“They’re coming to get you, Barbara.”
This line was uttered 45 years ago in the classic film “Night of the Living Dead,” one of the first major zombie films, now remembered as one of the most frightening films ever made.
It has inspired works such as “The Walking Dead,” “28 Days Later” and even “Assault on Precinct 13.” None of these films could have existed without “Night of the Living Dead” because horror, up until that time, had a clear set of rules: the hero had to survive, bodily harm couldn’t be shown and the creatures had to be stopped. But, director George Romero’s classic film broke all these rules and was the first to put overt social commentary into a horror movie.
The film is about a group of people who get stuck in a farmhouse that’s surrounded by zombies and how their own stupidity and ignorance destroys them. The ghouls, as the zombies are called, are attacking cities and towns all across the U.S.
The zombies aren’t portrayed with any particular special effects, which make them that much more terrifying because you don’t know that these people are zombies until the middle of the movie. You don’t see any decomposition on the zombies, and you don’t know that they want to eat people until the middle of the movie. So, in a way, the monsters leave the audience in confusion about their identities.
Every member of the cast is worthy of an Oscar. You can feel their desperation and terror in every frame of this masterpiece. Judith O’Dea gives a breathtaking performance as Barbara, an ordinary woman who descends into madness at the sight of her brother’s death and is later eaten alive. Karl Hardman’s performance as the ignorant sleazeball, Harry Cooper, places him among the best of film antagonists.
The movie was the first horror film to have an African-American lead character, the ill-fated group leader Ben, played by Duane Jones. He performs with such fury and strength, you’d swear that he gave Sidney Poitier acting lessons. The cast were unknowns at the time, which made the movie all the more believable, since audiences hadn’t seen them before.
The movie is filmed in black and white, which reflects the film’s depth. The characters view each other as right or wrong, alive or dead, mostly enemy or ally, so we see the characters as they view one another — in black and white. Most of the shots used in “Night of the Living Dead” feel desolate because you don’t see anyone but the creatures and the main characters until the end of the movie. This makes you wonder how the rest of America is dealing with this crisis. You see news clips of rescue parties, however, you don’t see what’s happening elsewhere in the states, leaving more to the imagination.
The film touches upon many political issues. For example, in one scene, the characters Ben and Harry get into a volatile argument about whether they should continue to hide upstairs or in the cellar. The argument escalates, causing the characters to split into two groups. This scene represents humanity’s inability to compromise and can even be related to current events, especially the global climate of instability, such as the conflict between America and Syria.
Without “Night of the Living Dead,” there wouldn’t be the hit show “The Walking Dead” or many other graphic films or shows because it allowed gore in horror films and introduced the uncertainty factor. Viewers are kept unsure as to whether the main characters will survive. Movie audiences take that for granted today, but before “Night of the Living Dead,” in almost every horror film and adventure film, the main character always won in the end — and probably got the girl.
“Night of the Living Dead” devoured the certainty factor and paved the way for creativity in this genre. Horror wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for this momentous and classic film that gives the monsters a familiar face — ourselves.
