NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: 48: --: HRR: I soon realized that I never reviewed probably one of the most influential and seminal zombie/ horror movies of all time. The one that started it all with respect to zombies wandering around the living and looking for their flesh to devour. The one that is currently in the National Film Registry because the way in which is inspired many other directors to emulate it's chilling and horrific depiction of death and dismemberment: Night of the Living Dead.
Night of the Living Dead: The one that started it all!
To say that the Night of the Living Dead is the sine qua non of the zombie genre is an understatement. Before this, there were very few films that captured the eeriness and terror of having the dead come back to life with a hunger for live human body parts. Not only did George Romero start a genre of horror, but he also utilized excellent techniques in film to add to the movie's s no holds barred feel and grit that make it especially memorable. These techniques ended up in some other horror movies as well as movies in other genres.
Night of the Living Dead was gritty and unapologetic in its delivery.
The opening segments reminded me of the segments in The Shining where there is a car approaching a destination with eerie music playing in the background which set the mood for the horror to come. This is not a coincidence and was either an ode to Romero by Kubrick or an unintentional act of imitation.
Both The Shining and Night of the Living Dead started out with a car approaching a destination with eerie music setting the tone for the movie.
Don't let the fact that this movie was made in the late 40s make you think that it isn't ground breaking and ahead of its time. Also don't let this make you think that it will be old hat and not utterly impressive. These statements could be further from the truth. There were no elements that looked like advancements in makeup or special effects could have improved their delivery and effect. They were simple and to the point and brutally fiendish.
Less was definitely more and the impact was dramatic. The scenes were the zombies are eating the couple in the truck after it burned were disgusting, revolting, and utterly effective in producing elements of fear and outright terror. No doubt this caught audiences at the time off guard and led them to squirm in their seats. At the time of time of its release, there were no rating systems so 9 years olds were watching this a crying, screaming and running out of the theaters due to it's brutal imagery and gore.
This feeding scene was extremely graphic and revolutionary.
The emotions evoked during this scene were some in which I haven't felt in many years. Sure the Saw movies could definitely disgust the audience and make the viewer uneasy, but these scenes had a certain brashness to them that made them extremely realistic. The music was also way ahead of its time and created a sense of dread and an appalling atmosphere. It truly was horrific. There wasn't anything amateurish about it. It was brutal beauty in the eyes of a zombie lover.
The feeding orgy of the zombies in Night was one of kind.
The acting was also right on the money and the characters all interacted well with each other, creating disharmony in conflict with the main character and Mr. Cooper, as well as creating a synergy between the female character who hardly spoke. I also respected the fact that an African American was the hero during a time where this was probably not the norm. Another ground breaking feature demonstrating how ahead of its time this movie was.
The characters all interacted well and lent a sense of realism to the movie.
Little touches that gave the movie credibility were the announcements from the television and radio which slowly made the viewer understand what might have created the outbreak of the zombies. In addition, the boarding up of the house made for a crescendo of suspense because you often wondered if they would really hold up or not. Spoiler alert, they didn't.
Just how long were those boards on the windows supposed to hold up?
Stand out scenes were the part when the little girl comes to life as a zombie and kills the mother. That was really scary but foreshadowed effectively. It should be noted the that camera angle and way in which the mother was stabbed was very much like the scene in Psycho in the shower.
This part reminded me of Psycho, another coincidence?
Another scene is when the zombies finally come in and fill the house and wreak havoc while looking for the last remaining human in the house. That was unnerving.
The scares climaxed when the zombies finally enter the home in a mob.
It is clear that many prominent directors saw this movie and loved it enough to have it influence their subsequent techniques in directing. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, but some of these were blatant.
" I hate plagiarism, even in movies"
The action was non stop and there was not a single moment were the plot wasn't accelerating toward oblivion. I will not give away the ending, although I'm sure that many of you have seen this classic. I am embarrassed to say I hadn't, but I changed that by watching this three times in a row. I was just enthralled by it and it took me back to college when I was dissecting Citizen Kane and other classics in film.
This is a movie to sit back and enjoy or analyze to your hearts content.
Initially it was disregarded by critics as just having too much gratuitous violence and gore but slowly garnered a cult following to become of the highest grossing movies of it's time, bringing in over 15 million dollars. It was the highest grossing film in Europe during its time.
Long story short, all zombie shows, movies, video games, etc owe this movie a debt of gratitude. There is no doubt in my mind that that movie paved the way for their creation. The way the zombies moved, their appetites, their appearance, everything is virtually unchanged in new movies. He took a big chance during this time to put so much gore and blood in this movie and I have nothing but utter respect for Romero.
There was no shortage of gore in Night of the Living Dead!
Take a moment and watch this excellent classic and realize that the modern day directors make enjoyable zombie flicks not because they created them in a vacuum, but because they were standing on the shoulders of a giant, George Romero. It's on Netflix. So make your sure you tilt off your hat to the one that started it all: 94%
PS: The ending of Taxi Driver was also very similar to the ending of this movie because the scenes take an almost "outside looking in" quality and included depictions of newspaper clippings. Even the music was very similar. So at least three times other distinct directors emulated this movie.
Watch this movie now, but lock your doors!
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