1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die- Night of the Living Dead

#507- Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Starring: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman
Directed by: George A. Romero


Plot Summary: In rural Pennsylvania, a series of mass murders are taking place in which the deceased are being reanimated and begin feasting on human flesh. Barbara is saved from an attack from the living dead by Ben and they barricade themselves in what they think is an abandoned house, but it is actually occupied by Harry Cooper, his wife Helen and their daughter Karen, and a teenage couple Tom and Judy. Mass hysteria ensues as it becomes a struggle to see if they can survive the night with each other and the group of living dead trying to break into the house.


When it comes to horror films, one of the most profitable sub-genres is the zombie flick. And of the zombie flicks, no name is more famous than George A. Romero, creator of the ...of the Dead movies. With a recent resurgence of the zombie craze, including one of my favorite shows The Walking Dead, I thought it would be appropriate to cover arguably one of the most recognized zombie films of all time, Night of the Living Dead.

At the time of the film's release, one of the more potentially controversial aspects of the film was its African American protagonist Ben, played by Duane Jones. Ben is the kind of character you would want to be with during a zombie movie, as I felt he showed the most competence of the group. He's unsure of what is going on, but knows what he should do in order to survive. By today's standards, Ben would be a very stale character and by today's horror standards, Ben would die first (I'M JUST SAYING...), but at the time, he was a different kind of character audiences were not used to, regardless of the color of his skin.

Barbara, played by Judith O'Dea, is ANNOYING. Most of Barbara's screen time is used to either scream at everything or lie down in shock. Since the film's release, Barbara has received major criticism for being catatonic and helpless during most of the film. And considering that this is the main female protagonist, that is REALLY bad and not engaging, at all.

Surprisingly, Night of the Living Dead does not follow the general ideas most modern fans of zombie films would expect to see. The "zombies" are referred to as the living dead and do not have a decaying, discolored skin that we would see on something like The Walking Dead. Instead, George A. Romero created a unique look for the living dead by adding dark makeup under the eyes and giving them a slow, haunting stride as they are stalking their prey, as well as filming the movie in black and white, giving it the look of a classic horror film. Romero's take on zombies would change throughout the years, but it is with Night of the Living Dead that Romero was able to popularize the zombie sub-genre.


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

This film is VERY tame by today's standards, but at the time was very controversial and horrifying to viewers. Night of the Living Dead did set the precedent for all future zombie films and because of that, I will recommend that every fan of horror should rent the film and watch it at least once.

Comment below to share your thoughts on the movie or to discuss a topic that I left out of my review

Night of the Living Dead and movie images are copyrighted by The Walter Reade Organization