HSHost says "Welcome to the twenty ninth night of our special Thirty-one Days of Terror Series. It's October 29th and you are chatting live (or undead) at Real Horrorwood! My name is April and I'll be your macabre host for the evening. Joining me in the studio tonight are my spooky producers Mike and Peter, and our gothic typist, Michelle. For the entire month of Shocktober, we'll be presenting the strangest, the weirdest, the scariest of guests, leading up to the most sacred of horrordays, HALLOWEEN! Stars of big and small scream, uh, screen, will be joining us as the sun sets and the night holds reign. If you would like to ask our guest a question this evening, it's very simple. Just type in /ask a space and then your question. If you're using "Excite's VP chat" you need only click the "something to say" icon at the bottom right corner of your screen."

HSHost says "We are all very excited about our special guest this evening, the director of "Night of the Living Dead," "Dawn of the Dead," and "Creepshow," George A. Romero. Welcome to Hollywood Spotlight, George!"

GeorgeRomero says "Hi! Thanks for having me."

HSHost says "Thank you for coming on .. pleasure to talk to you."

guest11325 asks "What do you think makes a good Character and Script?"

GeorgeRomero says "A good character is always slightly unexpected or a character that makes a turn or where you can see the character arc and watch he/she develop .. not obvious .. obviously a good guy or bad guy. I like guys who are understandable and good guys who are flawed. And, the script .. the same values .. not too obvious. And, in the horror genre, it's hard to find topics that'll really be scary for everyone .. get that suspension o f disbelief. Which is why over the years we started with all this tongue in cheek stuff ... Friday the 13th, we all know that's a lot of hooey. It's very hard to find The Exorcist or Jaws that will really get under your skin .. Psycho .. make you afraid to get in the shower. Those ideas are few and far between, rare, so it's put it's tongue in it's cheek and a bit more fun. Not where you come away having a breakdown."

HSHost {action} chuckles"

HSHost says "right."

horror_Jasmine asks "Mr Romero, I first hear of you in Fangoria, and I must say that your work is quite impressive! How did you first learn that the horror genre was your niche?"

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs"

GeorgeRomero says "You sort of get put in a niche. I grew up on EC Comic books and all the old stuff when I was old enough to go to movies myself alone or with buddies. There was a rerelease of the James Whale stuff, Frankenstein, Dracula .. I was weened on that stuff. The film that scared me the most when I was a young guy was Howard Hawke's "The Thing." I loved it. Comic books hooked me from the jump, I've always loved the genre. But, as a filmmaker you get typecast just as much as an actor does, so I'm trapped in a genre that I love, but I'm trapped in it!"

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs"

GeorgeRomero says "If I tried to make money for a Jane Austen movie, I'd get laughed out of the office."

Apollonius asks "Which of the "Living Dead" films was the most problematic?"

GeorgeRomero says "Oh boy, has to be Dawn .. in terms of sheer production problems .. cause we were shooting in a mall and there were a few taverns that didn't close until 2am and the geriatrics came in at 6:30am to do their exercise and so we had to shoot all night and we only had 5 hours to do it. We were also raising hell in this mall, brought the motorcycles in, all the alarms went off. Was pretty nutty, but also the most fun of all of them. We were these bunch of druids that would go into this mall at night .. it was a ball. Very exciting, unique kind of experience .. so it was the most problematic as far as that goes."

Sid asks "How did the Night of the Living dead series start?""

GeorgeRomero says "Well, mine started .."

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs"

GeorgeRomero says "I basically ripped off the idea .. Richard Matheson wrote a book called "I Am Legend" which has been made into a few movies, "Omega Man," and "The Last Man on Earth." He knows about this .. anyway it was about Vampires taking over the Earth .. much more gothic and linear than my stuff. I was trying to come up with a concept about a new society, revolutionary ... in political terms, that's taking over and devouring the old society. And, I thought this is the perfect metaphor for that. It was an angry time in 1968 when we made the first film and we finished and threw it in the trunk, the night King was assasinated. So, it was an angry time .. the riots and such. We were not just trying to make a social political satire, but a rollercoaster ride. We were happy to have it done. But the idea came from a combination of the Richard Matheson book and my vague idea of a social political allegory. I think horror is best when it has some sort of underpining."

