John A. Russo
American film director
title: "John A. Russo" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1939-births", "american-horror-film-directors", "place-of-birth-missing-(living-people)", "american-male-screenwriters", "living-people", "people-from-clarion,-pennsylvania", "people-from-glassport,-pennsylvania"] description: "American film director" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Russo" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American film director ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | John Russo |
| image | John A. Russo (cropped).JPG |
| caption | Russo in 2012 |
| birth_date | |
| alma_mater | West Virginia University |
| occupation | Screenwriter, film director, actor, novelist |
| years_active | 1968–present |
| :: |
| name = John Russo | image = John A. Russo (cropped).JPG | caption = Russo in 2012 | birth_date = | birth_place = | alma_mater = West Virginia University | occupation = Screenwriter, film director, actor, novelist | years_active = 1968–present
John A. Russo (born September 2, 1939), 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 (1997). 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 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 (along with Russell Streiner) of the John Russo Movie Making Program at DuBois Business College in DuBois, Pennsylvania.
Filmography
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/John_A._Russo_as_zombie_in_Night_of_the_Living_Dead.JPG" caption="Russo playing a ghoul in ''Night of the Living Dead''"] ::
::data[format=table]
| Year | Film | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Night of the Living Dead | Co-written with George A. Romero | |||
| 1971 | There's Always Vanilla | ||||
| 1976 | The Booby Hatch | ||||
| 1982 | Midnight | Also novel | |||
| 1985 | The Return of the Living Dead | ||||
| 1986 | The Majorettes | Also novel | |||
| 1990 | Night of the Living Dead | ||||
| 1991 | Voodoo Dawn | Also novel | |||
| 1992 | Scream Queens Swimsuit Sensations | ||||
| 1993 | Midnight 2 | ||||
| 1993 | Heartstopper | ||||
| 1996 | Scream Queens' Naked Christmas | ||||
| 1996 | Santa Claws | ||||
| 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 | ||||
| :: |
As an actor
- My Uncle John is a Zombie (2016) as Uncle John
- House of Frankenstein 1997 (1997) (miniseries) as Honor Guard
- Santa Claws (1996) (as John Russo) as Detective
- a.k.a. * 'Tis the Season*
- The Inheritor (1990) as Unknown role
- The Majorettes (1986) (as John Russo) as Dr. Gibson the Coroner
- a.k.a. One by One
- There's Always Vanilla (1971) (uncredited) as Music producer
- a.k.a. The Affair
- Night of the Living Dead (1968) (uncredited) as Washington military reporter/Ghoul in house
Documentary appearances
- More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead (2011) as Himself
-
- One for the Fire: The Legacy of Night of the Living Dead * (2008) as Himself (also served as associate producer)
- UnConventional (2004) as Himself
- The Dead Walk: Remaking a Classic (1999) (V) as Himself :Note: this is a "making-of" special featured on the DVD edition of the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead.
- A-Z of Horror (1997) (mini) TV Series as Himself
- a.k.a. Clive Barker's A-Z of Horror (UK: complete title)
- Night of the Living Dead: 25th Anniversary Documentary (1993) (V) as Himself :Note: this is a 25th Anniversary special featured on a video release of the original Night of the Living Dead film.
- Horror F/X (1989) (V) as Himself :Note: Russo interviews frequent collaborator and fellow Pittsburgh horror movie maker, Tom Savini, in this low-budget shot-on-video documentary.
- Drive-In Madness! (1987) as Himself
- a.k.a. Screen Scaries (USA: video title)
Bibliography
- Night of the Living Dead (1974) [Warner paperback Library]
- Return of the Living Dead (1977) [Dale]
- The Majorettes (1979) [Pocket Books]
- Midnight (1980) [Pocket books]
- Limb to Limb (1981) [Pocket Books]
- Bloodsisters (1982) [Pocket Books]
- Black Cat (1982) [Pocket Books]
- The Awakening (1983) [Pocket Books]
- Day Care (1985) [Pocket Books]
- Return of the Living Dead (1985) -Novelization Version- [Arrow Books]
- Inhuman [1986] [Pocket Books]
- Voodoo Dawn (1987) [Imagine]
- Living Things (1988) [Popular Library]
- The Complete Night of the Living Dead Film Book (1989) [Random House]
- Making Movies (1989) [Dell]
- Scare Tactics (1992) [Dell]
- How to Make Your Own Feature Movie for $10,000 or Less (1995) [Zinn P.G.]
- Hell's Creation (1995) (Ravenmor)
- The Sanity Ward (1995) (Ravenmor)
- Undead (2010) (Kensington) (Omnibus of Night of the Living Dead and Return of the Living Dead)
- The Big Book of Bizarro (2011) (Burning Bulb Publishing) (Contains the short story Channel 666)
- The Hungry Dead (2013) (Kensington) (Contains the novel Escape of the Living Dead and the 1980 novel Midnight)
- Dealey Plaza (2014) (Burning Bulb Publishing)
- Epidemic of the Living Dead (2018) (Kensington)
- Spawn of the Living Dead (2019) (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform)
- The Darkest Web (2022) (Wolfpack Publishing LLC)
- The Night They Came Home (2022) (Wolfpack Publishing LLC)
- The Unearthly (2022) (Wolfpack Publishing LLC)
- Weep No More (2022) (Wolfpack Publishing LLC)
- The Killing Truth (2022) (Wolfpack Publishing LLC)
- The Price of Admission (2022) (Wolfpack Publishing LLC)
Comics
With Avatar Press he is writing a number of comic books:
References
Bibliography
References
- J.C. Maçek III. (June 15, 2012). "The Zombification Family Tree: Legacy of the Living Dead". [[PopMatters]].
- Search the inventory of Movie Emporium, Inc. "Movie Emporium, Inc".
- "'Living Dead' co-writer talks about growing up in Clairton".
- Rowan, Terry. "The Book of the Undead A Zombie Film Guide". Lulu.com.
- [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=11190 WWC XTRA: Picking the Brains of a “Living Dead” Legend with Avatar Press], August 13, 2007, [[Comic Book Resources]]
- [http://www.avatarpress.com/escape/ Escape of the Living Dead – Avatar Press]
- [http://www.avatarpress.net/v/nightofthelivingdead/ George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead – Avatar Press] {{webarchive. link. (September 24, 2008)
- [http://www.avatarpress.net/v/plagueofthelivingdead/ Plague of the Living Dead – Avatar Press] {{webarchive. link. (September 22, 2008)
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