The Amusement Park, a psychological horror film directed by George A. Romero and first released in 1975, has been missing for 46 years. There will be a DVD, Blu-ray, and digital media release of the film after a 4K restoration and rerelease by IndieCollect in 2019. In addition to the release on physical media, a plethora of new additional features running more than 100 minutes in length has been created to examine the making of the film from the eyes of people who worked on the long-lost movie, their families, and veterans of the business. The Lutheran Society financed the production of The Amusement Park because they wanted to create a documentary that would raise awareness about the challenges of ageing in America.
Lincoln Maazel plays an old man who gets disoriented after being beaten up, robbed, neglected, and humiliated in the film’s namesake park. He starts to understand the widespread maltreatment that people his age face on a daily basis as they try to go about their lives. The park’s thrill coasters and unruly crowds are metaphors for how society’s elders are often overlooked. After the popularity of Night of the Living Dead and The Crazies, among others, this film was a showcase for Romero’s unique aesthetic and is often cited as one of his most inventive works. The Amusement Park, written by Walton Cook and directed by Romero, premiered at the American Film Festival in New York in 1975 and has since been shelved and thought to be lost.
However, a print of the film was discovered in 2017 and has been preserved for a potential IndieCollect restoration in the future. Soon after the 4K version’s debut in October 2019, the film was bought up by Shudder, making it available to a far wider audience. Making the extras was an accomplishment in and of itself, given the film’s age. The team behind the home release went all out to get anyone who was in or around the film on board, including featurettes and commentary from assistant cameraman Michael Gornick, president and founder of the George A. Romero foundation Suzanne Desrocher-Romero, and wife of the late director of photography Greg Hinzman, Bonnie Hinzman.
Horror icon Greg Nicotero, IndieCollect president Sandra Schulberg, and author Daniel Krauss all appear in the bonus features to provide analysis of the film and reflect on Romero’s legacy. In the not-too-distant future, the Amusement Park will arrive in living rooms throughout the globe.
Additional Bonus:
An Audio Commentary by Michael Gornick
Suzanne Desrocher-Romero and the Reopening of the “Park”
Bonnie Hinzman’s Fantastic Adventure in “Bill & Bonnie”
Samuel Zimmerman of Shudder hosts a panel discussion about the work of artist Ryan Carr, featuring Sandra Schulberg, Greg Nicotero, Daniel Kraus, and Suzanne Desrocher-Romero.
Download the OFFICIAL Brochure for THE AMUSEMENT PARK
Images from the set of THE AMUSEMENT PARK, based on the script