Night of the Living Dead (1968)

 Night of the Living Dead (1968)

George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead revolutionized the horror genre…for better or worse. You get the cheap, modern horror films that no one likes. But you have the likes of Halloween and Friday the 13^th that owe their debts to this terrifying zombie film. Made in 1968 and under a very miniscule budget, the film holds up well today. I won’t lie when I say some of the zombie scenes actually scared me…and that is coming from someone who has seen countless horror movies. The black-and-white cinematography led to some of these scares and of course led to the frightening overall atmosphere. I can’t imagine how children and adults for that matter reacted to the film upon release. Yeah, you have those 50’s monster films but they do not hold a candle to Romero’s revolutionary flick.

How did this young man attending Carnegie University in Pittsburgh change the genre or filmmaking itself as people knew it? Firstly, it is considered to be one of the most profitable films ever made which is shocking considering it was made outside the studio system. It made about twelve million dollars domestically making it more than 250 times its budget. In addition, Romero filled his movie with explicit violence and gore. Yeah, he was not afraid to show zombies happily eating someone’s shoulder. The violence was seen as controversial which is why it received negative reviews at first. Roger Ebert famously wrote a column about this experience at the film’s midday premiere that was filled with children…most of whom were in shock by the unexpected violence. Also deemed controversial was the casting of a black man, Duane Jones, in a movie full of white people. His character was the smartest character in the movie. Romero simply said that his audition was the best one there was and that is why he got the job. Choosing Jones for the lead role amongst other things was given scholarly interpretations given the 60’s political climate with Vietnam and Martin Luther King Jr. Romero denied such things, but one can easily see such interpretations. Finally, this paved away for future horror movies. It set the template for zombie film to come. There was no happy ending either. Everyone died. I was rooting for Jones’s character who survived the zombie horde but ultimately perished by a bunch of rednecks. That ending even shocked me. I really liked it because it deviated from the norm. Even to this day, it is still rare to have such an ending although its not unheard of.

Romero wrote the script because he felt people had a thing for the strange and the bizarre. His script was heavily influenced by Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend. He couldn’t use vampires as depicted in the novel, yet he chose these flesh eaters that he named ghouls. Romero was not even thinking about zombies as we think about them today. It was not until the film’s major success that zombies became a thing in our culture. Romero shot the film with a very tight budget. They had no money to make long-decayed zombies hence the idea to make them as the whole zombie virus was in its infancy. They used chocolate syrup for blood, and it actually looks realistic on the black-and-white screen. You can tell that the film had a limited budget, also made obvious by the location setting, yet everything looked so real. The zombies were really scary when in attack mode. Everything did feel small and contained, and I felt like that affected the story sometimes. That is really my only complaint.

Barbra (Judith O’Dea) and her brother are visiting their father’s grave when zombies suddenly attack them. Barbra is able to get away and finds shelter in a seemingly abandoned farmhouse. She is joined by Ben (Duane Jones) who was only looking for gas. But with more and more zombies surrounding them, Ben tries to board up all the windows and doors. They soon realize they are not alone. Some people were hiding in the basement. They fight amongst each other about who will be in charge. It is going to be a long night for everyone if they can survive the zombies…and each other.

As someone who has seen many horror films, almost all characters seem clichéd such as the damsel in distress, the strong leading man, etc.  I have to keep in mind that this is the film that started it all. The performances are really good. I do not know too much about the actors except for what I have seen here. Duane Jones deserved a better career after this committed role. His character is strong and was part of a great ending. Jones had the best audition out of anyone as he played his part with a modicum of intelligence, which makes sense because he was a former university professor. As you can see, there are no big stars. Two of the actors, Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman, were actually heads of the production company that Romero used.

Night of the Living Dead is a horror classic. Horror movies of the modern age has this movie to thank. It took time for people to get used to the gore and violence associated with these type of horror flicks. Romero did not hold back from showing guts and blood. He ended up writing an anthology of zombie flicks including his famed sequel Dawn of the Dead. Flicks that would forever change the world as we know it. I felt like the pacing was slow at times as we got to know the characters, but the action stands out. For a tiny budget, I am impressed with what I saw. Romero was able to think out of the box to create an independent feature that would single-handedly change a genre.

My Grade: B+