Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Night of the Living Dead
Directed by George A. Romero
Written by John A. Russo and George A. Romero
1968/USA
IMDb link
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
One of 1000 on They Shoot Zombies Don’t They

[box] Field Reporter: Are they slow-moving, chief?

Sheriff McClelland: Yeah, they’re dead. They’re all messed up.[/box]

Every once in awhile neophite filmmakers produce a classic on a shoestring budget.  This is not only a classic but a game changer.

As the movie opens, Barbara (Judith O’Day) and her brother Johnny visit a cemetery to pay respects to their dead mother.  Johnny decides to try to freak out Barbara.  This doesn’t go on too long before, the two discover the danger is real.  A shambling undead ghoul is heading straight at Barbara.  When Johnny tries to save her, he is killed.  Barbara goes into an almost catatonic shock but is able to make her way to an isolated farm house.  There she encounters Ben (Duane Jones), who is holed up there.  He is frantically trying to keep the ghouls out.  Barbara is very little help to him.

Later, they learn that several people are holed up in the basement of the house.  Duane’s stance is they can either help him or go back to the basement.  They eventually come upstairs but one of the men is an obnoxious naysayer who is little help at all.  The ghouls just keep on coming.  Throughout, we hear radio and TV broadcasts telling us what is happening out in the world.  Turns out it’s the same thing.  Film has an unforgettable ending which I will not reveal.

Actually Romero and company had fairly extensive experience in the TV commercial business.  They decided they wanted to make a scary movie and succeed brilliantly.  The movie takes itself seriously and  is all the better for it.  Though Romero referred to his characters as “ghouls” he actually created the modern (non-Voodoo) zombie.  My definition of a must-see.

There are two commentaries to this on the Criterion Channel.  Both are well worth listening to.  It sounds to have been really fun to make.