The visionary horror director credited with creating the modern zombie movie genre died Sunday in Toronto. The New York Times reports that George A. Romero, whose 1968 cult film “Night of the Living Dead” helped bring zombies into mainstream filmmaking, died after a short battle with lung cancer. He was 77.

Made for about $100,000, “Night of the Living Dead” was followed by “Dawn of the Dead” in 1979 and “Day of the Dead” in 1985. More recently, Romero made “Land of the Dead” in 2005 and “Diary of the Dead” in 2008.

He also tried his hand a comic books, creating Marvel’s “The Empire of the Dead” series, featuring both zombies and vampires, starting in 2014.

Romero’s other movies include “Knightriders” (1981), “Creepshow” (1982) and “Bruiser” (2001).

Here’s a clip of Romero talking about “Night of the Living Dead” and his interest in zombies and monsters, posted in 2013 …