George Romero’s deeply odd, brief feature – an absurdist nightmare featuring silent-movie style melodrama acting – was made in 1973, long considered lost and now restored and rereleased. It was commissioned by the Lutheran Service Society, who were hoping for a film about the problems of growing old and the necessity of helping and respecting older people, and were reportedly upset by how Romero interpreted the brief.
What he gave them was a very disquieting and upsetting fantasy about a distinguished, kindly old gentleman in a dapper white suit wandering around a crowded funfair, only to discover that the fair (like life itself) is for the young; the old people are there to be patronised, infantilised, bullied, ignored, robbed and terrorised. A mishap at a bumper car ride ends with a bizarre appearance by a traffic cop and an insurance agent who are all sure that the old person must be in the wrong. A sinister “see your future” sideshow tent astonishes a pair of young lovers by revealing to them their destiny as a poor, sick old married couple and the man is so enraged he assaults our white-clad hero – because he is old. A “freaks” display turns out to be a simple parade of old people. And so it goes on.
The lead actor is Lincoln Maazel, who went on to star in Romero’s 1978 horror Martin (and was, incidentally, the father of the conductor Lorin Maazel); he gives a dignified and stately introduction to the film in the weirdly deserted fairground, and also a thoughtful coda just before the credits. These bookending sections show how this peculiar work was intended to function as something like British public information films on TV with their deeply disturbing little vignettes. Maazel earnestly tells the audience to get involved with volunteering organisations. But the important thing is to be disturbed.
• The Amusement Park is released on 8 June on Shudder.
• This article was amended on 9 June 2021 to remove text that stated incorrectly that The Amusement Park gives no information about getting involved with volunteering organisations. This is provided as part of the end credits.
