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#~~REDIRECT~~ [[~~Directory~~:~~Minks~~ Theater ~~Presents~~/Night of the Living Dead]]

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{{Infobox film

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| name = Night of the Living Dead

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| image =

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| image_size =

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| caption = Theatrical release poster

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| director = [[George A. Romero]]

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| producer = [[Karl Hardman]]<br />[[Russell Streiner]]

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| writer = George A. Romero<br />[[John A. Russo]]

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| starring = [[Duane Jones]]<br />[[Judith O'Dea]]<br />[[Karl Hardman]]<br />[[Marilyn Eastman]]<br />[[Keith Wayne]]<br />[[Judith Ridley]]<br />[[Kyra Schon]]<br />[[Russell Streiner]]<br />[[Bill Hinzman]]<br />George Kosana

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| music = Scott Vladimir Licina

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| cinematography = George A. Romero

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| editing = George A. Romero<br />John A. Russo

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| studio = Image Ten<br />Laurel Group<br />Market Square Productions<br />Off Color Films

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| distributor = [[Walter Reade|The Walter Reade Organization]]

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| released = {{Film date|1968|10|01}}

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| runtime = 96 minutes

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| country = United States

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| language = English

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| budget = $114,000

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| gross = $42,000,000 {{small|$689,716,923 in 2008 dollars}}

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| followed by = ''[[Dawn of the Dead]]'' (George A. Romero story) or ''[[Return of the Living Dead (novel)|Return of the Living Dead]]'' (John Russo story)

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}}

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'''''Night of the Living Dead''''' is a 1968 American [[independent film|independent]] [[black-and-white]] [[zombie film]] directed by [[George A. Romero]]. It premiered on October 1, 1968, and was completed on a [[United States dollar|USD]]$114,000 [[budget]]. After decades of cinematic re-releases, it grossed some $12 [[million]] [[Cinema of the United States|domestically]] and $30 [[million]] internationally. ''Night of the Living Dead'' was heavily criticized during its release because of its explicit content. However, it eventually received critical acclaim and was selected by the [[Library of Congress]] for preservation in the [[National Film Registry]] as a film deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."<ref name="CNN"/>

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The film follows Ben ([[Duane Jones]]), Barbra ([[Judith O'Dea]]), and five others, who are trapped in a [[rural]] farmhouse in [[Pennsylvania]] and attempt to survive the night while the house is being attacked by mysteriously [[Corporeal reanimation|reanimated]] ghouls, otherwise known as [[zombies]]. ''Night of the Living Dead'' is the origin of six other ''[[Living Dead]]'' films directed by George A. Romero and became the inspiration for two remakes of the film, [[Night of the Living Dead (1990 film)|film of the same name]] directed by [[Tom Savini]], and ''[[Night of the Living Dead 3D]]'', which was directed by [[Jeff Broadstreet]] and contained a much different storyline.

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== Plot ==

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Siblings Barbra ([[Judith O'Dea]]) and Johnny ([[Russell Streiner]]) drive to a rural [[Pennsylvania]] [[cemetery]] to visit their father's grave. Barbra is afraid of cemeteries; Johnny frightens her repeating, "They're coming to get you, Barbra!" A pale skinned man ([[Bill Hinzman]]) is walking with a limp around the cemetery, and Johnny says that he is "one of them." Annoyed by Johnny's ignorance, Barbra goes to the man to apologize, but he grabs her. Coming to save his sister, Johnny wrestles with the man but is killed when he falls headfirst on a tombstone. Barbra flees, being pursued by the man. Crashing her and Johnny's car into a tree, she goes to an empty farmhouse where she discovers the half-eaten corpse of the homeowner. As she runs out into the yard, she realizes several more ghoulish figures are swarming toward the house. Suddenly, a man named Ben ([[Duane Jones]]) arrives at the house, drags Barbra inside and boards up the doors and windows. Barbra frantically insists that they must go and rescue Johnny, then collapses in shock.

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Hiding in the cellar are an angry married couple, Harry and Helen Cooper ([[Karl Hardman]] and [[Marilyn Eastman]]), their daughter Karen ([[Kyra Schon]]), and teenage couple Tom and Judy ([[Keith Wayne]] and [[Judith Ridley]]). Ben activates a radio while Barbra awakens, believing Tom and Harry to be more of the ghouls when they emerge from the cellar. Arguing with each other, Harry wants everyone to hide in the cellar but Ben deems it a "death trap" and remains upstairs. Tom agrees with Ben and asks for Judy to come upstairs.

