The Amusement Park: Shudder acquires George A. Romero’s long lost film

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Two years have passed since George A. Romero's widow Suzanne Desrocher-Romero revealed that she, with the George A. Romero Foundation, was working to get the long lost film The Amusement Park out into the world. Shelved since it was made in 1973, The Amusement Park has been restored in 4K and there have been some screenings of it, but many Romero fans are still waiting for their chance to see the film. Now we finally have some wide release distribution news to share: The Amusement Park has been acquired by the Shudder streaming service and will be released through Shudder in North America, the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. It will make its streaming debut sometime this summer.

Romero was hired to make The Amusement Park by the Lutheran Society, and it was meant to be a TV PSA on elder abuse. When the Lutheran Society saw how strange and disturbing the finished product was, they decided they didn't want to show it on TV after all.

Lincoln Maazel of Romero's Martin stars in The Amusement Park as 

an elderly man who finds himself disoriented and increasingly isolated as the pains, tragedies, and humiliations of aging in America are illustrated by his journey among roller coasters and chaotic crowds.

The film is seen as an allegory about the nightmarish realities of growing older and as a snapshot of the filmmaker's early artistic capacity and style.

Shudder's Craig Engler said, 

The moment we heard The Amusement Park had been rediscovered and was being restored, we knew we had to bring this unseen George A. Romero masterpiece to Shudder members."

Desrocher-Romero added, 

We at the G.A.R.F are thrilled that after this long journey, this Lutheran’s society’s industrial with its poignant message will finally get its light! The first and only work-for-hire in Romero’s career sheds a new perspective on an ongoing issue of ageism and Romero’s uncanny sense of reflection on society, and the Romero ‘footprint’ is ever present and bodes well for the future of his impact on American cinema."

Romero is one of my favorite filmmakers, so I can't wait to check out The Amusement Park.