I don't think George Romaro ever had in his mind the masterpiece he created when he made Night of the Living Dead, one of the greatest horror movies of all time and gave birth to the zombie genre. The monster that is the zombie has been a little experimented with before with the film "White Zombie" but never like the dark depths that George took it too. To think that this film almost never would have made it to the public since George threw it in the trunk of his car thinking nobody would ever buy it, low and behold not only did the film sell but has one of greatest group of fans to follow it. Such a degrading film for it's time with naked, scarred up, chewed up zombies eating human flesh, there was no film like Night of the Living Dead. The metaphor that we are guaranteed 2 things in life: birth and death, the slow inevitable death that is walking towards you as if you are looking at your future self is just horrific. George was way ahead of his time and that's why Night of the Living Dead still gives me nightmares to this day.
Barbra and Johnny drive to rural Pennsylvania to visit their father's grave. When Barbra is afraid Johnny teasingly frightens; whereupon they are attacked by a zombie. Johnny tries to rescue his sister, but is then presumably killed when the man shoves him head first onto a tombstone. Barbra flees, with the killer in pursuit; eventually she ran off to an empty farmhouse where she discovers the half-eaten corpse. Running out of the house, she notices a man named Ben arrives in a pickup truck, drags Barbra back into the house, and barricades the doors and windows. Meanwhile, hiding in the cellar are a married couple, Harry and Helen Cooper, their daughter Karen, and teenage couple Tom and Judy. Harry asks everyone to hide in the cellar, but Ben deems it a "deathtrap" and remains upstairs. As they fight through the night for their lives, they try to escape to a safe house but the zombies outside have pulled up the table with the salt and pepper and are a bit hungry for some human flesh.
George casted a black lead, which was so unheard of at the time, I'm sure he never looked at the color but what a groundbreaking moment. He's the smart man who knows how to fight and even hit a white woman, what risks George took with this movie. The film is by no means perfectly made, but you have to understand that this was a low budget film made by a group of friends, however, when you think compared to today's low budget films that have no story with it, it's all about the gore, Night of the Living Dead broke that mold. I have a little tradition every year on Halloween, I have to watch this movie because it is one of the best horror movies of all time. How could you not still get the chills when little Karen turns into a zombie and goes after her mother with a shovel, her mother screaming "Baby!" and falls crying and screaming as her daughter just continues stabbing her to death, God, what a horrific scene! Taking a chance with a depressing ending, not to spoil too much as I feel that I already have but I envy anyone who sees this film for the first time because I like to see their reactions to this movie. A groundbreaking film, a horrifying story and a cast and crew that gave all effort, Night of the Living Dead is a terrific scary movie not to be missed.
9/10
Barbra and Johnny drive to rural Pennsylvania to visit their father's grave. When Barbra is afraid Johnny teasingly frightens; whereupon they are attacked by a zombie. Johnny tries to rescue his sister, but is then presumably killed when the man shoves him head first onto a tombstone. Barbra flees, with the killer in pursuit; eventually she ran off to an empty farmhouse where she discovers the half-eaten corpse. Running out of the house, she notices a man named Ben arrives in a pickup truck, drags Barbra back into the house, and barricades the doors and windows. Meanwhile, hiding in the cellar are a married couple, Harry and Helen Cooper, their daughter Karen, and teenage couple Tom and Judy. Harry asks everyone to hide in the cellar, but Ben deems it a "deathtrap" and remains upstairs. As they fight through the night for their lives, they try to escape to a safe house but the zombies outside have pulled up the table with the salt and pepper and are a bit hungry for some human flesh.
George casted a black lead, which was so unheard of at the time, I'm sure he never looked at the color but what a groundbreaking moment. He's the smart man who knows how to fight and even hit a white woman, what risks George took with this movie. The film is by no means perfectly made, but you have to understand that this was a low budget film made by a group of friends, however, when you think compared to today's low budget films that have no story with it, it's all about the gore, Night of the Living Dead broke that mold. I have a little tradition every year on Halloween, I have to watch this movie because it is one of the best horror movies of all time. How could you not still get the chills when little Karen turns into a zombie and goes after her mother with a shovel, her mother screaming "Baby!" and falls crying and screaming as her daughter just continues stabbing her to death, God, what a horrific scene! Taking a chance with a depressing ending, not to spoil too much as I feel that I already have but I envy anyone who sees this film for the first time because I like to see their reactions to this movie. A groundbreaking film, a horrifying story and a cast and crew that gave all effort, Night of the Living Dead is a terrific scary movie not to be missed.
9/10