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George A. Romero director | ||
Gathered within an abandoned farmhouse amidst an outbreak of flesh-hungry ghouls, seven survivors find that they have something more to worry about than the undead: each other. The first of Romero 'of the Dead' series.
Quote:
Newscaster
7 More QuotesAll persons who die during this crisis from whatever cause will come back to life to seek human victims, unless their bodies are first disposed of by cremation.
| John A. Russo | screenplay | |
|
George A. Romero | screenplay |
Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 horror film directed by George A. Romero.
Plot
Barbara and Johnny are visiting their father's grave at a remote Pennsylvania cemetery when an oddly pale man attacks the pair, killing Johnny and forcing Barbara to flee. The man pursues her until she finds her way into an apparently abandoned farmhouse where she hides until dark. After stumbling upon the horrific remains of what she can only assume to be one of the house's former residents, she tries to leave the house and meets Ben. The African American man's truck has run low on gas amidst his own escape from inexplicably violent people, and he uses his experience with them to rescue Barbara from the few remaining around the house.
Ben reveal that he'd pulled up to the farmhouse only because he'd spotted a gas pump on the premises, but it was locked. He asks Barbara repeatedly for the key to the pump, but the events of the day have left her so mentally traumatized that she's unable to speak a single word to alert him to the fact that she doesn't even reside within the home. Working with what he has, Ben proceeds to collect any source of wood and blockades all of the windows and doors that the seemingly mindless predators could use to get at them. It's during this time that a small group of people emerge from the cellar.
While the young man Tom and his girlfriend Judy are friendly and generally confident, Ben clashes against the ego of one Harry Cooper almost immediately. Cooper insists that they all barricade themselves in the cellar and wait for help, while Ben tries to convince him that's they'd stand a better fighting chance in the openness of the main house. Cooper's either unable or unwilling to see Ben's perspective and locks himself, his wife, and his sickly daughter away from the rest of the house. Through a quick conversation with his wife, Harry reveals plenty more about his flaws of character, but when they overhear the rest of the survivors discover a television, the woman is quick to convince her husband to go back upstairs.
Things are going decently with most everyone aside from Barbara, who's still lost in some mental haze over the shock of losing her brother and the concept of so many people coming at them for blood. Viewing the TV, all of them are made aware that the dead have been returning to life and feasting on human flesh with due thanks to a radiated satellite that had been destroyed just outside of Earth's atmosphere days before. The scientists on the screen press everyone watching to attempt to reach one of the hundreds of rescue stations prepared across the east coast.
Ben takes the warning seriously and manages to convince Harry Cooper to cooperate. The perpetually agitated man goes to the upstairs window and hurls several molotov cocktails into the yard, keeping the creatures at bay thanks to their distaste for the heat. Ben, Tom, and Judy get into the truck and rush to the gas pump. An accident causes a portion of the vehicle to catch fire, and Tom drives off to keep the flame from hitting the pump, and it instead reaches the gas tank. The truck explodes and both Tom and Judy are killed, their charred remains left as a human buffet for the horde of living dead.
Ben, still on his feet near the gas pump, recovers from witnessing the event and hurries back to the house, managing to dodge most of the ghouls along the way. He finds the door to the house locked and calls out, urging Cooper to open up and let him in. After a time, he kicks the door in and finds Cooper about to descend into the cellar. The two share a cold glare before Ben begins resealing the door with a blockade. Cooper helps him, but it's not enough to earn Ben's trust, and the black man punches him several times, proclaiming that he should drag him outside and feed him to those "things."
When the undead reach the front door, Cooper attempts to go back into the cellar and Ben warns him not to, and the two struggle for a moment before a gunshot's fired and Cooper ends up stumbling into the cellar anyway. He dies before he's able to reach the place where his daughter lay. His wife comes down a moment later and finds the little girl eating her father's corpse. Stunned by the sight, Karen Cooper is unable to prevent her fate at the hands of her own offspring.
Upstairs, Ben struggles to fight back the undead as they break through the door. Leading the pack is Barbara's brother Johnny, now a zombie, but Barbara's warped mental state is unable to perceive this fact. Instead she rushes into his arms before being devoured by the mass of creatures. Ben goes into the cellar, locking himself in, and seats himself for the night, the sole survivor of the whole mess.
