Is ‘Amusement Park’ George A. Romero’s Creepiest Film?

George A. Romero’s “The Amusement Park” (1974) is the real deal, the kind of horror film that hits hard and not merely because it’s violent.

In fact, by Romero’s standards, it’s fairly tame. The presentation is everything.

Here is a film that barely clocks in at an hour but would easily have been referred to by Malcolm McDowell’s “A Clockwork Orange” character as a “super horror show.” Aside from “Night of the Living Dead” (1968), it remains Romero’s most devastating film.

Incredibly, the film was lost for decades and only resurfaced a few years ago.

“The Amusement Park” begins like a public service announcement because that’s exactly what it is. Made as a short film for the Lutheran Services to raise awareness for their Meal on Wheels program, Romero took the opportunity and ran with it.

Specifically, he made a harsh, nerve-shattering film that begins conventionally, and then becomes a surreal depiction of the struggles the elderly face.

Lincoln Maazel (a Pittsburgh theater actor) stars as an old man in a plain white suit who buys a ticket and enters an amusement park, which initially seems welcoming and merry. Ominous signs (literally and figuratively) give him and us a warning of something uneasy ahead.

The film immerses our protagonist and the viewing audience in a dread-inducing reminder of mortality. It’s also a meditation on how the elderly often lack an advocate, let alone sympathy and support, in a world that moves fast and rushes by them.

The denizens of the amusement park are cruel and monstrous, which initially comes across as darkly humorous but descends into one disheartening encounter after another. Some of Romero’s prior and subsequent work could be referred to satiric or dark comedies but not this one.

RED ALERT! George A. Romero’s long-lost 1973 film THE AMUSEMENT PARK, said to be a terrifying meditation on aging and ageism, has been acquired by @Shudder. Next to Jerry Lewis’ THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED, this has been my most sought-after holy grail of unreleased cinema! pic.twitter.com/fPHMzVdRgt

— Dustin Putman (@DustinPutman) February 25, 2021

Made as a PSA but coming across like an especially punishing episode of “The Twilight Zone,” Romero puts us through the ringer to illuminate how hard, then and now, the world is for those who lose agency, support, health care and compassionate people around them.

Written by Wally Cook and filmed in 1973, “The Amusement Park” was completed, then shelved indefinitely after the Lutheran Services organization was horrified by what Romero delivered.

I like to imagine that first showing being akin to the Baptists getting their first look at what Edward D. Wood Jr. made of “Plan 9 from Outer Space” (1957), which they funded, and he shot in movie turkey infamy.

Of course, whereas “Plan 9 from Outer Space” is delightfully terrible, “The Amusement Park” succeeds by being far more effective than anyone involved could have expected. Imagine a religious foundation giving someone funding to create an anti-drug ad, and the filmmaker returning with “Requiem for a Dream” (2000)!

Romero was 33 years old when he made “The Amusement Park,” which is approximately 54 minutes long and was intended for TV airings, which never occurred. Marking his first collaboration with producer Richard Rubinstein, Romero went on to make “Dawn of the Dead,” “Martin” (both in 1978) and “Creepshow” (1981), among others, with Rubinstein over the ensuing years.

After a reported screening taking place in 2001, a 16mm print was discovered and sent to Romero, reportedly before his passing in 2017, where it was restored and made available to the public in 2021.

There are a lot of reasons to subscribe to the Shudder channel and this is a big one.

Shudder is the only channel that carries “The Amusement Park,” though they also offer subscribers films that are exclusives, as well as hard-to-find and out-of-print titles. It’s truly a shame that Romero wasn’t alive to see the audience and fanbase respond to the restored print that was brought back to the public.

Because of the abbreviated running time, most will view this as a curiosity item and more of an addition to Romero’s body of work than a true entry. That’s not correct.

“The Amusement Park” functions as barbed social commentary (as most of Romero’s works are, particularly the zombie films) and is among the director’s strongest visual and personal statements.

I’m a lifelong fan of “Night of the Living Dead,” adored “Land of the Dead” (2005) and even hold a candle for Romero’s underrated Stephen King adaptation, “The Dark Half” (1993).

Yet, seeing “The Amusement Park” presents the opportunity to familiarize longtime fans with how Romero shaped his best films – movies can be about something and be presented in the genre of horror films while still rattling those brave enough to buy a ticket.

For everyone who knows of Romero but has never been to “The Amusement Park,” it’s time to step up to the red line, buckle yourself in and try to keep your eyes open for the entire ride.

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