Current mood: lazy
Dialogue from George A. Romero's 1968 horror classic, "Night of the Living Dead":
"We'd all be better off us three working together."
"We may not enjoy living together, but dying together won't solve anything."
"Beat em', burn em', they go up pretty easy."
These lines could all be associated with the Civil Rights movement, the last being a description of a lynching. From interviews with the co-writer/director, he considered the film to be a message about racism (the film's first sequel was about consumerism and its third sequel about corporate greed). His message was delivered to an unprepared audience with a black protagonist by the means of zombies. With the support of critics and horror film enthusiasts, this maybe one of the longest lasting messages about the subject.
The critics:
Teenagers accustomed to a monster flicks like the cheap, British, relatively bloodless battles between Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee were in for a surprise. What they saw were zombies eating the charred remains of a couple from a truck explosion, and a head shot as the solution to all undead concerns. Some were shocked and some enthralled either way word of mouth spread about this B-movie.
It was shot on a shoestring budget, and most of the techniques used to shoot the film were of little sophistication like most B-movies. The opening sequence of a car driving to a graveyard as the credits rolled was almost painful to watch because the viewer immediately knew that every shot only had one angle. Also, the time of day of when events take place is hard to figure out. The sun shines for the zombie hunters all the time while the farm our characters hide at is always pitch black. Fortunately, once the zombie threat is established, the poorly lit shots and closed-in sets created the suspense that the film thrived on, and this allows almost all directing flaws to be forgiven.
There were no A-list actors, and the characters are one dimensional. The lack of dimensions let the B…C…D-listers give the performances of their careers. I was especially impressed by Judith O'Dea as the traumatized female lead. It was what one should expect to see from Janet Leigh, if her character survived the shower attack in "Psycho".
The acting and directing were good enough to let the brilliantly written script shine. Zombies were not needed for most of the film's second third because the viewer is stuck trying to figure out how to survive a zombie holocaust. Do you side with Ben who wants to fight the threat or Mr. Cooper, who wants to hide from it? Divisions about strategy and the need to be right are constant, and the audience can almost forget about the zombie hordes preparing to take the farm house. Romero's drama away from the zombies is what keeps the viewer interested in the film, and he delivers with the violence as a reward for the patience.
Romero's story and message were the only things he wanted the audience to enjoy, so he was willing to just go out and make a cheap film, and hope the audience gets it. If anything, this was his way of being considered as a director for larger projects. He was just extremely fortunate that "Night of the Living Dead" is perhaps the greatest horror film of all time.
"We may not enjoy living together, but dying together won't solve anything."
"Beat em', burn em', they go up pretty easy."
These lines could all be associated with the Civil Rights movement, the last being a description of a lynching. From interviews with the co-writer/director, he considered the film to be a message about racism (the film's first sequel was about consumerism and its third sequel about corporate greed). His message was delivered to an unprepared audience with a black protagonist by the means of zombies. With the support of critics and horror film enthusiasts, this maybe one of the longest lasting messages about the subject.
The critics:
- "George Romero's remarkably assured debut, made on a shoestring, about a group of people barricaded inside a farmhouse while an army of flesh-eating zombies roams the countryside, deflates all genre clichés," Elliot Stein of the Village Voice.
- "Over its short, furious course, the picture violates so many strong taboos -- cannibalism, incest, necrophilia -- that it leaves audiences giddy and hysterical," Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader.
- "One of the best films ever made, and possibly the most influential horror movie of all time," Alex Sandell of Juicy Cerebellum.
- "Arguably the greatest horror film ever made - and one of the greatest in any genre - 'Night' is also the ultimate B-movie," Lucius Gore of ESplatter.
Teenagers accustomed to a monster flicks like the cheap, British, relatively bloodless battles between Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee were in for a surprise. What they saw were zombies eating the charred remains of a couple from a truck explosion, and a head shot as the solution to all undead concerns. Some were shocked and some enthralled either way word of mouth spread about this B-movie.
It was shot on a shoestring budget, and most of the techniques used to shoot the film were of little sophistication like most B-movies. The opening sequence of a car driving to a graveyard as the credits rolled was almost painful to watch because the viewer immediately knew that every shot only had one angle. Also, the time of day of when events take place is hard to figure out. The sun shines for the zombie hunters all the time while the farm our characters hide at is always pitch black. Fortunately, once the zombie threat is established, the poorly lit shots and closed-in sets created the suspense that the film thrived on, and this allows almost all directing flaws to be forgiven.
There were no A-list actors, and the characters are one dimensional. The lack of dimensions let the B…C…D-listers give the performances of their careers. I was especially impressed by Judith O'Dea as the traumatized female lead. It was what one should expect to see from Janet Leigh, if her character survived the shower attack in "Psycho".
The acting and directing were good enough to let the brilliantly written script shine. Zombies were not needed for most of the film's second third because the viewer is stuck trying to figure out how to survive a zombie holocaust. Do you side with Ben who wants to fight the threat or Mr. Cooper, who wants to hide from it? Divisions about strategy and the need to be right are constant, and the audience can almost forget about the zombie hordes preparing to take the farm house. Romero's drama away from the zombies is what keeps the viewer interested in the film, and he delivers with the violence as a reward for the patience.
Romero's story and message were the only things he wanted the audience to enjoy, so he was willing to just go out and make a cheap film, and hope the audience gets it. If anything, this was his way of being considered as a director for larger projects. He was just extremely fortunate that "Night of the Living Dead" is perhaps the greatest horror film of all time.
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