Night of the Living Dead
Composite Score: 85.2
Starring: Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne, Judith Ridley, Kyra Schon, and Russell Streiner
Director: George A. Romero
Writers: John A. Russo and George A. Romero
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Action
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Box Office: $236,452 worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Night of the Living Dead is George A. Romero’s zombie horror film that redefined the nature of zombies in pop culture. The film follows a group of people who individually seek shelter in an abandoned house on a night when the recently deceased have begun to rise, killing and eating the living that they encounter. The group remains at odds about how best to face this ghoulish threat and has to spend the evening debating amongst themselves and fighting off new waves of the undead. Featuring an ensemble cast led by Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, and Karl Hardman, the film serves as a defining moment for zombies in film, showing them for the first time as flesh-eating ghouls and creating a slew of familiar character archetypes that carry over into more modern adaptations of the zombie horror subgenre. Its undeniable influence and the deeper engagement with contemporary issues of the late 1960s help make the film one that stands the test of time.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
At its core, Night of the Living Dead is a film about survival in the face of a hostile force, meaning that most of its plot, character development, and themes take second place to the action, tension, and horror at the forefront. I don’t expect this to be overly surprising to most people coming into this film, but I feel like I should mention it just in case you’re expecting some rumination on grief and white supremacy like in Midsommar. This isn’t that kind of film. Its themes, though more subtle than most of your modern “elevated” horrors, still touch on hard-hitting topics; you’ve just got to look a little bit harder past the action/thriller/zombie exterior to really engage with them. It’s a crowd-pleaser that might not be deep enough for some cinephiles, but its other influences on film certainly carry a lot of weight.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
Night of the Living Dead thrives in the space where zombie action and survival horror collide. Complete with boarding up windows, unlocking basement doors, and a diverse cast of characters, it’s easy to see where this film has essentially defined the genre of zombie horror since the 1960s in all forms of media. The shambling undead might not match up perfectly against more modern iterations in terms of their makeup and effect, but the horde of shambling near-living humans might be even more terrifying than the decrepit monsters we so often get nowadays, especially in the film’s final moments when all hell breaks loose in the house and we get to see the return of one specific character just in time for a good callback.
The cast, though comprised of b-listers, holds their own, lending a level of reality to the impossible situation, allowing the film to explore, however briefly, topics of racism, class divides, and family dynamics. Its shining moment, though, comes at the very end of the film when you come to realize the real message of the film – that, though zombies are mindless killing machines, living humans are just as capable of becoming the same, and so often, we celebrate them for doing just that. It ends up being a more tragic and damning premise than any zombie film has any right to be, and that’s why it remains as influential as it is, still making people’s lists of the best horror films ever made. It speaks to a larger truth about humanity while being wildly entertaining, a feat only occasionally accomplished in horror.
The combination of genre-defining tropes, scenes, and characters with a difficult truth about humanity in Night of the Living Dead makes it a film that stands the test of time and continues to sit as one of the Greatest Films of All Time. While its truth might not be as hipster-y or its visuals as artistic as some modern “elevated” horror films, its clear entertainment value and easy to spot central message make it even more hard hitting than the modern attempts at topical horror. It can currently be streamed on Max for anyone looking to catch it in the coming days.
