---
name: "John A. Russo"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-a-russo"
fi1m_id: "john-a-russo"
imdb_id: "nm0751652"
tmdb_id: 64831
wikidata_id: "Q2460466"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "2 February 1939"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 0
updated: "2026-09-26T16:45:14.877704+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# John A. Russo

## Identity

John A. Russo

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/john-a-russo
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** john-a-russo
- **IMDb ID:** nm0751652
- **TMDB ID:** 64831
- **Wikidata ID:** Q2460466
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Russo, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2460466, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0751652/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/64831

Writer. Born 2 February 1939 in United States.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 2 February 1939, United States
- **Also known as:** John Russo
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Russo, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2460466, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0751652/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/64831

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Night of the Living Dead*](https://film.one/film/night-of-the-living-dead.md) (88)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

John A. Russo is an American screenwriter, novelist and film director. He co-wrote the screenplay for the horror film *Night of the Living Dead* (1968) with George A. Romero. He later provided the story for *The Return of the Living Dead* (1985) and wrote screenplays and novels for other horror films including *The Majorettes* (1986).

Russo attended West Virginia University and, after army service, joined the Pittsburgh-based production company The Latent Image, where plans for the feature film were developed. He has written and directed additional films such as *Midnight* (1982) and *Santa Claws* (1996), and has published numerous horror novels.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, scifi.radio.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Night of the Living Dead* (1968), Fi1m 88, as Washington Military Reporter — [page](https://film.one/film/night-of-the-living-dead.md)

## Complete filmography (40)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Night of the Living Dead* (2026), Original Film Writer
- *Midnight 3* (2026), Executive Producer
- *View from the Edge* (2025), Actor
- *My Life with the Living Dead* (2024), Writer
- *The Night They Came Home* (2024), Screenplay, Producer
- *Crackcoon* (2023), as Lewis Smith
- *Slice 2! Children of the Course* (2023), as John A. Russo
- *The Red Tide Massacre* (2022), Director
- *Night of the Animated Dead* (2021), Original Film Writer
- *Midnight* (2020), as Father Stephen · Writer, Executive Producer
- *Night of the Living Dead Live* (2020), Original Film Writer
- *1-900 Vampire* (2017), Director
- *My Uncle John Is a Zombie!* (2017), as Uncle John · Director, Screenplay
- *Killer Campout* (2017), as Burt
- *Another Night of the Living Dead* (2011), Writer
- *Night of the Living Dead 3D* (2006), Original Film Writer
- *The Mob Boss & the Soul Singer* (2002), Director, Screenplay
- *Children of the Living Dead* (2001), Executive Producer
- *Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition 1999* (1999), Director, Writer
- *Santa Claws* (1996), as Detective · Director, Producer, Writer
- *Scream Queens Naked Christmas* (1996), Director, Screenplay
- *Zombie Jamboree ‘93* (1993), Director, Writer
- *Midnight 2* (1993), Director, Writer
- *Scream Queens Swimsuit Sensations* (1992), Director
- *Scream Queens Knockout Workout* (1992), Director
- *Night of the Living Dead* (1990), Producer
- *The Inheritor* (1990), as Minister
- *Monster Make-Up* (1989), Director
- *Heartstopper* (1989), Director, Writer
- *Horror Effects: Hosted by Tom Savini* (1989), Producer
- *The Majorettes* (1986), as Coroner · Screenplay, Novel, Producer
- *The Return of the Living Dead* (1985), Story
- *Midnight* (1982), Director, Novel, Screenplay, Special Effects
- *The Devil and Sam Silverstein* (1976), as Other
- *The Booby Hatch* (1976), as Doctor / Various Characters (uncredited) · Director, Writer, Producer
- *There's Always Vanilla* (1971), Producer
- *Night of the Living Dead* (1968), as Washington Military Reporter · Screenplay — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/night-of-the-living-dead.md)
- *Spawn of the Living Dead*, Writer
- *Dead Good Night*, Screenstory
- *Night of the Living Dead*, Original Film Writer

## Gallery

- ![John A. Russo](https://film.one/media/person/3914857/gallery-308bc2023fdb.jpg) John A. Russo — Brother87, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/John_A._Russo_%28cropped%29.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![John A. Russo(right) who is the co-creator of the 1968 classical zombie film Night of the Living Dead and the Japanese filmmaker Ryota Nakanishi who is the film (2012)](https://film.one/media/person/3914857/gallery-e7e97f3d6ed4.jpg) John A. Russo(right) who is the co-creator of the 1968 classical zombie film Night of the Living Dead and the Japanese filmmaker Ryota Nakanishi who is the film (2012) — Brother87, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/John_A._Russo_and_Ryota_Nakanishi.JPG/1280px-John_A._Russo_and_Ryota_Nakanishi.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/john-a-russo