The next morning police squads sweep through the countryside, eliminating any and all shambling creatures. Ben hears their shots and tracking dogs and goes back upstairs, peeking out the window through the wooden barricade. He's spotted and one of the men, mistaking him for a zombie, hits him between the eyes with a single bullet from his rifle. His boss ends the film with the line, "another one for the fire."
Legacy
This movie redefined the term 'zombie', ignoring its voodoo origins and creating the flesh-eating mobile corpse that people love to fear.
Night of the Living Dead pioneered what would eventually become known as the 'splatter film', a type of horror film centered around blood and gore. This subgenre is still active to this day influencing such modern day horror films as Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th.
Plot
Barbara and Johnny are visiting their father's grave at a remote Pennsylvania cemetery when an oddly pale man attacks the pair, killing Johnny and forcing Barbara to flee. The man pursues her until she finds her way into an apparently abandoned farmhouse where she hides until dark. After stumbling upon the horrific remains of what she can only assume to be one of the house's former residents, she tries to leave the house and meets Ben. The African American man's truck has run low on gas amidst his own escape from inexplicably violent people, and he uses his experience with them to rescue Barbara from the few remaining around the house.Ben reveal that he'd pulled up to the farmhouse only because he'd spotted a gas pump on the premises, but it was locked. He asks Barbara repeatedly for the key to the pump, but the events of the day have left her so mentally traumatized that she's unable to speak a single word to alert him to the fact that she doesn't even reside within the home. Working with what he has, Ben proceeds to collect any source of wood and blockades all of the windows and doors that the seemingly mindless predators could use to get at them. It's during this time that a small group of people emerge from the cellar.
Things are going decently with most everyone aside from Barbara, who's still lost in some mental haze over the shock of losing her brother and the concept of so many people coming at them for blood. Viewing the TV, all of them are made aware that the dead have been returning to life and feasting on human flesh with due thanks to a radiated satellite that had been destroyed just outside of Earth's atmosphere days before. The scientists on the screen press everyone watching to attempt to reach one of the hundreds of rescue stations prepared across the east coast.
Ben, still on his feet near the gas pump, recovers from witnessing the event and hurries back to the house, managing to dodge most of the ghouls along the way. He finds the door to the house locked and calls out, urging Cooper to open up and let him in. After a time, he kicks the door in and finds Cooper about to descend into the cellar. The two share a cold glare before Ben begins resealing the door with a blockade. Cooper helps him, but it's not enough to earn Ben's trust, and the black man punches him several times, proclaiming that he should drag him outside and feed him to those "things."
Upstairs, Ben struggles to fight back the undead as they break through the door. Leading the pack is Barbara's brother Johnny, now a zombie, but Barbara's warped mental state is unable to perceive this fact. Instead she rushes into his arms before being devoured by the mass of creatures. Ben goes into the cellar, locking himself in, and seats himself for the night, the sole survivor of the whole mess.
The next morning police squads sweep through the countryside, eliminating any and all shambling creatures. Ben hears their shots and tracking dogs and goes back upstairs, peeking out the window through the wooden barricade. He's spotted and one of the men, mistaking him for a zombie, hits him between the eyes with a single bullet from his rifle. His boss ends the film with the line, "another one for the fire."
Legacy
This movie redefined the term 'zombie', ignoring its voodoo origins and creating the flesh-eating mobile corpse that people love to fear. Night of the Living Dead pioneered what would eventually become known as the 'splatter film', a type of horror film centered around blood and gore. This subgenre is still active to this day influencing such modern day horror films as Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th.
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Trapped!
Alex and Rorie look back on a few of their favorite claustrophobic films. |
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Box Office
Domestic $12,000,000 Foreign +$18,000,000 - = total worldwide gross $30,000,000
- - a reported budget of $114,000
- = a 26,215.8% net profit of $29,886,000
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In today's dollars
Domestic $12,000,000 Foreign +18,000,000 - = total worldwide gross $30,000,000
- - a reported budget of $114,000
- = a 26,215.8% net profit of $29,886,000
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