John A. Russo
John A. Russo, sometimes credited as Jack Russo or John Russo, is an American screenwriter and film director most commonly associated with the 1968 horror classic film Night of the Living Dead, which he co-wrote with director George A. Romero. As a screenwriter, his credits include Night of the Living Dead, The Majorettes, Midnight, and Santa Claws. The latter two, he also directed. He has performed small roles as an actor, most notably the first ghoul who is stabbed in the head in Night of the Living Dead, as well as cameos in There's Always Vanilla and House of Frankenstein. He was the publisher and managing editor of the magazine Scream Queens Illustrated, which featured popular stars of horror films and other genres.
Career
Russo was born and grew up in Clarion, Pennsylvania and lives in Glassport, Pennsylvania.Russo attended West Virginia University while his friend Rudy Ricci attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Ricci met George A. Romero at Carnegie Mellon and introduced Russo to Romero on Russo's Christmas vacation. After college, Russo was drafted into the army and served a two-year stint. Meanwhile, Romero with Russell Streiner formed The Latent Image to produce commercial films with the aim of eventually making a full-length feature film. When Russo got out of the army, he joined his friends in The Latent Image and soon plans were made for a feature film. Russo crafted a rough idea about a young man stumbling upon a host of ghouls feeding off human corpses. Romero loved the idea and a few days later he presented Russo with forty pages of a story based on the idea. The film ultimately became Night of the Living Dead which led to Romero's Night of the [Living Dead (film series)|Dead series] and the Living Dead series, with the latter based on a story by Russo.
Russo went on to author many novels and, like his friend Romero, began making films of his own. The Booby Hatch is a sex comedy released in 1976. Midnight is an adaptation of Russo's novel of the same name and released in 1982. His novel The Majorettes was adapted by Russo himself and directed by Bill Hinzman who played the Cemetery Zombie in Night of the Living Dead. Russo's next film was Heartstopper which features "name" actors Michael J. Pollard and Moon Unit Zappa. Russo considers it his favorite of the films he has directed.
Russo is also the founder and one of the co-mentors of the John Russo Movie Making Program at DuBois Business College in DuBois, Pennsylvania.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
| 1968 | Night of the Living Dead | Co-written with George A. Romero | |||
| 1971 | There's Always Vanilla aka The Affair | ||||
| 1976 | The Booby Hatch aka Dirty Book Store and The Liberation of Cherry Janowski | ||||
| 1982 | Midnight aka Backwoods Massacre | Also novel | |||
| 1985 | The [Return of the Living Dead] | ||||
| 1986 | The Majorettes aka One by One | Also novel | |||
| 1990 | Night of the Living Dead | ||||
| 1991 | Voodoo Dawn aka Strange Turf | Also novel | |||
| 1992 | Scream Queens Swimsuit Sensations | ||||
| 1993 | Midnight 2 aka Midnight 2: Sex, Death and Videotape | ||||
| 1993 | Heartstopper aka Dark Craving | ||||
| 1996 | Scream Queens' Naked Christmas aka 'Tis the Season | ||||
| 1996 | Santa Claws aka 'Tis the Season | ||||
| 1999 | Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition | Director, writer, and co-editor for new scenes | |||
| 2001 | Children of the Living Dead | ||||
| 2002 | Saloonatics | ||||
| 2016 | My Uncle John Is a Zombie | ||||
| 2024 | The Night They [Came Home (film)|The Night They Came Home] |
As an actor
- My Uncle John is a Zombie as Uncle John
- House of Frankenstein 1997 as Honor Guard
- Santa Claws as Detective
- *a.k.a. 'Tis the Season
- The Inheritor as Unknown role
- The Majorettes as Dr. Gibson the Coroner
- *a.k.a. One by One
- There's Always Vanilla as Music producer
- *a.k.a. The Affair
- Night of the Living Dead as Washington military reporter/Ghoul in house
Documentary appearances
- More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead as Himself
- One for the Fire: The Legacy of Night of the Living Dead as Himself
- UnConventional as Himself
- The Dead Walk: Remaking a Classic as Himself
- A-Z of Horror TV Series as Himself
- *a.k.a. Clive Barker's A-Z of Horror
- Night of the Living Dead: 25th Anniversary Documentary as Himself
- Horror F/X as Himself
- Drive-In Madness! as Himself
- *a.k.a. ''Screen Scaries''