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HOME
 NIGHT
OF
THE
LIVING
DEAD
With Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Keith Wayne Directed by George A. Romero With rare exceptions (before the '70s), horror films were pretty much in the league of their drive-in B-movie Sci-Fi counterparts, being low budget filler fodder. In 1968 Pittsburgh based commercial moviemaker George Romero rewrote the horror book with his production of this classic black & white zombie flick. At a time of hippie disillusion, the impending Vietnam War and a film industry taking new daring chances, he transcended the mere visceral thrill with underlying political layers. The basic survival plot of a group of strangers holed up together in a farmhouse, trying to keep the (inexplicable) risen dead from getting to them, escalates to a struggle amid themselves. With its dark tone and  classic
scary
movie
elements,
this
time
round
the
believability
factor
was
stepped
up
way
high,
elevating
it
from
a
mere
silly
shriek-fest
in
the
Herschell
Gordon
Lewis
vein.
With
a
very
low
budget,
Romero
managed
to
concentrate
his
drama
and
tension
successfully
in
the
one
location,
adding
the
physical
horror
to
the
psychological
trauma.
On
top
of
this
he
made
the
brave
choice
of
a
black
actor
as
his
lead,
with
most
performances
(including
the
zombies)
pretty
good.
Of
course
the
film
also
features
one
of
the
coolest
graveyard
opening
scenes.
The
movie
was
also
released
in
a
colourized
version
-
avoid
it
or
turn
the
colour
down
on
your
TV.
Romero's
future
make-up
FX
partner
Tom
Savini's
directorial
debut
was
with
the
1990
remake
of
this
classic
zombie-flick.
5 / B - PB 1 2 3 4 5 6 A - B - C click below for Romero's Living Dead movies
click below for the Return Of The Living Dead Trilogy
click below for Dead Re-Makes
|
never let a review decide for you, but for those who need a rating, see the Flamedrop scale below
| 6
- Volcanic
5 - Blistering 4 - Hot 3 - Smolder 2 - Room Temperature 1 - Fizzled 0 - Extinguished |
A:
Multi-Viewing Potential |
© 2005 Flamedrop Productions