CodeBreaker2001 asks "Mr. Romero, I've got a question. What was the most difficult scene to film in any of your movies?"

GeorgeRomero says "Any movie? That's a tough one. Uh ..."

GeorgeRomero {action} clears throat."

GeorgeRomero says "Wow."

GeorgeRomero {action} thinks about it ..."

GeorgeRomero says "Actually, I think it's in Creepshow, the stuff with Ted Danson and the people that are buried in the sand. And, it looks real easy but it's not, if you put someone under the sand really on the beach, you will kill them! when the waves come in they'll drown. We couldn't do that, we had to dig a hole, shore it up, put a sheet around it and a collar around their necks. We had to have these elaborate machines that would make the waves roll in. So, it was the most difficult thing to do .. technically difficult would have been dangerous, but Ted was wearing this collar and could break out at any time .. but if he was really in the sand, he'd be a goner!"

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs"

GeorgeRomero says "He could stand up."

Apollonius asks "Did you plan for "Dawn of the Dead" to be such an epic or did it just evolve?"

GeorgeRomero says "If you look at the script, it's very close to it. I just sort of went off ... actually Dario Argento was responsible for that film getting made. He has a new film now Phantom of the Opera, not the musical ... a really operatic kind of very visual horror director. And, he was a fan of the original film and he was responsible .. came around and said, gee would you like to make a sequel. And, at that time I was thinking of that cause I met the people that owned the shopping mall. I never would have been audacious enough to think we could afford a shopping mall with a little budget. So Dario invited my wife and I to Rome and we went and I wrote the script there. They owned the European territory so they reserved the right to make changes there."

GeorgeRomero says "He also did the music with a group that he works with called Goblin, I used some of it. It was a wonderful collaboration .. he's a great guy and we still hang out when we get the chance. The movie is very much like the script except for little things we added. We had a continuity problem, Roger had a jacket tied around his waist by the sleeves and we shot a scene where the wardrobe girl forgot it. We needed to cover it .. so going from point A to B we'll have him get attacked and he'll lose his jacket. It wound up being a famous scene cause on the spot there was this gag invented where the guy would push a screwdriver into the zombie's ear. It was all done in five minutes .. complete improvisation. A lot of stuff like that."

HSHost says "wow! Amazing."

horror_Jasmine asks "Mr. Romero, what films have you worked with Tom Savini on, and do you have any plans for future projects with him as your special f/x makeup artist?"

GeorgeRomero says "That's who I was just talking about .. the guy who invented the screwdriver thing. I'd love to work with him again, he's a director now and is less interested in doing effects than he is in directing AND acting. He did effects in Dusk til Dawn but he was interested in being the actor, I think he steals the show. He's acted in some films of mine, I think he'd do it if he was available. I'd love for him to do it .. he's a tremendous asset on the set, a great guy. As far as what I did with him, I lost count. Everything from "Martin" to "Monkey Shines." That was the last one he worked on."

Apollonius asks "Did you ever think of making a "Monkey Shines 2"?"

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs"

GeorgeRomero says "No, but it's not a bad idea! I don't know, it wasn't very successful at the box office, so I don't know if anyone would buy the idea. I'd love to do it again although monkeys are ornery and hard to work with .. I even enjoyed that though."

propellerhead asks "The method sounds perfect for a Jackie Chan movie - how about a collaboration?"

GeorgeRomero says "Sure! Tell Jackie to give me a call."

HSHost {action} laughs"

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs"

Saint Storyteller asks "Knightriders is one of my favorite films. What was the inspiration behind that story?"

GeorgeRomero says "Oh boy .. well the inspiration was all the Arthurian myths and legends which I've always loved and read them faithfully. I wanted to do a modern version of that. And, of you know a very idealistic guy who's unremitting in his attitudes about what's right and wrong who creates a kind of camelot that's wonderful for a while and then people start getting selfish and wanna do their own thing. They don't like the way he's running stuff and it falls apart on him. So I was taking the legends of camelot and modernizing them .. and they were having a renaissance there, but they were jousting on motorcycles which was their gimmick to attract crowds. That was it."

Apollonius asks "Have you ever worked with John Carpernter and/or Wes Craven....would you like to?"