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Harry returns to the cellar to Helen and Karen, who was bitten on the arm by one of the attackers and has fallen ill. Radio reports explain that an epidemic of mass murder is sweeping across the [[East Coast of the United States|eastern seaboard]]. Ben discovers a television; the emergency broadcaster horrifyingly reveals that the recently deceased have reanimated and are consuming the flesh of living humans. Experts, scientists, and the military do not know the cause; one scientist believes it is caused by [[radioactive contamination]] from a space probe that exploded in the Earth's atmosphere.

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After the news reports reveal a series of local fortifications that the living are to retreat to for safety from the living dead, Ben devises a plan to escape from the house and head to the nearest one, for protection and to get medical help for Karen, who is barely conscious. Ben suggests they escape using the truck he drove to the house, but it needs fuel. Ben and Tom drive the short distance to an outside gas pump while Harry hurls [[Molotov cocktail]]s from an upper window to restrain the ghouls. Judy fears for Tom's safety and runs after him. They arrive at the pump but Tom spills fuel, setting the truck alight. Tom and Judy drive the truck from the pump to avoid further damage but it explodes, killing them. Ben returns to the house to find Harry boarding up the front door. Very angry with his actions, Ben kicks the door down and furiously beats Harry. Ghouls approach the truck and feed on Tom and Judy's flesh. Back in the house, a final report on the television reveals that a gunshot or heavy blow to the head will stop the [[ghouls in popular culture|"ghouls"]] and that [[posse comitatus (common law)|posses]] of armed men are patrolling the countryside to restore order.

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After the ghouls attempt to break into the house, Harry spots Ben's rifle and threatens to shoot him. Ben wrestles the gun from Harry and shoots him. The ghouls begin to tug Helen and Barbra through the windows. Harry stumbles into the cellar to find Karen has died from the infected bite on her arm, and Harry dies. Helen frees herself of the ghouls and proceeds to the cellar to find Karen reanimated and consuming Harry's flesh. Karen repeatedly stabs Helen with a cement trowel, killing her.

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Barbra spots Johnny in the group of ghouls; distracted, she is carried away and never seen again. Karen tries to attack Ben, but he pushes her away and seals himself in the cellar, ironically the course of action he originally argued against. Ben shoots the reanimated Harry and Helen. He is the only one to survive the night, and awakens when a posse arrives. He hears the posse and proceeds to the window, when a member of the posse mistakes him for a ghoul and shoots him, killing him. His body is then placed onto a burning [[pyre]] with other dead ghouls.

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== Production ==

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=== Development and background ===

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While attending [[Carnegie Mellon University]] in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]], Romero embarked upon his career in the [[film industry]]. In the 1960s, he directed and produced television commercials and [[sponsored film|industrial films]] for The Latent Image, a company he co-founded with friends [[John Russo]] and Russell Streiner. During this period, the trio grew bored making commercials and wanted to film a horror movie. According to Romero, they wanted to capitalize on the film industry's "thirst for the bizarre".<ref name="Hardman/Eastmaninterview">Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman interview, quoted at [http://www.homepageofthedead.com/films/night/interviews_1.html Homepage of the Dead]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> He and Streiner contacted Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman, president and vice president respectively of a Pittsburgh-based industrial film firm called Hardman Associates, Inc., and pitched their idea for a then-untitled horror film.<ref name="Hardman/Eastmaninterview">Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman interview, quoted at [http://www.homepageofthedead.com/films/night/interviews_1.html Homepage of the Dead].</ref> Convinced by Romero, a production company called Image Ten was formed which included Romero, Russo, Streiner, Hardman and Eastman. The initial budget was $6,000 with the ten members of the production company investing $600 each for a share of the profits. When it was found that another $6,000 was required another ten investors were found but this was also soon found to be inadequate. Image Ten eventually raised approximately $114,000 for the budget.<ref name="Hardman/Eastmaninterview"/><ref name="RomeroPreface">George A. Romero, Preface to John Russo, ''The Complete Night of the Living Dead Filmbook'' (Pittsburgh: Imagine, Inc., 1985), pp. 6–7, ISBN 978-0-911137-03-3 .</ref>

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=== Principal photography ===

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The small budget dictated much of the production process. According to Hardman, "We knew that we could not raise enough money to shoot a film on a par with the classic horror films with which we had all grown up. The best that we could do was to place our cast in a remote spot and then bring the horror to be visited on them in that spot".<ref name="Hardman/Eastmaninterview"/> Scenes were filmed near [[Evans City, Pennsylvania]], {{convert|30|mi|km}} north of Pittsburgh in rural [[Butler County, Pennsylvania|Butler County]]; the opening sequence was shot at the Evans City Cemetery on Franklin Road, south of the borough. The indoor scenes (upstairs) were filmed in a downtown Evans City home that later became the offices of a prominent local physician and family doctor (Allsop). This home is still standing on South Washington St. (locally called [[Pennsylvania Route 855|Mars-Evans City Road]]), between the intersecting streets of South Jackson and Van Buren.

