nightofthelivingdead1968

THE SYNOPSIS

Pennsylvania, 1967. One Sunday afternoon, brother & sister Johnny (Streiner) and Barbara (O’Dea) head for a remote cemetery to visit their father’s grave. They are attacked by a ghoulish-looking man wandering the rows. Johnny is fatally-injured, but Barbara manages to drive away until she reaches a secluded farmhouse in the middle of a big field.

Breaking into the seemingly-deserted house, she runs across a half-eaten corpse. Screaming, she runs back out into the falling night and sees a car pull up. Out comes a tall black man, Ben (Jones)--who ushers her back into the house and bolts the door.

Turns out that the dead are reanimating and attacking the living. Sure enough, several of the ghouls begin appearing out of the darkness and surround the house. It also turns out that ben and Barbara are not alone, as out from the basement pop out more frightened folks: young couple Tom (Wayne) and Judy (Ridley); and the Cooper family, abrasive Harry (Hardman) and his better-half, Helen (Eastman). Their daughter Karen (Schon) was bitten by one of the ghouls and is resting downstairs.

The small group begin to barricade themselves in against the ghoul army outside and manage to find a working TV set. According the Emergency Broadcast, a space rocket returned from Venus and exploded up in the atmosphere--thus releasing radioactive particles that have reanimated the dead. Thanks, NASA!

When not fighting each other--the 2 alpha-males, Ben and Harry must work together in trying to survive. Young Tom and Judy are killed in an explosion when they try to secure gasoline from a nearby pump to fill up the getaway truck. Ben shoots the cunning Harry when he tries to kill Ben and little Karen eats Mommy and a piece of mean old Dad too.

Poor Barbara runs into her newly-deceased brother as Johnny and the ghouls storm the house and bust their way in. now alone, Ben shutters himself in the basement. Days later, the National Guard and the Sheriff’s Department sweep the area, destroying ghouls along the way.

Ben hears them coming, and relieved, pokes his head out a window to signal for help. One of the snipers mistakes him for a ghoul and shoots him dead. On that day, his corpse burns on a pyre with the rest of the dead.

THE CRITIQUE

What can I say about NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD that has not been said throughout the years? Plenty...as this is my forum! So here goes...

New York native George Andrew Romero ran a production company in Pittsburgh back in the 1960’s. Up until 1967, he basically produced, directed and edited industrial films, commercials, etc.

Wanting to break the mold, he and his partners John Russo and Russel Streiner raised over $100,000 to make a movie--following in the footsteps of Hammer Films, American International Pictures and Roger Corman movies. Coming up with the concept of the dead rising and devoruing the living was excitng, had never really been done before to the extent that they would--and most importantly...was inexpensive to make!

The result is of course a masterpiece of horror. For a movie that was shot in dingy B&W, had a hack script, poor acting (save for the late, great Duane Jones) and chock full of cheese quality--NOTLD manages to hold you in its hypnotic gaze. What could’ve been disastrous setbacks (see the sentence before) turns out to be its chief strengths. Observe:

Production

As helmed by young Romero, the movie exhibits an almost documentary-style (evidenced by his background work)--all the while hovering near a state of surrealism. Shots are economical, as are the edits (also by Romero). The static camera works because it is closer to real life than flashy lensing and movement. Mind you, Romero is not Steven Spielberg or John Ford or even William Wyler, but he did make this movie the right way...and for the times.

As Romero was also the cinematographer, his stark, grainy 35mm lensing is not exactly the sharpest nor the clearest--but once again, the surreality of shooting in B&W as opposed to color (what the human eye interprets as a kaleidoscopic reality) is a ballsy and evocative risk that does work in this context.

Co-writing the script with John Russo, Romero tries to imbue the characters with a sense of reality. But lets face it: the script is cheesy! Unfortunately, the acting is sub-par also--but again, it works because we feel that these are real people and we sympathize with their plight.

The one standout is Ben, played by the late, theatrically-trained actor Duane Jones--who transcends race and makes the lead his own. For the 1960s, racially-charged US of A, this was a big deal--much like Sidney Poitier played strong, Black characters in movies like 1967’s In The Heat Of The Night.

Editing is erratic, but that’s part of the charm--as is the creepy music (courtesy of public domain music libraries). Production design is also cheesy--but we can surely assume that every dollar is up there on the screen. Gotta mention all of the blood, too: it was Bosco!

And just for the record: the word “zombie” is never uttered once throughout the picture. The correct terms used were “ghoul” or “creature.” Just wanted to throw that out there!

Existential Meaning

The overt horror tones in NOTLD would eventually manifest many ideologies that incorporated sociology, racism, politics and adverse themes of death and rebirth. Sounds very much in tune with academia, right?

Basically what I’m saying is that the movie reflected the sign of the times in our society. In the late 1960s, we had assassinations (Kennedy Bros., Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), riots, the Vietnam War--it was probably a scary time to be alive in America.

NOTLD was a low-budget flick that played on double/triple-bills but immediately built a following because of its graphic violence and shock value. Many of the brightest minds in our society also came to realize its allegory of a society on the brink of possible self-destruction. Sounds heavy, but I totally agree with this sentiment.

One last item of note: stick with the original 1968 version. NOTLD has been re-edited, remade and re-created with new footage and they’re all crap (save for the official 1990 remake--which was decent). The original is the granddady of modern horror movies as we know it and earned its place in the National Film Registry.

THE BOTTOM LINE

To this day, still one of the scariest films ever! Oftly-imitated, never duplicated--this social commentary-cloaked-as-horror-movie kicks some serious ass. Highly recommended for today’s generation of brats who like their horror movies PG-13. Let ‘em see what real horror on celluloid is like!

CAST: Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne, Judith Ridley, Kyra Schon & Russell Streiner

CREDITS: Director: George A. Romero; Producers: Karl Hardman & Russell Streiner; Screenwriters: John A. Russo & George A. Romero; Director of Photography: George A. Romero; Editors: George A. Romero & John A. Russo

AC/BN/GV 1968 96m ENGLISH