The Substance2 Nov 2025

188: Substantive Cinema | The Amusement Park feat. Dale_A

We are back! Had big plans for Spooky Season this year but health, vehicle nonsense, family, and general exhaustion at the state of things in the US had other plans. It was an absolute pleasure talking with Clark Collis about his new book Screaming and Conjuring on the last episode and to follow it up we've brought back an incredible guest and we're diving back into the work of one of the undisputed Masters of Horror™.

A few years ago we covered Romero's debut film and foundational masterpiece The Night of the Living Dead with Filmspotting's Josh Larsen. Romero's Dead movies are something we'd like to revisit sometime here at The Substance but today we're looking at a long hidden gem from early in his career that only recently became widely available, The Amusement Park.

Commissioned by The Lutheran Society of Western Pennsylvania as a PSA on the perils of aging in America (especially as a non wealthy White), Romero decided to boldly make the project his own and instead of an after school special with talking heads discussing the difficulties that our senior neighbors face, he turned in something surreal and terrifying. With minimal dialogue the film conjures up the horrors of aging in an individualistic capitalist society: steep economic cost, difficulties with transportation, not being taken seriously by the general public, red tape accessing medical care, predatory assisted living facilities, and more. It's not a fun time but it's a visceral experience and one that stirs up questions worth asking related to what we owe to our more elderly neighbors.

And we are delighted to be joined by Dale_A from the Bat & Spider podcast. Next time we have him back for something more uplifting!

Substantive Cinema List

Shoutouts:

John Carpenter soundtracks

True Indie by Don Coscarelli

Bat & Spider Episode #250 Phantasm Extravaganza

One Cut of the Dead

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