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The outdoor, indoor (downstairs) and basement scenes were filmed at a location northeast of Evans City, near a park. The basement door (external view) shown in the film was cut into a wall by the production team and led nowhere. As this house was scheduled for demolition damage during filming was permitted. The site is now a [[Sod|turf farm]].<ref>What park? And where was the house, exactly? And yes, we DO need to know.</ref><ref>Neil Fawcett, "Evans Cemetery: Then and Now" at [http://www.homepageofthedead.com/baps/evans_cemetary.html Homepage of the Dead]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref><ref>Alan Jones, however, mistakenly cites the [[Allegheny Cemetery]] on Butler Street in Pittsburgh as the filming location. Alan Jones, ''The Rough Guide to Horror Movies'' (New York: Rough Guides, 2005), p. 118, ISBN 978-1-84353-521-8 .</ref>

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[[Theatrical property|Props]] and [[special effect]]s were fairly simple and limited by the budget. The blood, for example, was [[Bosco Chocolate Syrup]] drizzled over cast members' bodies.<ref>"The Filming" of ''Night of the Living Dead'' at [http://www.homepageofthedead.com/films/night/filming.html Homepage of the Dead]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> Consumed flesh was roasted ham and entrails donated by one of the actors who also owned a chain of butchers shops. Costumes consisted of second-hand clothing from cast members and [[Goodwill Industries|Goodwill]]. Zombie makeup varied during the film. Initially makeup was limited to "Raccoon" faces, white skin with blackened eyes, but as filming progressed mortician's wax was used to simulate wounds and decay to make the zombies more frightening. As filming was not linear, the "Raccoon" faces appear sporadically. Eastman supervised the special effects, wardrobe and makeup.<ref name="Hardman/Eastmaninterview"/> Filming took place between June and December 1967 under the working title ''Night of Anubis'' and later ''Night of the Flesh Eaters''.<ref name="IMDbbusiness">Business data for the film at the [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063350/business Internet Movie Database]; last accessed June 24, 2006; however, places the box-office gross of $12 million at January 2000, not 1979.</ref><ref name="Scrapbook, Special Features 2002">Scrapbook, Special Features, ''Night of the Living Dead'', Millennium Edition (DVD, Elite Entertainment, 2002).</ref><ref name="FrightfulFacts">"Frightful Facts" at [http://www.houseofhorrors.com/night68.htm House of Horrors]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> The small budget led Romero to shoot on [[35 mm|35 mm]] black-and-white film. The completed film ultimately benefited from the decision, as film historian Joseph Maddrey describes the black-and-white filming as "[[guerrilla filmmaking|guerrilla-style]]", resembling "the unflinching authority of a wartime [[newsreel]]". Maddrey adds, it "seem[s] as much like a documentary on the loss of social stability as an [[exploitation film]]".<ref>Joseph Maddrey, ''Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film'' (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2004), p. 51, ISBN 978-0-7864-1860-2 .</ref>

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=== Post-production ===

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Members of Image Ten were involved in filming and [[Film editing|post-production]], participating in loading [[camera magazine]]s, [[gaffer (motion picture industry)|gaffing]], constructing props, recording sounds and editing.<ref name="RomeroPreface"/> Production stills were shot and printed by Karl Hardman, who stated in an interview that a "number of cast members formed a production line in the darkroom for developing, washing and drying of the prints as I made the exposures. As I recall, I shot over 1,250 pictures during the production".<ref name="Hardman/Eastmaninterview"/> Upon completion of post-production, Image Ten found it difficult to secure a distributor willing to show the film with the gruesome scenes intact. [[Columbia Pictures|Columbia]] and [[American International Pictures]] declined after requests to soften it and re-shoot the final scene were rejected by producers.<ref>Jason Paul Collum, ''Assault of the Killer B's: Interviews with 20 Cult Film Actresses'' (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2004), p. 4, ISBN 978-0-7864-1818-3.</ref> Romero admitted that "none of us wanted to do that. We couldn't imagine a happy ending. . . . Everyone want[ed] a Hollywood ending, but we stuck to our guns".<ref name="DOD">George A. Romero interview, quoted at "George A. Romero Bio", Special Features, ''Dawn of the Dead'', Special Divimax Edition (DVD, Anchor Bay, 2004), [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001611DI/ ASIN B0001611DI].</ref> The [[Manhattan]]-based [[Walter Reade|Walter Reade Organization]] agreed to show the film uncensored, but changed the title from ''Night of the Flesh Eaters'' to ''Night of the Living Dead'' because a film had already been produced under a [[The Flesh Eaters (film)|similar title]] to the former.<ref name="FrightfulFacts"/> While changing the title, the copyright notice was accidentally deleted from the early releases of the film.

