Reviews of the Living Dead
Graveyard Zombie
The Night of the Living Dead
The recently deceased to rise from the grave and seek the living to use as food. Barbara escapes an attack from the living dead while visiting her father’s grave site with her brother Johnny. She finds herself in shock and penned up in an old farmhouse with a group of survivors of their own experiences with the living dead. The movie focuses on the groups’ struggles for leadership, a plan of escape.
I like the way the survivors relate their stories of horror because it feels real. Without seeing these events you experience them though actors stellar performances. These stories add to the sense of impending doom that awaits anyone walking out of the old farmhouse. This movie forces you to play in your head the “What would you do?” scenario. This effect, I feel, is what truly fuels the zombie/living dead phenomenon today. The choices are stay and hide waiting for help or self-rescue with a daring plan with people you just met. The living dead contingent is growing outside and information on help is bits of information from others in your group and some brief news reports. The radiation from a fallen satellite might have caused this but nothing is positive. Now you know this problem isn't local! What will you do?!
The actors are convincing, the arguments feel real and Barbara’s in shock. The music is well done and promotes the feeling that something bad is coming. There are plenty of zombies but not a ton of blood so it shouldn't be too hard on the stomach. On a limited budget Romero got a good amount of the horror from the viewer’s mind. Sometimes not seeing it is worse than what they could have shown. This is a B&W movie with colorized versions and even some different edited versions with additional scenes put in by low budget people that have nothing to do with Romero. Night of the Living Dead may have stole some of its vibe from The Last Man on Earth but it is still the Holy Grail of the modern Zombie. I would give it 8 out 10 Skulls!
Release date: October 1, 1968 (USA)
Director: George A. Romero
Budget: US$ 114,000
