Night of the Living Dead Review

Written by: ravenbroom   

Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot Since Night of the Living Dead is my all time favorite movie in the whole wide world, I am doing a little bit of a tribute to the man responsible for it, George Romero and a few little added trivia facts relating to this movie.

Night of the Living Dead
Starring:
Duane Jones....Ben
Judith O'Dea....Barbra
Karl Hardman....Harry
Marilyn Eastman....Zombie
Keith Wayne....Tom
Judith Ridley....Judy
Kyra Schon....Karen
Charles Craig....Newscaster
S. William Hinzman....Cemetery Zombie

With guest appearances from:
George A. Romero....Washington
Reporter (uncredited)
John A. Russo....Washington Military Aide/Zombie in House (uncredited)
Russell Streiner....Johnny (uncredited)
Vince Survinski....Posse Gunman (uncredited)

Written by: George A. Romero and John A. Russo
Cinematography by : George A. Romero
Film Editing by: George A. Romero
Produced by: Karl Hardman and Russell W. Streiner

Night of the Living Dead was not the original name for this movie when it was written. Originally it was called Night of the Flesh Eaters, and one time is was titled, Night of Anubis during the filming till the movie disturber gave NOLD its final name.

A fun trivia fact is that in the original screenplay, Barbara (Judith O'Dea) was to have survived the night. Also in the original script, the character of Ben (Duane Jones) was the basic stereotypical "truck driver". But the character was changed for Duane Jones. The black and white movie wasn't created for atmospheric effects but because of money wise, the full cost of filming NOLD was the shoestring budget of $114,000. Another fun trivia fact is if you look carefully, you will notice numbers on the boards Ben uses to board up the house. This was done to so that when the boards were taken down at the end of the day's shooting they knew where the boards belonged for the next days shooting. Unfortunately, sometime the boards were put on backwards and the viewer could then spot them.

Ever wonder about all that gore you saw the zombies chewed on? They were provided by a butcher who was also an investor in the film. They were the delightful remains of entrails and meat. When NOLD was first released, you would have found a board outside the theater that claimed you could buy life insurance worth 50,000 dollars if you died from fright from a leading insurance company in London. If that didn't really catch your attention as a newcomer to the world of living dead, then I really don't know what would have.

Night of the Living Dead is one of the most widely scene horror movies since it first came out in the late sixties. From that version, Romero came out with Day of the Dead and Day of the Dead. All three of these movies are the only true "Dead" movies that fit into the category as "real zombie classics". There has been rip-offs from NOLD; Night of the Living Dead Part two, three and I think there was even a four and five, but I never bothered after seeing the first two rip-offs. NOLD has also been modernized in a 90's version in color. The same basic story line, but with Baraba surviving this time around (as in the original screenplay). I am not a re-make fan, and I didn't really appreciate that movie, but I did enjoy the gore factor.

I just read recently that NOLD has come out with it's 30th anniversary edition, but with added twenty minutes of added footage. Not from the original movie mind you, just added in. I haven't seen this, and I very much doubt I will because I am not sure if it would satisfy me and I would hate to throw the tape across the room. (mostly if it is rented) So what is this movie about? Well, most people know it is about the walking dead killing and eating living people, but there is much more to the story then that.

A space probe started the whole chain of events. It was returning to earth from its exploration of Venus when it exploded before entering the atmosphere. That is when strange events started to happen on Earth. Barbara and her brother Johnny are in the middle of the country visiting their familys' grave site when Johnny decides he is going to tease his sister. The famous line They're coming for you Barbara. is a line that sticks in everyone's head years after seeing this movie. What Johnny doesn't realize is that what he says is about to come true. A mysterious man is walking towards them, and he grabs Johnny, they fight, Johnny is down and now Barbara is alone with this "zombie" coming after her.

Eventually she ends up at a farmhouse and meets up with six others who also have hidden out there. Ben, the black man who becomes the strength of the movie. Tom and Judy, a young couple. And the family, Harry his wife and their daughter, Karen.

Harry is the ruler of the basement. Ben is the ruler of the upstairs part of the house. These two battle it out throughout the movie till one of them becomes the victim of the zombies. The battle goes on outside with the zombies trying to get into the boarded up house while a battle is going on inside the house between Harry and Ben. The results are filled with the highest conflicts there is, because is there any winners left at the end of this film?

There has been many conversations resulting from this movie's two characters, Ben and Harry. One of the main ones is the race factors. You must remember when this movie was made. Black men were not to boss a white man around and a black man most definitely was not to touch a white woman. (Ben helps Barbara, he becomes her protector).
Another conversation that goes around is that there was a hint of incest between Harry and his sick daughter, Karen and also Harry being a wife beater.

After viewing the movie, go to a website that pertains to this movie, check out the boards and you will see this conversations going on all the time. Many psychology and socialogy classes also discuss these movies themes.

Contents ratings:
Violence; high
Language: a few damns, but nothing harsh
Sexual Contents: if you want to follow through with the incest theory, some zombies are nude
Age appro: 13 and up

Usually I would not recommend such a gore feast for a low age, but if your pre-teen is a horror buff this is a must see and have.