NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
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| Not Rated
| | Copyright 1968 Image Ten Inc.
| | Reviewed by Andrew Borntreger on 'a long time ago'
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- Ben - Our hero, he is deadly with any improvised weapon and displays more common sense than ten of the other characters. Unfortunately shot by an overzealous bunch of zombie hunters.
- Barbra - Spends most of the film in shock, right after her wits return she ends up the main course.
- Harry - Wormy little asshole (now there is some verbal imagery) who does not like playing second fiddle to Ben. Ends up with 30-30 bullets in his belly and head, plus Karen gnaws his arm off.
- Helen - Harry's wife, not a whole lot of love in the marriage. Troweled to death by her daughter.
- Karen - Harry and Helen's daughter, she was bitten by a zombie and unconscious most of the film until becoming a flesh eating monster.
- Tom and Judy - Country couple. He is definitely a good old corn fed boy, plus an expert at driving pickup trucks. Both are turned into barbecue.
- Johnny - Barbra's mean brother, he gets bounced off a gravestone early on and returns as a zombie.
- Chief McClelland - Leader of the local zombie hunters, he has a belt with some very large bullets in it. (.50 cal?) Odd thing is, they would never fit his rifle.
- The Zombies - Dead people brought back to life by radiation from Venus.
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Any horror buff will instantly recognize this film, actually any respectable film buff should. Shot in black and white on a shoestring budget, it defined the modern zombie movie and set the stage for a bloom of Italian horror films.
Barbra and Johnny drive several hours to visit their father's grave. At the cemetery a frightening man attacks, after watching the zombie kill her brother Barbra realizes she still has feet and quickly beats them to an old farmhouse. This is our main setting, normally being confined as such is a warning sign to audiences, but not here. Soon the others are present and between the characters' interactions with each other, the zombies, and their meager sources for information (radio and television) you will never be bored.
The television delivers the only serious goof. Authorities were not organized until after dark, nor did they realize these were zombies until sunset was long past, so the report showing Chief McClelland and his men creates a paradox. Another question, where was the television hidden upstairs? Did the woman who owned the farmhouse unplug and hide it every night in a closet?
Tom, Judy, and Ben make an attempt to refuel the truck so everyone can escape, but after shooting the lock off the pump a stray torch sets the gasoline stream on fire. The truck explodes (providing the zombies with an impromptu cookout) as Ben flees back to the farmhouse and a confrontation with Harry. With the two dominant males at each other's throats the zombies break in. It is a grim ending, among the most depressing ever, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
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| Things I Learned From This Movie: | |
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- Make sure you bury your parents close to home.
- Zombies are responsible for most cases of vandalism.
- Do not mess with some guy who has a tire iron, especially if his adrenaline level is skyrocketing.
- Funeral clothes are made from polyester.
- A house is full of scrap wood if you are creative.
- Zombies are insectivores.
- Only men are useful in any sort of emergency.
- Zombies love barbecue.
- Entrails have the same entertainment qualities as Play Dough.
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- 8 mins - Yes, yes, you're on the other side of a glass window. I think this zombie was a mime before he died.
- 10 mins - Barbra is running through rough fields with no shoes on. Can you say ouch?
- 12 mins - RANDOM ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST A CLOTHESLINE!
- 27 mins - You are wearing an overcoat, no wonder it is hot. Stupid whacked out woman...
- 52 mins - Not very sturdy as doors go.
- 59 mins - Radiation is bringing the dead back to life?
- 76 mins - That is probably a raw cow liver and you sir are the man.
- 79 mins - Here is the suspect TV footage.
- 92 mins - Ben, I would not stick my head out that window...
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| | Audio clips in wav format | SOUNDS | Starving actors speak out | |
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| File | Dialog |  | nightdead1.wav
| Johnny: "They're coming to get you Barbra."
| | nightdead2.wav
| A radio broadcast about the epidemic.
| | nightdead3.wav
| Harry: "You're insane, the cellar's the safest place!"
Ben: "I'm telling you, they can't get in here."
Harry: "And I'm telling you, those things turned over our car."
| | nightdead4.wav
| Reporter: "Are they slow moving, Chief?"
Chief McClelland: "Yeah they're dead, they're all messed up."
| | Theme Song | Listen to a clip from the soundtrack. | |
| | Click for a larger image | IMAGES | Scenes from the movie | |
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| | Watch a scene | VIDEO | MPEG video files | |
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| | Leave a comment | EXTRAS | Buy the movie | |
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| Re: Night of the Living Dead
Reply #41. Posted on September 12, 2009, 01:27:01 AM by Andyryey
Definitely the only movie that I was a little spooked by. Walking through the dark house from the living room to my bedroom in the middle of the night right after watching Night of the Living Dead was scary I tell you what.
And I don't know if anyone else said this but one more thing to watch for is when Barbara slaps the black guy then he just gives her this look and BAM smacks her across the face and knocks her out. hahahaha best part of the whole movie.
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| Re: Night of the Living Dead
A review for your consideration from the filmgeeks at Videoport, the best g-d video store (left) in the world (we're in Portland, Maine). Peace and Zombies.
videoportjones.wordpress.com/2010/08/29/zombie-war-1-night-of-the-living-dead-1968/
and here are THE ZOMBIE RULES!
videoportjones.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/the-zombie-rules/
Fight! Fight! Fight!
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Re: Night of the Living Dead
Reply #43. Posted on November 25, 2010, 02:32:58 PM by WildHoosier09
I'm actually watching this film for the first time right now. I am finally getting a chance to see this. To be honest the movie is pretty good but fairly dated I do like the 90's version better. In the 90's version Barbara is an actual character for more than just the first 15 minutes of the film.
Actor motivation for 1968's Barbara: you like small things, stare at the music boxes and lace while you wait for zombies to eat you.
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Re: Night of the Living Dead
Reply #44. Posted on May 13, 2011, 12:14:01 PM by SwimTiger
The first time I ever saw Night of the Living Dead was on the PBS channel. They were doing a 10 year anniversary of this horror classic. It was shocking at the time and being filmed in Black & White made it even more scary. Although I seen Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things 6 years earlier, this movie was in a class of it's own.
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Re: Night of the Living Dead
I'm actually watching this film for the first time right now. I am finally getting a chance to see this. To be honest the movie is pretty good but fairly dated I do like the 90's version better. In the 90's version Barbara is an actual character for more than just the first 15 minutes of the film.
Actor motivation for 1968's Barbara: you like small things, stare at the music boxes and lace while you wait for zombies to eat you.
Of interest with the 1990 version (also the first official remake) is that Tom Savini directed the movie, and let someone else in charge of the effects. The creatures looked a little better, and also like they died in the middle of everyday activities in some case, something that wasn't so apparent in the original save for a few shots like the bug eating ghoul played by Marilyn Eastman, aka Helen Cooper. However, the gunshots in the remake were all canned (and not the real sounds) and the movie, for the most part, had little or no gore and very few headshots. And be prepared for a real kicker of an ending, from Ben in the cellar to the very end of the film. It's not the old NOTLD for sure.. |
| Re: Night of the Living Dead
It's up for debate but could it be that the ending could have been racially charged?
It could be that they knew he was a zombie but he was also black.
You never know, just a thought.
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