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Night of the Living Dead Overview:

Night of the Living Dead (1968) was a Horror - Mystery Film directed by George A. Romero and produced by Karl Hardman and Russell Streiner.

SYNOPSIS

In this grisly benchmark of American horror film, the dead return and terrorize the living. A group of strangers seek refuge in an abandoned house by locking themselves inside. The living dead slowly penetrate the fortress, killing friends and relatives in search of a good meal. Followed by a sequel (so hilariously graphic it briefly earned an X-rating) entitled Dawn of the Dead (1978) and remade in 1990.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Night of the Living Dead was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1999.

Night of the Living Dead BlogHub Articles:

Night of the Living Dead: Special Rifftrax Review

on Oct 25, 2013 From Journeys in Classic Film

If you’re looking for a straightforward review of Night of the Living Dead you can read it here.  This special review looks at last night’s Rifftrax Live! event reviewing the movie.  I have republished my article originally published at Cinema Sentries. George Romero’s Night of the... Read full article

31 Days of Halloween – 023: Night Of The Living Dead – In 30 Seconds! With Bunnies!

By Michael on Oct 23, 2013 From Durnmoose Movie Musings

October marches on, and so does our countdown to All Hallows Eve. This year, rather than trying to do a full 31 film reviews or something truly time-consuming like that, most of what I’m going to be posting are favorite trailers, short films, some full-length movies, and other items just to ki... Read full article

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

on Mar 22, 2013 From Journeys in Classic Film

I’ve seen Night of the Living Dead several times in my life, and yet watching it with an audience during my American Horror class, I noticed flaws that I couldn’t ignore.  Despite director George Romero‘s insistent comments that he didn’t intend any racial themes to emerge, ... Read full article

Night of the Living Dead

By Alyson on Oct 11, 2012 From The Best Picture Project

The first time I watched Night of the Living Dead was Halloween night when I was thirteen years old.  I had spent the evening trick-or-treating with my friends and had quite the candy haul.  After a little trading with my siblings, it was my main source of energy as I stayed up waiting for the mov... Read full article

Night of the Living Dead (1968, George A. Romero)

on Jan 19, 2011 From The Stop Button

What a lame ending. If it weren’t for the sufficiently uncanny end credits, I’d finish Night of the Living Dead thinking it was supposed to be a comedy. Actually, if it weren’t for that lame ending, I’d be starting this response much differently. Night of the Living Dead has one of the most ... Read full article

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Night of the Living Dead Quotes:

Ben: I'm telling you they can't get IN here!
Harry Cooper: And I'm telling you they turned over our car! We were damn lucky to get away at all! Now you're telling me these things can't get through a lousy pile of wood?
Johnny: There's nothing wrong with the radio. Must've been the station.
Johnny: They're coming to get you, Barbara, there's one of them now!
Washington scientist: [on the news] Everything is being done that can be done.
Harry Cooper: [referring to everybody else, who are all upstairs] Let them stay upstairs. Let them. Too many ways those monsters can get in here. We'll see who's right. We'll see, when they come begging me to let them in down here.
Helen Cooper: That's important, isn't it?
Harry Cooper: What?
Helen Cooper: To be right, everybody else to be wrong.
Harry Cooper: What do you mean by that?
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Night of the Living Dead Facts
S. William Hinzman and Karl Hardman, two of the original $300 investors had small roles due to a shortage of available talent. Another investor was a butcher, who provided some blood and guts.
One of the original ideas for the script before its many revisions called for Barbara to be a very strong, charismatic character. Instead, George A. Romero and the producers loved Judith O'Dea's portrayal as a catatonic and terrified young girl much better, and edited the script to accommodate the part. Eventually, the idea of Barbara being a strong, central character would be revisited in Tom Savini's 1990 remake.
The matricide scene was accomplished by having Kyra Schon stab repeatedly into a off-screen pillow with a trowel while a member of the effects crew threw chocolate syrup (used as fake blood for a black-and-white film) onto the wall. These scenes were looped with scenes of Marilyn Eastman screaming. The trowel used in the scene was purchased online years later and is now in a private collection.
One of the working titles for this film was "Night of Anubis". Anubis is the god of embalming/mummifying in the ancient Egyptian (Kemetan) religion. The title was changed once Romero learned that very few understood the reference.
The word "zombie" is never used. The most common euphemism used to describe the living dead is "those things," mostly by Cooper.
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