2020-03-01

The Amusement Park (1973) - restoration finished!

It's finished! George A. Romero's unseen film "The Amusement Park" from 1973 has been restored in 4k, and the restoration premiered at the New York Museum of Modern Art!

This is great news for fans of Romero, and fans of modern US cinema in general. In a review for Consequence of Sound, Matt Prigge wrote that "The Amusement Park" in a certain sense is "...the scariest film Romero ever made". From "Night of the Living Dead" we know where Romero gets his most effective scares from: the individual psyche in a social environment, and the very personal horror of failing to create healthy communication between the two. With "The Amusement Park" set to portray the problems of the elderly in society, and the film being so shocking to initial viewers it was put away, we probably can make a rough guess where this is going...

Internet Movie Database has updated the film's page with a movie poster:


Currently, there seem to be no plans for distribution, "The Amusement Park" will probably only shown on particular occasions, like the aforementioned premiere at the MoMA during the annual "To Save and Project" festival, or similar events.

Sources:
https://www.georgearomerofoundation.org/restore
https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/6235
https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3584647/long-lost-george-romero-film-amusement-park-will-premiere-pittsburgh-october/
https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/01/film-review-the-amusement-park/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/08/movies/moma-film-festival.html
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9270362/