A lighter, darker side of George Romero in 'Moonshadows'

George Romero grew up on E.C. Comics, and the influences of those horror comics is evident throughout his work, most notably Creepshow, which is presented as an anthology of tales within a comic book. A certain gleeful ghoulishness underlies much of Romero's filmography, suggesting if nothing else, he always remained a kid at heart who giggled at the grossout.

In the 90s and early 2000s, Romero attempted but failed to make horror movies for children, hoping to broaden his appeal beyond the ultra-gory. Despite a few attempts - most notably Goosebumps and (I would argue) The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon - he was unable to make that leap.

Goosebumps understandably has received the most coverage as far as aborted Romero projects for children goes, and indeed, with its critiques of capitalism and living dead threat, it's easy to see why. However, I want to talk about Moonshadows, a fantasy horror script he wrote multiple drafts for, and unlike Goosebumps, it's an original story, not an adaptation of someone else's book.

When Romero portrayed a real-life monster in 'The Assassination'

Before I Wake was the unproduced George Romero script I was most interested in reading when I visited the George A. Romero Archival Collection in October 2024 (click here for more about that), but I read two other scripts, including The Assassination.

Like Before I Wake, The Assassination also came close to production before falling apart. In fact, it actually got as far as casting. Ed Harris and James Coburn had signed on for prominent roles, pop singer Ricky Martin was in talks for a part, and Anthony Quinn was set to play the story's central figure, Rafael Trujillo, the longtime dictator of the Dominican Republic.

Unlike Before I Wake, it's easy to figure out why The Assassination wasn't filmed: Anthony Quinn died. Around the time the film was to begin shooting, the 86-year-old Quinn passed away of respiratory failure, and he was pretty much irreplaceable to the project. 

Hollywood lays Romero to rest with 'Before I Wake'

George Romero was incredibly prolific in the 1970s and '80s, but in the '90s, he hit a rut. Despite being attached to many high-profile projects - including Resident Evil, The Mummy, and Goosebumps - and cranking out a large number of scripts, he only produced one feature film, The Dark Half, which finished filming in 1991 but wasn't released until 1993. He didn't complete another full-length movie until Bruiser in 2000.

One project that came close to being filmed was Before I Wake (This has no connection with the 2016 film of the same name directed by Mike Flanagan). This version was a haunted house movie Romero spent years developing, writing multiple drafts and getting as far as having shooting schedules written, locations picked out, and a budget lined up. So why didn't it happen?