GeorgeRomero says "I'd love to. They're both friends of mine. We've all known each other for years .. you run into each other at horrorcons and stuff like that. So, many of us know each other. But, in Wes and John's case, we're pretty good buddies. I didn't meet John at a horrorcon, I met him through Adrienne Barbeau when she did Creepshow. We started to hang out."

HSHost says "Oh cool"

GeorgeRomero says "He was married to her."

propellerhead asks "have you had much of a chance to experiement with the new CGI effects available? Would you change anything in your movies, given the new technology?"

GeorgeRomero says "I don't know if I'd change anything .. I'm working on a project now .. well, to answer the first question, we did a bit in Darkman with the birds. But, I'm doing a video game called Resident Evil that has things that have to be CG, so I'm looking forward to playing around with it." We're also doing a 3D Imax .. which is really great fun .. it's a ghost story that involves movies and some of the movie monsters come to life. So, that's exciting, too, but in 3D! Something I've always wanted to do. Those are the next things I'll do."

HSHost says "Cool! Sounds fun."

propellerhead asks "Have you had any really scary fan experiences? Stalkers?"

GeorgeRomero says "No. Not until this fan."

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs!"

HSHost {action} laughs"

GeorgeRomero says "I don't know, I'm not. I never have. I've gotten letters but mostly from Bible belt types who say you must be Satan!"

GeorgeRomero {action} chuckles"

GeorgeRomero says "But, no real threat there."

HSHost says "Right, just an opinion."

propellerhead asks "Do you get any negative responses from old-timers, religious right, etc?"

GeorgeRomero says "Yeah, well those are the kinds of things I get .. usually polite little notes that people sign and put their address and phone numbers on them. They come right out and call me "Satan" and hope that I'm damned to hell."

GeorgeRomero {action} chuckles"

HSHost {action} lalughs"

Apollonius asks "What happened to Ella?"

GeorgeRomero says "That movie has as it's basis the idea that monkeys are put in homes with para and quadraplegics .. which is a real program called Helping Hands .. real monkeys that are put in homes with handicapped or disabled people. They can get you your lunch, answer the door, turn the tv or music on ... like having a little helper. They're raised on Discovery Island at Disney World and you can adopt them!"

GeorgeRomero says "They want them to get used to living in homes with people. You agree that you'll keep it for two years and give the monkey back. This one girl adopted Ella (real name was Boo) and refused to give her back, sued to keep her ... and wound up with Boo as her own private monkey. Boo had gone through some of the training cause this girl was one of the trainers in the program."

GeorgeRomero says "But, she also had her teeth (Boo) .. monkeys that are put in homes with quadraplegics have to have their teeth extracted cause they can get obstinate sometimes and take a bite out of you! So, this is severe .. a monkey bite is a bad bite. So, all the monkeys in the real program .. and we had several of them doing specific things they were trained to do, but we used Boo for close ups cause she had teeth and we wanted her to look vicious. But, it wound up that she did a lot of things cause she was this wonderful well-trained loved monkey .. and she's still living with Alice .. happily ever after."

GeorgeRomero {action} chuckles"

HSHost says "Aww good."

Sid asks "Where do you usually shoot your films?"

GeorgeRomero says "Everyone of them I made in Pittsburgh. 15 films. In the beginning, I insisted on it. Then, all of a sudden, Pittsburgh became one of the places where all the movies were being shot .. Hoffa, Silence of the Lambs, Three Rivers, ... a lot of them. So, now I can't escape Pittsburgh. I did another film with Dario called "Two Evil Eyes," two separate Edgar Allen Poe stories, he did one and I did. And, I was like man great! We're going to get to go to Rome and shoot a movie, but he came to Pittsburgh! Oh great! I can't get out of this town!"

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs"

HSHost {action} laughs"

propellerhead asks "Whats' the creepiest experience you've had in real life? Any real spine-tinglers?"

GeorgeRomero says "I was mugged once which really scared me and we had a manually controlled elevator in the building. This guy jumped me, he had broken the door .. the glass of the street door and he had a big sliver of that and held it to my throat. That was the scariest thing that ever happened to me. He just wanted my credit cards."

HSHost says "God! Thank God you're okay."

