodes-dies-at-70

The Amusement Park (1973) - George A. Romero's unreleased film

They're only very few, but those few who have seen it are deeply impressed, if not shocked, by it. Now a group of people is working on bringing "The Amusement Park" to a wider audience.

It's not a zombie film, but a scary one, about aging and society. And from what we can read in the few sources we have it really stirs up your guts - here's what film scholar Tony Williams, Professor and Area Head of Film Studies in the Department of English at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, had to say about it in the (only) "Cinema Spectrum" issue from 1980:

"... it is one of the most radical indictments of American callousness towards the vulnerable members of its society ... What gives THE AMUSEMENT PARK its edge is its keen combination of fantasy and realism in an allegorical condemnation of selfish materialism ... The film is too powerful for American society. It must never be released but kept in obscurity. ..."

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DrrbbYCV4AAScl0.jpg

Nowadays, writer Daniel Kraus, who has worked with Guillermo Del Toro, had a chance to watch the film, and made a couple of ecstatic tweets about it - here's one from Nov. 2018:

"With the exception of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD - maybe - THE AMUSEMENT PARK is Romero’s most overtly horrifying film. Hugely upsetting in form & function."

And here's another one:

"It's hellish."

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Drr_EjoWsAMa-np.jpg

So, in other words, as you may have guessed: everybody needs to see this! And, yes, Daniel Kraus and the George-A.-Romero-foundation are working towards a 4K restoration!

Keep your eyes open for "The Amusement Park" - if we have any news for you we'll post it immediately. See "Sources" section below for more links and some more detail information.

An IMDB page has been created, but it doesn't give much information yet: 
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9270362/

If you want to help getting "The Amusement Park" released to the public, you can make a donation here:
https://www.georgearomerofoundation.org/the-amusement-park/restore-the-amusement-park




Sources:

https://www.georgearomerofoundation.org

https://www.indiewire.com/2018/11/george-romero-the-amusement-park-restoration-1202019725/

https://birthmoviesdeath.com/2018/11/12/what-is-george-a.-romeros-the-amusement-park-actually-about

https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3354783

https://geektyrant.com/news/exciting-details-on-george-a-romeros-unreleased-1973-horror-film-the-amusement-park-which-might-get-actually-released

https://twitter.com/DanielDKraus/status/1061401937499901953/photo/1

https://archive.org/details/CinemaSpectrum01Starbrite

http://sensesofcinema.com/author/tony-williams/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Kraus_(author)

Streaming-Kino: Horror Express (1972) - Cushing, Lee, Savalas

Third part of "Streaming-Kino": Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee und Telly Savalas all in one movie!

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f8/Horrorexpress.jpg

And together with Cushing, Lee und Savalas also Helga Line, Alberto de Mendoza, and Alice Reinheart in this slightly flashy, highly entertaining low-budget monster-shocker.

Streaming-Kino: House On Haunted Hill (1959) - Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart

Zweiter Teil des "Streaming-Kinos": Vincent Price und Carol Ohmart in William Castle's Screamer-Klassiker "House on Haunted Hill" (1959)