Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Night of the Living Dead converted stories of voodoo from lands afar into the durable construct of zombies as flesh-eating ghouls that rapidly overthrow humanity; its reimagination of the zombie concept would reign supreme in cinema for over 30 years. Despite its success and historical significance, it managed to accomplish all this on a shoestring budget.

The set was a home slated for demolition which lacked running water. Still, the filmmakers stayed at the farmhouse, using a nearby creek to bathe and as a source of water. A funny anecdote from the filmmakers includes a memory of filling sheep intestines with water to give them substance, representing cost-effective ingenuity. Even the false blood was cheaply produced, alternating between the use of red ink and chocolate syrup (as the film was black and white and would not register the true colors).

The zombies were brought to life through make-up and performance, with many extras committing zealously to their minor roles. This can be seen in the fervor with which the zombies fight one another for food or when they take hard falls as they are dispatched. The credulity of their performance can be summed up best by the police chief: "Yeah they're dead. They're all messed up."

The idea of the living being as dangerous as the dead is central throughout the film. Our characters spend valuable time arguing when they should be focused on survival and highly incentivized toward amicable solutions. Still, Harry cannot stand to be without power, and Ben is completely unwilling to waver from his plan. Possession of the only gun in the house is a deep anxiety of Harry’s. His conflict with Ben ultimately becomes violent, their differences no longer existing as a mere matter of strategy.

Conformity is another central theme of the film, with the behaviors of both the living and the dead acting as cautionary tales. The zombies are described as "ordinary-looking people, misshapen monsters, people who look like they're in a trance, and creatures that look like people but behave like animals." This makes the division between man and zombie less clear than our characters would like.

Night of the Living Dead is a uniquely bleak film. Ben survives the night, rising from the basement just as the lawmen are arriving and killing the zombies. Seen from afar and treated as a zombie, our lead character receives only this as his eulogy: "Good shot! OK, he's dead; let's go get 'im. That's another one for the fire."

The fascinating thing about Romero’s zombies is that despite being tuned up in terms of violence and horror, they are only half as terrifying as the circumstances they generate among the living. Ben made it through the night and was clear of any undead in his immediate area; it didn’t matter. The human response to the threat is what killed him.

This film stands as the holy book by which every following zombie story was written. To any zombie fan who fails to pay respect to Night of the Living Dead, the reviewer has only one thing to say to you: "I oughta drag you out there and feed you to those things!"