GeorgeRomero says "Yeah."

propellerhead asks "what's next for the series? "Twilight"? "Lunchtime..."? "Mid-afternoon, just before tea-time...." ...of the Dead??"

GeorgeRomero says "It's much harder these days ... in those days there were distributors that were willing to take chances and now the indies are owned by majors .. Disney owns Miramax .. etc.. So, it's a lot harder to do anything that's that edgy cause the execs don't wanna hear about it .. but we're trying to raise some European money and see if we can get a low budget together and do another one .. I'd love to do it."

propellerhead asks "what do you think of the "new wave" of horror flicks coming out today?"

GeorgeRomero says "You know Wes being a friend of mine, I can't jump on it too hard, but I don't like all the deferential humor, I think it detracts. Laugh with it, not at it. I have a little bit of a problem .. I just think that that's what it's about .. about being silly . I love humor and use it .. as I was saying before ... I think people that love the genre, giggle at it. I don't get grossed out, I giggle. So .. But, .. it's .. I don't like the jokes and making fun of it to the point where it makes the experience itself seem .. I don't know, denegrates it somehow."

HSHost says "Yeah. I know what you mean."

Apollonius asks "In the 1980s every other film seemed to be a zombie film, do you think that the genre is now exhausted?"

GeorgeRomero says "No. I think that it's due for a comeback! And, I think the success of things like Resident Evil or House of the Dead or the video games that use zombies are evidence of that. Young audiences today have seen a lot of those movies but only on video, there haven't been any new stuff. And, the Scream movies reinvented Friday the 13th or whatever that genre was .. I think if you could pull off a new zombie film today, it'd be a big hit."

Saint Storyteller asks "All of your films have a great sense of humor. Any hope of a comedy in your future?"

GeorgeRomero says "I'd love to do one, but again it's not the stuff that people wanna hire me to do. Maybe a horror comedy? I don't know. I heard that Miramax optioned a script that's a send off of Scream, I'll call them and say Hey! Do you have a director? I'd love to do one .. a straight comedy. Maybe ..."

HSHost says "Who knows .. maybe soon ..."

Apollonius asks "How about "Millenium party of the dead" and straddle two decades?"

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs!"

GeorgeRomero says "That's fine. Sounds good."

HSHost says "Good one Apollonius!"

propellerhead asks "Why do you think today's movies have lost so much of the "monster" element?"

GeorgeRomero says "I don't think they have. I think the monsters today are all CG and look beautiful and move perfectly ... So, I don't think that they've lost it, I just think they're bigger and more grotesque, the bugs in Starship Troopers or Godzilla, whatever. They're there, but unfortunately not made by people that have any affection for the genre sometimes. I thought Godzilla was a mess, the monster had no character and the humans didn't either. They forgot to make the movie that went along with all these wonderful effects."

Apollonius asks "In Martin, were you consciously trying to undermine the Hammer-esque myths of vampires, or did you just plan it according to budget?"

GeorgeRomero says "No. I was consciously trying to say .. I don't believe Martin is a vampire. I believe he's a disturbed young guy."

HSHost {action} laughs"

GeorgeRomero says "In a sense, yes. I was trying to not dispel the myth, but say in this guy's case, they don't apply. He's not really a vampire, maybe he is and his grandfather believes he is and there's this supposed family curse. I just wanted to tell a story about a kid that believed he was a vampire. A bit of a difference there. I like the idea that the monster is in us .. somewhere in there. That's why I think I prefer all this sort of transformation monsters, that grow out of humans rather than beasts that are spawned in a septic tank. But, I suppose in a way that'd be human waste, too."

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs"

HSHost says "Yeah."

HSHost {action} laughs!"

horror_Jasmine asks "what kind of books do you read, Barker perhaps or Koontz? Would you ever consider a collaboration with Clive Barker in turnin bringing one of his books to the screen?"

GeorgeRomero says "I"d love to. I think his stuff is fabulous. He directs his own stuff often and we've never had any contact. But, I love that sort of relationship. I've had a relationship with Steve King for years. I love working on his stuff. It's a lot easier to adapt a novel, particularly if you know the writer and what he was intending and you're not fighting with each other. All the times I've worked with Steve, I've wanted to bring his stuff to the screen rather than change it and make it mine. I love that kind of relationship .. a working collaboration is always terrific."

propellerhead asks "Have you yet been banned or blacklisted or anything, like Disney?"

