*Movie Review* - "Night of the Living Dead" (1968)

There is no better way to kick-off a career as a horror director than with an independently-made horror masterpiece. George A. Romero and Karl Hardman put a lot of their own financial resources into the original Night of the Living Dead and the result was one of the greatest horror movies ever made.

 The first stroke of genius from Romero was using black and white film. Black and white film has always made a horror movie look more terrifying (see "Psycho" (1960) for a good example of using black and white film in horror movies), and you can skimp on some of the effects to stay under budget. For example, they used bottles of chocolate syrup as blood for this movie. It didn't need to be the color of blood; it just needed to have the consistency of blood. 


The envelopes that Romero pushes in this movie are daring and a necessary part of the plot. The interracial element with a black man and attractive white woman was almost unheard of in the late 1960's. The little girl that eats the flesh of her dead father and then kills her mother would be controversial now, so imagine the ruckus it caused in the 1960's. But all of these elements come together to create that combination of tension and helplessness that makes this movie so very effective. The script was developed over the course of two years. But when shooting was ready to start, there were still changes being made. In the end, the first successful movie about zombies never even mentions the word “zombie”. Romero preferred the phrase "living dead" so much that he put it in the title.

The story is frantic and terrifying. The movie makers did an excellent job at setting a chilling and helpless mood. The acting is a little forced at times, but the end result is still effective. Romero, the crew and the cast all put something into the movie whether it was doing make-up or helping to finance the film. The final product is a terrifying movie that will live on forever.

RATING: 3 1/2 OUT OF 5