I’ll reply properly after I’m done with physio but in brief while I have a few minutes -

One
death of the author applies here. I don’t think his statement on NOTLD is wrong. Whether Romero or Russo intended any allegorical significance to the casting of Duane Jones, I don’t think it can be argued that the ending - an innocent black man, whom the audience has identified as a hero throughout the film, is without warning gunned down by an armed militia, the aftermath of which is shown only in grainy stills, recalling newspaper photographs of real crime scenes - would have carried a lot of weight in the civil rights era and especially so in the aftermath of MLKs assassination (which I know happened during post production but I’m not arguing what Romero’s intention was). I also don’t think Romero could have been as unaware as he claims he was when it comes to Duane Jones and the power behind making such a casting choice in that era. Especially given Judith O’Dea claiming that Romero altered the script for Duane Jones (which I know he denied)

Two
Re: TCM and its influence on slasher. Again I think death of an author applies. I also don’t think the essay specifies TCM is specific influence on Halloween but on the larger slasher genre as a whole which imo is inarguable. I’d also say Black Christmas is more of a touchstone for Halloween (which Carpenter had seen) than Tobe’s effort but I think TCM had a massive impact on the subgenre itself, just in terms of tone and set-up. And honestly, the similarities between Halloween and TCM are striking enough that I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch - a modern twist on urban legends (TCM taking on the exaggerated and twisted true crime tales that rose up around Ed Gein and similar, Halloween interpretating the local urban myth about that abandoned house on the street in every town in the world), a specific realistic tone, a shocking lack of Gore despite the reputation of both (which in both is down entirely to tone and implication) and of course an anonymous, masked killer stalking a group of naive young teenagers. Both have strong feminist interpretations and both are from directors who approached the material in a new and unique way for exploitation cinema at the time. I think enough similarities exist that you can argue some kind of influence, even if just on the level of “TCM proved their was an audience for a new take on horror…”.

Three
I agree with you on the Italian section. Seems obvious the author was mostly unfamiliar outside of the standard giallo canon and the obvious italio-extreme titles.

Sorry if this is all over the place, I wrote it during a break from physio very quickly. I’ll reply properly when I’m done.