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2004
Great Lakes Independent Film Festival
Night Of The Living Dead
The landmark shocker about a group of people trapped
in an isolated farmhouse under siege by hordes of
the recently deceased, returned to "life" as
flesh-eating ghouls. Gruesome and groundbreaking,
director/co-writer George Romero's cult classic stars
Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman. 96 min.
This is the mother load of the modern zombie movie.
Shot on a shoestring budget near Pittsburgh, PA,
George Romero and his group of friends from his advertising
company cobbled together a landmark film in the history
of the Horror genre. (Think 'Blair Witch, 1964')
Assuming that most of you have had at least a peek
at this gem; if not, you're missing the 'Citizen
Kane' of the dead-folk films. Run out and get yourself
a copy.
The plot needs no explanation - Guess who's coming
to dinner; guess what they're eating for dinner.
This was the first film to present 'the living dead'
as predatory flesh-eaters, a concept that revolutionized
the moribund monster film genre. Over the years the
film has taken on near mythic proportions in the
eyes of its legions of fans; to really enjoy the
film, however, you need to throw away the high-flown
concepts. They did the best with what they had, and
that's enough to be proud of.
The film was made in black and white, and was, according
to Romero, a very conscious decision. Not to make
a statement. Because they already had a few scenes
in the can on black-and-white stock, and didn't want
to waste it. Barbara only crashed her car in the
film because one of the actor's mothers - who owned
the car - had an accident between filming scenes,
and they needed to cover the continuity error. Duane
Jones was chosen for the lead role not to make any
point about racial relations; he was simply the very
best actor that the filmmakers auditioned.
Of special note, in the
opinion of some, this is the
early Superman of zombies, Bill Hinzman. He's the
first zombie you'll meet in the film, and the last
one you'll ever see with a really gung-ho attitude.
He grapples well, trots at a brisk pace, is fast
to pick up on the use of tools to solve complex problems,
and really stays focused on the task at hand. Good
manual dexterity, impressive coordination. I'd draft
him for my army of darkness any day. Oddly, he all
but disappears after the first ten minutes or so
and is replaced by those slacker dullards we're all
so much more familiar with. A good thing, too: a
quartet of motivated Hinzman would have torched the
house and been partying with a brace of barbecued
ribs around 7:30 on the evening of the Night of the
Living Dead. Of course, now he's comparatively sluggish,
compared to his marathon Millenial cousins.
Annotation for Night of the Living Dead
Theatrical release: October 1, 1968.
Filmed in 1964 in the countryside around Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD was added to the Library
of Congress National Film Registry in 1999.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD was director George Romero's
first feature film.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD produced two sequels, DAWN
OF THE DEAD (1978) and DAY OF THE DEAD (1985); one
remake, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1990); and countless
imitations.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD was added to the Library
of Congress National Film Registry in 1999.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD was director George Romero's
first feature film.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD produced
two sequels, DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) and DAY OF
THE DEAD (1985); one
remake, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1990); and countless
imitations.
William
Hinzman, who appeared as the Cemetery Zombie
at the beginning of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, also
served as cinematographer on Romero's THE CRAZIES.
The film was made for $114,000.
Review for Night of the Living Dead DVD
--"...Second only to PSYCHO among influential
horror films..." -- Rating: A+ - Entertainment
Weekly 11/25/1994
Review for Night of the Living Dead DVD
--"...The best thing is that NIGHT OF THE LIVING
DEAD isn't over-composed -- it just hurtles ahead
with all its gruesomeness..." - Los Angeles
Times 03/15/1991
Review for Night of the Living Dead DVD
--"Minted in chilling black and white, George
A. Romero's indie classic manages to be scary as
hell, funny, and political all at once..." -
Premiere 12/01/2003
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