Movies - Night of the Living Dead

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	Movies - Night of the Living Dead

Night of the Living Dead (1968) is a seminal horror film directed by George A. Romero which was to transfigure the horror-movie genre.

The plot is simple and familiar to viewers even casually acquainted with the genre: the dead come to life, spreading their condition throughout the United States and attacking the living in order to feed upon their flesh. It was filmed in Evans City, Pennsylvania.

Although a low budget film (it cost around $114,000 to produce) and helmed by a first-time director, the film is considered a horror classic by many film critics, and placed #93 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Thrills list.

Plot overview

Night of the Living Dead opens with bickering siblings Johnny (Russell Streiner) and Barbara (Judith O'Dea), who have driven out to a cemetery to put a wreath on their father's grave. A pale-faced man (S. William Hinzman) lumbers toward the two. Johnny teases his sister by saying "they're coming to get you, Barbara! I'm getting out of here!" He jokingly runs off, but when the pale-faced man grabs Barbara, Johnny runs back to save her, and gets his head smashed against a rock by the man, who looks up, sees Barbara, and begins to move toward her. She runs in fear towards the car, but realizes that Johnny has the keys. When the man smashes the window, Barbara takes the brake lock off and the side of the car is smashed against a tree. The man continues to run after the car, so Barbara gets out of the car and runs away, arriving at an abandoned home with a corpse at the top of the stairs.

Soon, Ben (played by Duane Jones) shows up, and helps drive away several pale-faced men that have shown up. Through radio and television reports we learn that, for some reason, the dead have began to return to life and seek human victims, and they can only be killed by a shot to the head, or a heavy blow to the skull.

In the basement of the house, a small family (Harry and Helen Cooper, and their daughter, who has been bitten by one of the flesh eaters), and lovers Tom and Judy have been hiding out from the invasion of the living dead.

Later, Ben creates a plan to get everyone out with his truck. He and Tom go outside to the truck, Judy following suit. They head to the pump, but Ben's torch touches the gas tank. Ben escapes while Tom and Judy stay in the car, where they die. Ben heads back to the house.

At first, the group seems to be able to work together, but various disagreements lead to the group's downfall. The daughter turns into one of the living dead. Ben winds up shooting Harry Cooper when he tries to replace Ben as leader.

Harry falls down the stairs of the basement and is partially eaten by his now "zombified" daughter. Helen walks down and finds the two. The daughter stabs her mother to death with a garden spade.

Barbara is dragged away by her own brother, now a zombie, into the blood thirsty crowd of the living dead, and the zombies descend into the house, taking over the upstairs portion of the house. Ben runs to the bottom of the cellar to hide out from the zombies. When the Coopers return to life as zombies, Ben kills them to prevent them from eating him. After a night of fighting off various zombies, Ben, having gone without sleep, and having drank nothing walks up the stairs with strained vocal chords. A group of zombie hunters see him through a window, aiming a gun at them, and shoot him in the head, believing him to be a zombie.

Critical response

The film is often seen as slyly commenting on racism in the United States. Perhaps the most sympathetic character is a young black man who takes refuge within a farm house. It must be noted, however, that Romero has denied choosing Duane Jones as a black actor specifically for the part, claiming that he merely gave the best audition. (Coincidentially, Romero and Russ Streiner were driving with the first print of the film to New York, hoping to sell its theatrical rights, on the evening of April 4, 1968, when news broke of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

However, the film's treatment of women is much less generous; one, Barbara, suffers such psychological damage after the loss of her brother that she is reduced to semi-psychotic gibbering for the remainder of the film. Judy propagates the notion of women as hysterical, leading to her own death and that of her boyfriend, Tom.

Helen Cooper's character, while initially strong-willed, also becomes hysterical late in the film, and dies as a result. Her husband, Harry Cooper, also appears to exhibit both sexist and racist attitudes; however, his character is intended to be regarded negatively.

This assessment of Romero's approach to characterization is perhaps ungenerous; it's reasonable to presume that, given the era the film is set in, many if not all of the male characters might be combat veterans and more able to handle the exigencies of an onslaught than the women. Further, given the circumstances and suddenness of the events in the film, it's reasonable to expect a certain level of disbelief and hysteria from all characters, particularly the female ones.

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Movies - Night of the Living Dead

Plot overview

Critical response

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