GeorgeRomero says "No."

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs"

GeorgeRomero says "Not by anyone HERE. I mean, there are countries .. the Scandinavian countries still have banned my zombie films. There are different scales of different reasons for censorship in different countries. And, some are really down on violence and gore .. they'll do sex ... 90 minutes of 2 people screwing, but they don't like someone taking a bite out of someone's necks. So, different values in all different countries. So, those are the experiences I've had."

Sid asks "Do you feel that your past film budgets have made you work more economically and better or do yoiuwant more effects and lattitude?"

GeorgeRomero says "Both."

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs!"

HSHost says "Yeah,"

HSHost {action} laughs"

GeorgeRomero says "I think you're only free if you're working on very low or huge money. They'll keep writing the checks to Cameron or Spielberg .. you wind up having freedom. Or you're working on a low budget where no one cares, no accounting department or execs feeling like their career's on the line, you're free. I like having to use ingenuity than money. I'm not longing to do a special effects movie if that's hidden somewhere in that question. When I'm pitching ideas, I say hey guys, the real scary stuff doesn't need the big bucks .. things that go bump in the night ... you can scare someone without spending a lot of money. Repulsion is one of the scariest movie experiences I've ever had1"

GeorgeRomero says "And, you can make that film for $5."

HSHost says "Yeah."

HSHost {action} laughs"

Apollonius asks "In Knightriders, was the gender of Morgan LeFey known at the beginning of the film or did it creep up on you and Tom Savini too late? I am of course referring to the moment when Tom gets told..."

GeorgeRomero says "I was very into Arthurian myth. I really .. I had always read all the White stuff, devour the stuff. And, so I mean, I was definitely setting out to do a parallel to the whole story of Arthur, right from the top. It didn't creep up. It was there from the beginning."

TheGreatPumpkin asks "What do you like to do in your free time?"

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs!"

GeorgeRomero says "We have two kids, so our family life is very sort of mundane .. take the kids to school, ballet, baseball and all of that. I like to go see movies, travel and like that .. see new places. But, I love being with the family. Wje don't get that much time to do it. But, we all just love being together, going to Disney or something like that."

HSHost says "Good!"

HobNobGoblin asks "where is your favorite place to travel?"

GeorgeRomero says "That's a tough one.m I love the islands, South Pacific and all that. But, I think my favorite place is probably France. I love the diversity of the country, the food, just love to be there."

HSHost says "Cool."

MrCREEPY asks "Have you ever felt that the film buisness suffers because people become more concerned with the almighty dollar than the craft?"

GeorgeRomero says "Absolutely! I think that's almost a given. There's no question that it's a business, and as I say, there are NO small indie companies anymore that are in it for the sake of the art except in certain European companies. There are some dedicated people who've had enough success that they can go out and make their own movies, The Cohn brothers and John Sailles who get a reputation for doing artistic films. But, at that level, even THAT becomes commercial, they'll go to Woody Allen and say, here's 7, we'll make 9 out of it and get an Oscar. But, even that ... people like Woody are stuck in THAT genre but get to do more personal things."

propellerhead asks "Did you play practical jokes? Scare the hell out of parents/siblings? Or did it all manifest itself in adulthood?"

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs!"

GeorgeRomero says "No, I didn't play practical jokes at home. I had a strict upbringing which is part of my rebellion. I was raised Catholic and went to parochial school which is why priests and nuns appear in my movies a lot and I don't have very much nice to say about them. We lived in the Bronx, didn't have a lot of dough and it was quiet until I went away to go to school. Cut the bonds and went crazy. Studied painting and design for 3 years at Carnegie Mellon and transferred to the drama department and decided that I WAS Orson Welles. I'd actually go around in a cape and do things like that. Then I don't know what happened, I just stopped being crazy. Then I got seriously crazy .. deep in my soul .. as opposed to just wearing capes."

GeorgeRomero {action} chuckles"

HSHost {action} laughs!"

HSHost says "Okay."

CodeBreaker2001 asks "I have a copy of Stephen King's Christine ans saw that he dedicated the novel to you and your wife. If you had the choice, would you have chosen to make the movie instead of the version that Carpenter made?"

