Night of the Living Dead (1968)

After a crashed Venus probe releases radiation into the atmosphere of a quaint countryside, a strange thing begins to happen. The recently deceased come to life. Not only do the dead come to life, but they also have a hankering for the flesh of the living, whom once bitten also transform into the same blood thirsty ghouls themselves. This is the Night of the Living Dead.

In this classic George Romero horror flick, we are introduced to a whole new type of zombie, that of the deceased, deranged cannibalistic zombie. Unlike the mindless slave Voodoo zombies of the 30s, 40s and 50s, the “Romero Zombies” would spark a whole new craze of these flesh eating monsters. One that still persists to this day.

The story is a basic survival plot, conveniently starting in the midst of a cemetery where a brother, Johnny, and his sister, Barbara, are attacked by a hungry ghoul.

Fortunately for Barbara, the ghoul gets her brother first while she is just barely able to flee to a small farm house where she meets up with local bad-ass, Ben (Duane Jones), and a number of other survivors.

Luckily, Ben is a professional at nailing the shit out of any boards he can get his hands on and fastening them to all windows and doors. His quick thinking and survivalist attitude helps to solidify his character as the strong “I don’t take shit from anyone” type.

Lets just take a quick look at Ben’s badassness:

• Zombies try eat his flesh, no problem, just crush their skulls with a crowbar.
• Crowbar not on hand, no problem, just punch the ghouls’ faces in.
• The lead female is being a hysterical maniac, no problem, just punch her face in.
• Old man Cooper pissing you off, no problem, just pump his chest full of shot gun pellets.

Other than Ben kicking ass, there are certainly some other highlights. Most notable is his side-kick Tom who’s self proclaimed truck driving skills help score him and his girlfriend an all you can eat barbecue buffet, they are the main course… of course.

Then there is the little girl. She probably has one of the creepiest moments in the movie. You know she’s in the basement and you just know that shit is gonna go down. Lets just say her parents, who were jerks anyways, finally get their comeuppance.

When all this finally happens and they’re in their last safe harbor, the basement, the last place you want to be in a zombie outbreak, our hero Ben cleans up the Cooper family dinner party and hunkers down for the night to get some well deserved rest.

I won’t spoil the ending, just in case there are any newbie zombie fans who haven’t seen the original Night of the Living Dead, which is really a rite of passage for any true zombie fan.

Tagged as: Duane Jones, George Romero, John A. Russo, Judith O'Dea