Night of the Living Dead

  Unpopular opinion time, Night of the Living Dead is superior to Dawn of the Dead. Don’t get me wrong, Dawn is excellent but it has serious pacing issues (ironically Zack Snyder of all people resolves that with the remake’s shorter runtime). Despite a few clunky moments, Night is nearly flawless.

Night of the Living Dead was written by John Russo (Santa Claws) and George A. Romero (Creepshow) and directed by Romero. Night of the Living Dead was made on a budget of $114,000, made $5,452 upon opening, and went on to make $236,452 worldwide. Night of the Living Dead was released on October 1st, 1968 and immediately attracted controversy due to it’s realistically violent nature. Despite the controversy, the film has received overwhelmingly positive reviews and is considered a classic by modern audiences. Night of the Living Dead spawned five official sequels by Romero, several remakes (and remakes of the sequels), and an alternate continuity spin-off franchise helmed by Russo. In addition, the film sparked the modern interpretation of the zombie concept. Not a bad legacy for a low budget independent horror film.

Night of the Living Dead follows a group of strangers trapped in a farmhouse together at the very beginning of what we would call a “Zombie Apocalypse”. As the night goes on they become more argumentative and more paranoid, eventually becoming more of a threat to one another than the undead menace outside.

That paranoia is precisely what makes this film work so well. It becomes clear early on that the characters inability to see past their differences is ultimately what will doom them. It’s a theme that was relevant then, and even more relevant now. As Ben, Duane Jones (Ganja and Hess) is an excellent protagonist. The debate rages on about Romero’s decision to cast a Black actor as the lead and if it was politically motivated (and the implications of his death at the very end). I’m not sure where I land on that particular debate, but it’s undeniable that he’s great.

Are there issues with the film? Sure. Some of the editing is a bit erratic (not surprising from such a low budget film) and the exposition sometimes brings the film to a halt. It’s also slightly overstuffed with characters who don’t get quite enough development in the 96-minute runtime (the opposite problem of Dawn). Tom (Keith Wayne in his only film role) and Judy (Judith Ridley, There’s Only Vanilla) get hit with this the hardest, seeming to exist only to contribute to the film’s body count. Barbra’s (Judith O’Dea, Claustrophobia) catatonia is relatable but disappointing (though not shocking for the time) to see in the film’s most prominent female character.

Night of the Living Dead is rightfully heralded as a classic. It does fall into certain traps of its time period, but it also had it’s pulse on the culture of its time and, for better or worse, created the zombie genre as we know it today. 

Rating: 4.5 exploding trucks out of 5

Other Observations:

• Does the Dog Die? No animals are featured in the film.

• Harrison’s Favorite Scare - The zombie’s (sorry, ghouls) feasting on the toasted flesh of Tom and Judy. It’s pretty visceral even by today’s standard.

• The zombie genre is such a mixed bag. For every Train to Busan you get The Walking Dead and for every World War Z (the book) you get World War Z (the movie).

Next Week: One of my favorite cry-fests, The Orphanage.