| Night of the Living Dead | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Starring | Duane Jones Judith O'Dea | |||
| Series | Of The Dead Series | |||
| Series Order | 1 of 6 | |||
| Directed By | George A. Romero | |||
| Written By | George A. Romero John A. Russo | |||
| Producers | Karl Hardman Russell W. Streiner | |||
| Release Date | October 1, 1968 | |||
Night of the Living Dead is an American horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, with a screenplay by John Russo and Romero, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. Released in 1968, the story follows seven people who are trapped in a rural farmhouse in western Pennsylvania, which is under assault by an enlarging group of flesh-eating, undead ghouls. Influenced by Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend, this film is George A. Romero's directorial debut. Romero utilized many of the guerrilla filmmaking techniques he had honed in his commercial and industrial work to complete the film on a budget of approximately US$100,000. Night of the Living Dead spawned a successful franchise that includes five official sequels released between 1978 and 2009, all of which were also directed by Romero. Romero's film introduced the theme of zombies as reanimated, flesh-eating cannibals. Previously, zombies were creatures from Haitian folklore, dead bodies revived by a bokor (witch doctor) that serves as slaves. With this movie, Romero instead introduced what many now think of as a zombie: flesh-eating undead monsters.
Synopsis[]
Siblings Barbara and Johnny was attacked by a strange, ashen-faced, unstable man wearing a tattered suit while visiting the cemetary. The strange man kills Johnny and attacks Barbara. She flees, taking shelter in a farmhouse only to discover the woman who lived there dead and half-eaten. She sees an increasing number of strange ghouls, led by the man from the cemetery, approaching the house. A man named Ben suddenly arrives at the farmhouse, boarding the windows and doors and driving away the ghouls with a lever-action rifle he found in the closet and with fire, which the ghouls fear.
Barbara, who is now in a catatonic state from shock, is surprised when Harry Cooper and Tom emerge from the cellar. Harry has been taking shelter there with his wife Helen and their young daughter Karen after a horde of the flesh-eating ghouls overturned their car and bit Karen on the arm, leaving her seriously ill. Tom and his girlfriend Judy arrived at the place after hearing an emergency broadcast about a series of brutal killings. Tom helps Ben in securing the farmhouse while Harry protests that it is unsafe before returning to the cellar, which he believes is safer. Ghouls continue to besiege the farmhouse in multiplying numbers.
The refugees listen to radio and television reports of a wave of mass murder being committed across the east coast of the United States by an army of cannibalistic, reanimating corpses, and posses of armed men patrolling the countryside to kill the ghouls. The reports state that the ghouls can be stopped with a bullet or heavy blow to the head or by being burned, as Ben discovered, and that various rescue centers are offering refuge and safety. It is theorized that the reanimations are occurring due to radiation from a space probe that exploded in Earth's atmosphere on the way back from Venus.
Ben comes up with a plan to obtain medical supplies for Karen and transport the group to a rescue center by refueling his truck. Ben, accompanied by Tom and Judy, drive to a nearby gas pump, holding the ghouls off with torches and Molotov cocktails. Unfortunately, the gas from the pump spills and causes the truck to catch fire and explode, killing Tom and Judy. Ben runs back to the house on his own and breaks down the door when Harry does not let him back in. Ben beats Harry for his cowardice. While the ghouls feast on the remains of Tom and Judy, the remaining survivors attempt to find a way out. However, the ghouls break through the barricades. In the ensuing chaos, Harry is shot dead by Ben. Karen dies from her injuries, reanimates, begins to eat her father's remains, and stabs Helen to death with a masonry trowel. Barbara recovers from her catatonic state and tries to help Ben keep the ghouls out but is dragged away by a reanimated Johnny and the other ghouls.
As the horde breaks into the house, Ben hid in the basement, where he shot the reanimated corpses of Harry and Helen. The next morning, an armed posse arrived and began eliminating the remaining ghouls in the area. Ben, awakened by their gunshots and sirens, came out of the basement, but was shot when they mistook him for a ghoul. His body was thrown on a campfire and burned with the other ghouls.
Cast[]
- Duane Jones as Ben
- Judith O'Dea as Barbra
- Karl Hardman as Harry Cooper
- Marilyn Eastman as Helen Cooper
- Keith Wayne as Tom
- Judith Ridley as Judy
- Kyra Schon as Karen Cooper
- Charles Craig as TV Newscaster / Ghoul
- Bill Hinzman as The ghoul encountered by Barbra and Johnny in the cemetery.
- George Kosana as Sheriff McClelland
- Russell Streiner (uncredited) as Johnny
- Bill "Chilly Billy" Cardille as Himself
Associated Pages[]
Night of the Living Dead (1968)/Gallery