Night of the Living Dead (1968)

A group of people hide from bloodthirsty zombies in a farmhouse.

Director:

George A. Romero

Writers:

John A. Russo (screenplay), George A. Romero (screenplay)

Stars:

Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Duane Jones	...	Ben
Judith O'Dea	...	Barbra
Karl Hardman	...	Harry
Marilyn Eastman	...	Helen
Keith Wayne	...	Tom
Judith Ridley	...	Judy
Kyra Schon	...	Karen Cooper
Charles Craig	...	Newscaster / Zombie
S. William Hinzman	...	Zombie (as Bill Heinzman)
George Kosana	...	Sheriff McClelland
Frank Doak	...	Scientist
Bill 'Chilly Billy' Cardille	...	Field Reporter
A.C. McDonald	...	Zombie / Posse Member
Samuel R. Solito	...	Zombie / Posse Member
Mark Ricci	...	Washington Scientist

Storyline

The radiation from a fallen satellite might have caused the recently deceased to rise from the grave and seek the living to use as food. This is the situation that a group of people penned up in an old farmhouse must deal with.

---

Plot Keywords:

farmhouse | grave | zombie | barricade | satellite | 

---

Taglines:

Pits the dead against the living in a struggle for survival!

---

Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Films sans Frontières [fr]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 October 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Laugh Track: Night of the Living Dead

Filming Locations:

Basement, Latent Image - Carson Street, South Side, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$114,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Image Ten, Laurel Group, Market Square Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As Romero explains in "The Directors: The Films of George A. Romero", the day the final editing and voice-over dubbing was complete (4/4/1968), he and John A. Russo literally "threw" the film into the trunk of their car and drove to New York to see if anyone wanted to show it. While driving through New York on the night of April 4th, 1968, Romero and Russo heard news on the radio that Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated.

---

Goofs

After Ben has struck one of the zombies outside the house to the ground, a cube of material, probably wood, is thrown next to the zombie's head, which Ben hits with the tire iron.

---

Quotes

Johnny: They're coming to get you, Barbara, there's one of them now!

---

Crazy Credits

The credits play over still frames of the hunters dragging Ben out of the house with meat hooks. After the credits, there's a short scene of the hunters setting a pile of zombies on fire.

---

Connections

Spoofed in The Simpsons: Homer Simpson in: 'Kidney Trouble' (1998)

---

Soundtracks

"Shock/Stormy"
(uncredited)
Music by Ib Glindemann

User Reviews

Flawed But Still Entertaining

I was flicking through the TV guide which told me the remake of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD was being shown on the Sci-Fi channel so I sat down to watch it. I did like the ground breaking original so eagerly awaited seeing the 1990 version which started with a car driving down a lonely country road just like the original , it was also filmed in black and white just like the original and it was at this point I realised I wasn`t watching the remake- I was watching the original . This wasn`t the first time a certain TV guide got films mixed up because a couple of weeks ago it confused the 1967 war film THE YOUNG WARRIORS with the 1983 vigilante thriller about high school students and their poodle wiping out scum

Slightly disappointed I wouldn`t be seeing the colour remake I still sat down to watch the original because as I said I remember liking it from years ago . I wasn`t disappointed with what I saw but the flaws do jump out at you and bite you in the neck . The acting isn`t very good with Judith O Dea over acting with the rest of the cast under acting . This a great pity because if we had the same type of performances seen in something like 12 ANGRY MEN this movie would have been a masterpiece . I also couldn`t help noticing a few editing errors where it`s suddenly pitch black outside then it flicks to broad daylight then it`s pitch black again , and I don`t think I`ve seen many films recently with such an intrusive soundtrack . I can however forgive these flaws because NOTLD is guerilla film making at its very best , it`s got a simple strength and that is it has a very good script where both imagination and drama grabs you and doesn`t let go - A crashed satillite returning from Venus reanimates the dead ? Utter nonsense of course but the scenario is so well written you can`t help being swept along with the terror as the protagonists watch the world disintergrate on TV . Compare this movie to THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and tell me what one is more enjoyable ? No contest is it ?

I liked this movie many years ago and still like it today . Such a pity the production values didn`t come up to the standards of the script , but that said it`s still more compelling than the stuff coming out of Hollywood today