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If we're talking influential, then it would have to be Romero. The modern horror film was born in '68, no ifs ands or buts about it. Herscial Gordon Lewis might have invented the gore movie five years earlier, but it doesn't matter because only a handful of people saw Blood Feast in its initial run. So, the question would be: who influenced Romero...
Night was based on the Richard Matheson novel "I Am Legend" which Romero couldn't afford the rights to. The book had been filmed 4 yrs earlier by Sidney Salkow under the the title Last Man On Earth, but Romero says he had never seen it. Not only do I believe him, I envy him. Last Man was crap, and I love Vincent Price as much as the next guy.
Romero not only says Hitchcock is his favorite director but he had already worked with Hitch as an assistant when he made Night. Plus, visually, Psycho is obviously a big influence. So...who influenced Psycho?
Simple. That would be Clouzot's Diabolique. The critics at the time said hitch had lost the edge and Clouzot was the suspense master to watch. In response, Hitch decided to do a small, shocking, unconventional black-and-white shocker.
So, who influenced Clouzot? And now we're back in German expressionalism. So, let's keep it simple and say George A Romero is heap big dog of the horror movie.
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