Night of the Living Dead [M]

Brother and sister, Johnny and Barbra, are visiting their father’s grave. Whilst there they are attacked by a walking dead man: Johnny is killed and Barbra ends up terrified into catatonics, holed up in an empty farmhouse with a rational black man who has witnessed a similar attack. They discover another group of people in the farmhouse and through radio and television broadcasts, are able to piece together what is happening: the newly dead are rising from their graves to feed on human flesh. As the group of ghouls surrounding the house continue to amass, hope of rescue grows fainter and the cold and brutal reality of their plight begins to sink into the fugitives, soon growing into a panic that proves just as dangerous a threat as the hungry ghouls. 

It may look like a low-budget B horror movie: clumsily made in fuzzy black and white with an over exaggerated soundtrack, but George A. Romero’s 1968 zombie movie proves to still hold its shock appeal and leave audiences stunned into silence after the end credits. 

Brother and sister, Johnny and Barbra, are visiting their father’s grave. Whilst there they are attacked by a walking dead man: Johnny is killed and Barbra ends up terrified into catatonics, holed up in an empty farmhouse with a rational black man who has witnessed a similar attack. They discover another group of people in the farmhouse and through radio and television broadcasts, are able to piece together what is happening: the newly dead are rising from their graves to feed on human flesh. As the group of ghouls surrounding the house continue to amass, hope of rescue grows fainter and the cold and brutal reality of their plight begins to sink into the fugitives, soon growing into a panic that proves just as dangerous a threat as the hungry ghouls. 

Night of the Living Dead raised the bar in the genre of horror, setting a new score when it comes to zombie movies. I believe, when it comes to zombie movies, you’re limited with what you can do in terms of story and creativity. Our undead ghouls in Night of the Living Dead are a bit dated and rather unscary, although some of them had their moments especially when they’re eating bits of recently deceased people. The true terror of this movie doesn’t come in the form of ghouls or zombies, but in the happenings of the farmhouse. This is no zombie apocalypse movie where those few living gallantly team up and follow the brave and rational leader! No sir, our leading heroes are threatened by more than just undead ghouls. Romero, in a somewhat darkly funny way considering the genre, depicts the evils and the threats of racism, the fear of the mob, the alpha male mentality, and the breakdown of the nuclear family. As attempts to work together break down within the farmhouse, the true message of the movie becomes clear: good does not always triumph. This very well could have been a rare, or maybe even the first, horror film to not have closure or a happy ending. The cause of the walking dead epidemic is only hinted at, but never confirmed, and the heroes are hit with cruel twists of fate, bad luck, and plan backfires, eventually leaving them and the audience with nothing but the horror of despair. 

Although on a visual level, this movie doesn’t look like much, indeed it reminds one of really bad B-grade horror movies such as Ed Wood might indulge audiences in, it nonetheless still has the power to render audiences speechless; not terrify but merely stun into silence. 

Starring Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne, and Judith Ridley, Night of the Living Dead is an important movie in terms of genre. It may not have moved mountains or taken a huge step in terms of special effects, makeup, or even cinematic technique, but the story and what Romero shows you on camera speaks for itself and the film still retains a stunning power with audiences. 

Filled with zombies, violence, gore, drama, suspense, and murder, it’s not scary on a visual level, indeed it’s not really ‘scary’ at all, but it does have some shock appeal that can still affect a modern audience.