The Night of the Living Dead (1968)
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So I rectified the major gap in my horror pantheon last year that was Dawn of the Dead--this year I tackled it's older, clunkier sibling. Clunky, sure, but still lots of fun and somehow surprising even after so much imitation. One thing I liked about this one, and it's been picked up by most zombie flick descendents, I think, is that the folks in zombie movies tend to act smarter than folks in say, standard slasher flicks.
I mean, dude holes up in a house surrounded by zombies, and bam, he starts taking inside doors off their hinges and nailing them across the main door and windows. That's smart as hell. Definitely file that one away when you're stuck in a house wishing you had lumber for a makeshift fortress--the kitchen door can easily be popped off its hinges. And how cool is it that this is 1968 and the clear thinking hero in the pale cardigan is a black guy? This was the year after "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," for chrissakes. One year later, and Romero is on to "Guess Who's Saving Our Asses in the Zombie Apocalypse?"
Anyway, you've all seen, and now I have too.
6 comments:
Welcome to the club! Your observation is excellent, what a punchline:
"'One year later, and Romero is on to "Guess Who's Saving Our Asses in the Zombie Apocalypse?'"
But I feel I must point out the sinking feeling you must get fleeing from room to room as zombies pursue you effortlessly through all the doorless doorways.
They're going to get you, Barbara!
in the event of the zombie apocalypse, i wonder how many people are just going to starve to death because they're stuck in the basement with the zombies having a dead-man's party upstairs.
I always felt zombies were much scarier in black and white for some reason. I saw this as a kid and it gave me nightmares for a long time.
It's the blood! Color of the blood isn't a problem (as it is in, say, Romero's Dawn of the Dead where it's all way too pink and the illusion keeps getting broken). Black-and-white gore looks much more real.
I always get bummed out when I think of how NOTL ends. It's not fair dammit!
I'm wondering if I've watched the whole thing all the way through and can't really answer that question. One more to add to the list.
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