GeorgeRomero says "Yes. I REALLY wanted to make that movie. John and I a couple of times have been involved in King projects that didn't work out. John got to make Christine. He actually started on Firestarter, but for some reason the studio scrubbed it but then they came to me and John and I talked but that didn't happen either. I wanted to make Christine, it was dedicated to us and I thought it could be fun. Steve was writing it while we were shooting Creepshow, I thought we were part of it and would have loved to have done it.Just because of his dedication even, but it didn't happen that way."

Apollonius asks "Have you ever considered making film versions of old TV series.... Do you think "Fantasy island" could be improved with the Romero magic?"

GeorgeRomero says "Well, I'd love to do something like that. We were sort of in a way pitching a horror version of Fantasy Island. Never got it off the ground, but not directly. I don't know of any TV series that I was so in love with that I'd like to do a remake of except for the Ernie Kovac show. But, we'd have to go dig him up and see if he's still funny."

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs!"

HSHost {action} laughs!"

Apollonius asks "What do you think of the old black and white Universal horror films... do you think that "Night of the Living Dead" was improved by being in black and white?"

GeorgeRomero says "I think it was improved. When I grew up, there was no such thing as videotape, TV was B&W. In Pittsburgh, everything was on film, so even news was on film. As a result, all major cities had film labs and that's where I learned the medium .. I hung out at a local film lab and learned how to use the tools. I grew up in B&W .. all serious, meaningful things were in B&W! If you trace TV, the "serious" dramas were in B&W and I think it's a holdover from those of us who were working then who think B&W was good. The most realistic blood I've seen is when Marlon Brando gets beat up in On The Waterfront .. News today is very pop .. we watch wars in color."

propellerhead asks "have you run into any problems with the Hollywood types, making your films in Pittsburg?"

GeorgeRomero says "No. As I said, not specifically in terms of shooting in Pittsburgh, when people hire me they assume I'll shoot there. So, no probs that way. But, as far as running into problems with the Hollywod types, if you don't put the Pittsburgh tag on it .. oh yeah! So many execs don't get or understand the horror genre, they're used to being involved with story or plot and when they're in a genre that they don't get or have affection for it gets difficult. They'll say why is that scary?"

GeorgeRomero says "And, I say well I just t hink it is! Let's go on gut here. It's hard to quantify .. like comedy. I think comedy and horror are close, they evoke responses that come from somewhere deep inside you .. whether it's a laugh or a startle .. you're not sure why. It all deals with sort of phobia and really deep rooted kinds of psychological structuring. And, I think that's what makes it so fascinating. It's almost instinctive. Sometimes you don't know. When yhou're making a film, you have no idea really whether this is scary or this is funny."

GeorgeRomero says "You can fall on your face easily if you go off in a certain direction .. may work for you but not for anyone else. The Birds is a good example, some people are really phobic about birds flying over their heads ... and some don't care. So, it's a personal thing."

Sid asks "What are you doing for Halloween?"

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs!"

GeorgeRomero says "We have a tradition .. I don't dress up, Tom Savini does all the dress up stuff .. he comes over here and we feed him candy. we take the kids out for an hour or so in the neighborhood and then we have friends come over, put on a big pot of chili and scary music and try to scare kids when they come around."

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs"

propellerhead asks "Do you think good old-fashioned monster-under-the-bed movies will make a comeback?"

GeorgeRomero says "I sure hope so. It's hard to convince people that you can DO that! There's this Hollywood mentality that we have to compete or have effects or have a star .. all of those things .. it's hard to get past that stuff."

GeorgeRomero says "I really believe that you could do horror very inexpensively. I don't think it has anything to do with the effects, the effects are not the most important parts. The scariest parts in Alien are when you're expecting the alien to show up, not when he does. So, the execs think this is a money shot with the effects, but it's really not."

propellerhead asks "POOF! You're a zombie. The world is your buffet. Who would you eat first, and why? (Or how?)"

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs!!"

GeorgeRomero says "I would eat Ken Starr."

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs!"

HSHost {action} laughs!"

GeorgeRomero says "Once I was sure he was gone .. then I'd look around for something tastier."

HSHost {action} laughs!"

HSHost says "That's great!"

