George A. Romero faced a packed Bloor Cinema last night for Speak of the Dead, an intimate and interactive night with the horror film legend, which wrapped up the Rue Morgue Festival of Fear Canadian National Horror Expo.

I never used to like horror films, but once I got bitten by the zombie bug, I was hooked. Partly thanks to Romero. His recent Land of the Dead caused me to laugh aloud more often than most comedies do. There's something about his timing mixed with gore and suspense that just works.

Some of Toronto's finest zombies came out for the event, dripping blood and looking their gruesomest. I see t-shirts emblazoned with movie titles and slogans such as Eat the Living, DANGER: Reanimated Corpse and Tater Red's Lucky Mojos and Voodoo Healings. Oh my!

Rusty Nails gets the crowd hyped by throwing handfuls of horror genre t-shirts at eager, outstretched arms. He then gives us a peak of his documentary, Dead On: The Life and Cinema of George Romero, which includes many amusing anecdotes from other filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino and John Waters as well as Stephen King.

Read on to learn about the George A. Romero Vs. Water Bottle incident and more....

Once Romero figures out how to open his water bottle, he loosens up and is quite forthcoming about his failures and success in the business.

The interview, led by Rue Morgue Radio's Stuart Andrews, takes us through most of Romero's career, from Night of the Living Dead up until the present.

One of the highlights of the night is when the audience is treated to a glimpse of Romero's next film Diary of the Dead. I won't give anything away, because you can see it when it makes its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival September 8.

If there's a Godfather of Zombie Films, who would you nominate?

Following is a mini photo slide show from the event:

Photos by Roger Cullman.