In 1968 George A. Romero shocked the world with his directorial debut feature, Night of the Living Dead. The film introduced us to the now hugely popular formula of the flesh eating zombies (although the concept of zombies has existed years prior to that) It’s influence has been seen in many mediums such as the novels of Max Brooks, computer games such as house of the dead and resident evil and of course most recently T.V shows like The Walking Dead. It is also serves as the middle ground of horror being the last of the classic black and white films of the genre but also being the first of it’s kind to have a heavy emphasis on violence and gore. however like most of Romero’s films once you can get past the disturbing and violent imagery there is a heavy use of social commentary and superb satire. The film was made during the civil rights movement and the assassination of Martin Luther King, The central character is African-American (which was considered a big deal at the time of the film’s release) and is treated with hostility from the other characters.
Like many other horror films made during this era there are also heavy references to the Vietnam war. The shocking imagery seen on the televisions in the movie parallel the shocking images of the war on TV news reports at the time. And then of course there is the unbelievably bleak ending. (SPOILERS) The fact that none of the main characters survive at the end shows a nihilistic view of the world that Romero has created and that in this new society it shows that even the most moral of people don’t stand a chance.
Night of the Living Dead is one of the most important films in the horror genre. While I personally prefer the follow up Dawn of the Dead it still packs a punch. while the quality is a bit low obviously due to the small budget and some of the performances are a bit hammy (with a huge exception for Duane Jones who plays the main hero Ben and who really should have been a bigger star because of this film) it has an unsettling atmosphere and really gets under your skin. The only film I can think of with a similar feel to it is Herk Harvey’s superb 1962 movie Carnival of Souls which coincidentally was a big influence on Romero. Zombies seem to be all the rage right now in this day and age and to those who are fans of the genre never forget it was this little independent film that started it all.
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