MyztiJae asks "Just wanted to say that I enjoy your films and to keep up the good work :)"

GeorgeRomero says "Thank you. That's very nice."

propellerhead asks "Their idea of scary is showing up at LeDome and learning the hostess has lost their reservation,"

GeorgeRomero says "That's exactly right!!"

HSHost says "He's from L.A., he has to be!"

HSHost {action} laughs"

GeorgeRomero says "Oh, okay."

CodeBreaker2001 asks "Since you are rumored to be currently working on the screenplay, are you using the game and the Wildstorm comic books as resources for info to use in Resident Evil movie?"

GeorgeRomero says "Yeah, the game, mainly. I had the comic books with me for the character names and spellings but it was really the game. I've never beaten it or played it all the way through, my son does, but my assistant played it and beat it and shot the whole thing on video, so I was able to watch it. So, yeah, we're trying to stick as closely as possible .. there's this big marketplace right now .. and they're trying to bring home the bacon to actually shoot the movie. I hope .. it'll really be good and fun .. we're going to try to keep the spirt of the game, too. that dark, unrelenting quality that the game has."

Sid asks "who are some of your favorite alltime directo's?"

GeorgeRomero says "The guy that made me wanna make movies I think .. and this is off the wall is a guy named Michael Pal, the British director .. and the movie that made me wanna make movies is a movie of an Opera called "Tales of Hoffman" that Michael did ... I found the fantasy elements of those films extraordinary. Loved them."

GeorgeRomero says "A lot of people say my work borrows from Hitchcock, but I think if I've stolen .. of COURSE I've stolen, this is a parasitic medium .. but if I'm parasitic of anyone it's Welles, and Michael Pal and Kazan .. those are my guys .. people like that. The James Whale stuff .. I LOVE the old b&w movies, like classic paintings. I have the whole universal collection I think."

I'm always going back and watching it."

HSHost says "We got to interview James Curtis on the show."

GeorgeRomero says "Oh yeah. That stuffis the real McCoy when you look at that stuff it's so beautifully crafted, they were doing it on $100,000 .. to build those sets and have that kind of atmosphere today would cost a fortune."

Apollonius asks "If we all turned up on your doorstep ::shudder::, what would you do to entertain us?"

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs loud!"

GeorgeRomero says "Ha!@"

GeorgeRomero says "I don't know. Watch movies I guess. That's what I would do, I'd say "Hey come on in, have you seen this? I don't know. I'm not wild and crazy, there's nothing going on here, if the Steelers were playing we'd go to a football game, or otherwise watch movies."

HSHost says "Sounds good!"

MyztiJae asks "do you think in the near future more people will want to watch horror movies over other ones?"

GeorgeRomero says "Over other ones, I don't know. But, I think people have always loved horror movies. It seems to come in waves, cause bad or cheap ones come out and the studio doesn't sell them as vigorously. But people will always be there, I think the first stories we told each other as cavemen were horror stories. It's just harder and harder to find stories that are scary or really creepy in your soul."

MrCREEPY asks "Please finish this statement " People would be surprised to know that I….""

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs loud!"

GeorgeRomero says "My God! I don't know ... Finish that ... I don't know? Do crossword puzzles? I guess I'm just ordinary!"

HSHost {action} laughs!"

HSHost says "Yeah, probably. That's good."

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs!"

HeebieJeebies asks "what would you like to do that you haven't done yet?"

GeorgeRomero says "Tarzan. I'd love to make a Tarzan movie. I don't know why?? I have no idea. I was just a big Tarzan fan and would love to do it, I'd be the BEST director of a Tarzan movie! I keep trying to tell eveyrone that and no one listens ..."

GeorgeRomero {action} laughs!"

HSHost says "Keep trying! George, thank you so much for joining us tonight. It was a pleasure to have you on the show!"

GeorgeRomero says "Thank YOU."

HSHost says "And, thanks to all you viewers out there for chatting with us at REAL HOLLYWOOD.COM. Please join us tomorrow night at 7:00pm PST and 10:00pm EST when our guest will be renowned horror actor, Christopher Lee. Good Night, everyone. See you tomorrow! …. Boo!"

HSScreener says "A BIG thank you to propellerhead and appolonius and all the others for such great questions"