Night of the Living Dead - Will's Review

When the dead start to rise and feast on the flesh of the living. A group of survivors haul up in an abandoned farmhouse.

Although the word "zombie" is never uttered on screen (the undead are referred to as "ghouls", Night of the Living Dead gave us the the modern zombie movie; until NOTLD, "zombies" referred to the sometimes undead, often hypnotised or brainwashed living people, used as slaves in Haitian Voodoo. Whereas old-school zombies would usually be present in small numbers, Romero gave us the horde of the undead working independently of a master.

More than the creatures themselves though, NOTLD supplied the blueprint still used in most zombie movies (and AMC's "The Walking Dead") to this day; a group of survivors hauled up in a semi-secure location, with in-fighting being every bit as dangerous as the horde outside.Above and beyond the Zombie movie, it could even be argued that this film gave us the modern horror movie.

At the time of its release, in the U.S. At least, horror movies were often shown as Saturday matinee movies, and attracted families, as well as children on their own; the scares were usually more comparable to the kind of 'horror' seen in fairy tales, or Doctor Who. Although it seems tame now, NOTLD came as quite the shock to audiences of its day!

So it's an important film, but is it a good one?

Of course it is you nut!

It may seem a little slow by today's standards (the formula has been refined a lot in the near 50 years since its release) but it's a solid, well acted movie with some genuine shocks, and it looks great; black and white film may have used for budgetary reasons, but the stark contrast really works in its favour.

Since it accidentally fell into the public domain, it's easy to find cheap or free, and well worth your time.