“Night of the Living Dead” (1968) Movie Review

    When someone talks about classic films, my thoughts don’t usually go towards horror films.  Sure some are fun but when I think of a classic film, I tend to think of culturally significant movies.  One exception that immediately comes to mind is the original “Night of the Living Dead” film released in 1968.  That film influenced everything from “Shaun of the Dead” to “The Walking Dead”, I mean the film practically wrote the book on how zombies should look and act.
    The first time I saw the film was a few years back and I was already an adult.  By today’s standards, the film is actually pretty tame.  In 1968 however, it was pushing the limits.  One such way was casting an African American in the lead hero role.  It is difficult to think of a time when casting a person of color in a lead role was considered a taboo thing, but it was in 1968.  We thankfully live in an era where we welcome films with a diverse cast with open arms (just look at the Fast & Furious franchise for example).  George A. Romero made a bold choice casting Duane Jones in the lead as Ben.  That casting choice more than paid off as Jones provided a strong lead and provided slight racial subtexts to the film.  For some context, 1968 was also an important year because the classic “Star Trek” series also included the first  interracial kiss to air on television in the United States.  It’s a shame it took so long to take progressive steps but I guess it’s good the country finally did.
    “Night of the Living Dead” also changed the way we looked at horror films.  Instead of campy sci-fi drive in style offerings of the 50s and early 60s which mainly dealt with alien invasions, “Night of the Living Dead” dealt with the horror here on Earth.  Romero remains one of the most copied horror filmmakers to this day.
    Even though there have been a slew of copies, nothing can completely top the original zombie classic.  Romero hasn’t even been able to top his classic with larger budgets.  Sometimes timing is everything.  In 1968, it was a perfect time to spend a night with the living dead.

Grade: A-