Night of the Living Dead (1968)

November 20, 2018

 

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The kids and I have been watching Eli Roth’s History of Horror and the first episode was about zombies. I figure that the best way to introduce them is to begin with the film that started it all – the original Night of the Living Dead.

My kids act like they’ve never seen a black and white movie before. Well, except for the beginning of the The Wizard of Oz and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, they probably haven’t. Spoiled brats – we didn’t even have a color TV when I was growing up until I was like 7 or 8.

I seriously forgot how annoying Barbra was. When she recounts to the story of her attack to Ben, she makes it sound like the zombie was trying to rape her. Ugh, false accusations are a thing, ya’ll.

For a film that is fifty years old, it holds up well. The taboos that it breaks are still taboo and still unnerving. The social constructs that it holds up to the light are still valid and the ending is as shocking as ever. My kids were like, “What just happened?”

Year – 1968
Rating – Not Rated
Runtime – 96 minutes
Genre – Zombies
Director(s) – George A. Romero
Writer(s) – John A. Russo, George A. Romero
Actor(s) – Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne
BOB Rating – Three BOBs
Favorite Quote – "They're coming for you, Barbra!" - Johnny (Russell Streiner)