A young, and very thin, George A. Romero on set for his 1973 production THE AMUSEMENT PARK, a film that was long thought lost until it was found a few years back, and has now been cleaned up and released to Shudder, as well as playing at several film festivals and events. A 53-minute educational film initially made for the Lutheran Society, who ultimately shelved it after deeming it unsuitable, I've heard a few people exalt about THE AMUSEMENT PARK, with some saying it ranks amongst Romero's most disturbing works.
Sadly, I wasn't as taken by the film as much as many others were, and having watched it twice I would have to place it in the "interesting" rather than "excellent" basket. There's no doubt that the theme of the movie - aging, and how we get treated differently as we age - is an important one, and can be a thought more terrifying than any horror fiction, to many (most?) people. How deeply this movie affects you may depend greatly on your age when you watch it, and your own views towards aging.
As a fan of old educational and industrial films, I did enjoy the look and style of THE AMUSEMENT PARK. Romero captures some great shots here, not to mention lots of haunted, lost faces, and an effective overall ambiance of helplessness and gloom, and there's a few moments that absolutely recall his work within the horror genre (not to mention a little hint of what was to come with KNIGHTRIDERS several years later).
Of course, being a lover of old amusement parks, one aspect of the movie which I totally dug was all the great footage of West View Park in Pennsylvania, where it was filmed. West View had already been around for nearly 70 years at that point, and was only a few years away from closing its doors for good, so it's nice to see a lot of it documented. The Bat-Chute ride sounds cool, and likely a leftover from the mid-60s Batman craze.
