Steve Wilkie

'Dead' Ringers: George A. Romero's Living Legacy

Every generation gets the zombie movie it deserves. When George A. Romero first sunk his teeth into the genre 40 years ago, at the height of the civil rights era, with 1968's Night of the Living Dead, it radically featured an African-American hero (Duane Jones). In 1978's Dawn of the Dead, Romero's lumbering ghouls took a bite out of mindless ''Me Generation'' consumerism by feeding at a shopping mall. And so on. With his latest — and fifth — zombie opus, Diary of the Dead, Romero is lining up the camcording narcissists of the YouTube Generation for the body count. ''All the world is a camera now,'' says Romero. ''Kids today live their entire lives on camera and that's just dangerous.'' Just how dangerous? You'll have to see Diary of the Dead to find out. But in the meantime, feel free to look back at the other zombie flicks that have had the good fortune to be one of the Dead family. — Chris Nashawaty