Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Directed by: George A. Romero
Premise: A group of people take refuge in a farm
house while a growing hoard of flesh eating zombies gathers outside.
What Works: Night
of the Living Dead is one of the great horror films of American cinema and
it is also an important film within the New Hollywood pantheon. One of the
things that makes Night of the Living Dead so special is that it is a time capsule of the late 1960s. Nearly every social
issue of the day including racial conflict, fears of communism, social upheaval,
and the space race are addressed in the film in some way. Aside from the topics
of the time, Night of the Living Dead carries within it the revolutionary and subversive spirit of the period but
without the optimism. The film embodies the anxiety of the period and instead of
exorcizing that fear through drama, it throws those anxieties back in the
audience’s face. Night of the Living
Dead is also a terrific narrative social experiment. Instead of working
together for the survival of the group, the people in the farmhouse work against
each other, trying to assert dominion over the resources of the house while the
army of zombies rips it down. The conflict between Ben (Duane Jones) and Harry
Cooper (Karl Hardman) drives the film and the two men’s bickering escalates in
tandem with the threat from outside, building toward a perfect storm in a climax
that is devastating on visceral, ideological, and emotional levels. As a piece
of cinema, Night of the Living Dead is
a terrific argument for the use of black and white film. The deep contrasts of
light and darkness and the simple but effective makeup effects work very well
together and sells the premise of the film. As an entry in the zombie subgenre, Night
of the Living Dead, establishes nearly every convention (now cliché) that
has been used in this type of film and it remains one of the best entries in the
genre.
What Doesn’t: Although Night
of the Living Dead has aged well, it is now shocking on narrative and
ideological levels rather than visceral ones. Compared to more recent zombie
films, Night of the Living Dead is not
nearly as gory and it is not paced as fast as contemporary films like the
remake of Dawn of the Dead.
DVD extras: There have been many DVD releases of
the original Night of the Living Dead and there are several different versions. The original film was released in
black and white but there is also a colorized version. The 30th anniversary edition by Anchor Bay includes new scenes shot without George A.
Romero’s involvement and a new film score. The Millennium Edition by Elite
Entertainment is probably the best version in terms of the quality of the film
and extras features. This release includes the original cut, the parody “Night
of the Living Bread,” image galleries, featurettes, a video interview with
Judy Ridley, an audio interview with Duane Jones, the shooting script, linear
notes, and a commentary track.
Bottom Line: Night of the Living Dead is a terrific film and forty years after its release the film is still an assault on the audience. Although the zombie film has been done bigger and bloodier, it hasn’t been done better than Romero’s original version.