Pioneering horror-film director George Romero has died in Toronto at the age of 77.

Romero was credited with reinventing the zombie movie with his 1968 directorial debut, “Night of the Living Dead.”

Romero was born in New York. He became a dual Canada-US citizen 2009 and lived in Toronto with his wife, Suzanne, whom he met while filming “Land of the Dead”.

Romero died after a battle with lung cancer.