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=== Writing ===

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Co-written as a [[horror comedy]] by John Russo and George A. Romero under the title ''Monster Flick'',<ref name="Scrapbook, Special Features 2002"/> an early screenplay draft concerned the exploits of teenage [[Extraterrestrial life|aliens]] who visit [[Earth]] and befriend human teenagers. A second version of the script featured a young man who runs away from home and discovers rotting human corpses that aliens use for food scattered across a meadow. The final draft, written mainly by Romero during three days in 1967, focused on reanimated human corpses — Romero refers to them as ''[[ghouls]]'' — that feast on the flesh of the living.<ref name="Treatment">John A. Russo, ''The Complete Night of the Living Dead book'' (Pittsburgh: Imagine, Inc., 1985), ISBN 978-0-911137-03-3 , quoted in "Treatment/Original Script", Bonus Materials, ''Night of the Living Dead'', Millennium Edition (DVD, Elite Entertainment, 2002), [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00005Y6Y2 ASIN B00005Y6Y2].</ref> In a 1997 interview with the [[BBC]]'s ''Forbidden Weekend'', Romero explained that the script developed into a three-part [[short story]]. Part one became ''Night of the Living Dead''. Sequels ''[[Dawn of the Dead]]'' (1978) and ''[[Day of the Dead (1985 film)|Day of the Dead]]'' (1985) were adapted from the two remaining parts.<ref>George A. Romero interview, ''Forbidden Weekend'', February 2, 1997, available here [http://www.homepageofthedead.com/baps/bbc_interview.html]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref>

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Romero drew inspiration from [[Richard Matheson]]'s ''[[I Am Legend (book)|I Am Legend]]'' (1954), a [[horror fiction|horror/science fiction novel]] about a [[Epidemic|plague]] that ravages a futuristic [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]]. The infected in ''I Am Legend'' become [[vampire]]-like creatures and prey on the uninfected.<ref name="RomeroPreface"/><ref>Richard Matheson, ''I Am Legend'' (1954; New York: Orb Books, 1995), ISBN 978-0-312-86504-7 .</ref><ref>Marco Lanzagorta, review of ''Night of the Living Dead'', Millennium Edition DVD, at [http://popmatters.com/film/reviews/n/night-of-the-living-dead-millennium.shtml Pop Matters]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> Discussing the creation of ''Night of the Living Dead'', Romero remarked, "I had written a short story, which I basically had ripped off from a Richard Matheson novel called ''I Am Legend''."<ref>"One for the Fire: The Legacy of ''Night of the Living Dead''" — ''Night of the Living Dead'' DVD, 2008, Region 1, ''Dimension Home Entertainment''</ref> Romero further explained:

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{{cquote|I thought ''I Am Legend'' was about revolution. I said if you’re going to do something about revolution, you should start at the beginning. I mean, Richard starts his book with one man left; everybody in the world has become a vampire. I said we got to start at the beginning and tweak it up a little bit. I couldn’t use vampires because he did, so I wanted something that would be an earth-shaking change. Something that was forever, something that was really at the heart of it. I said, so what if the dead stop staying dead? ... And the stories are about how people respond or fail to respond to this. That’s really all [the zombies] ever represented to me. In Richard’s book, in the original ''I Am Legend'', that’s what I thought that book was about. There’s this global change and there’s one guy holding out saying, wait a minute, I’m still a human. He’s wrong. Go ahead. Join them. You’ll live forever! In a certain sense he’s wrong but on the other hand, you’ve got to respect him for taking that position.<ref>[http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Interview-George-A-Romero-On-Diary-Of-The-Dead-7818.html Interview: George A. Romero On ''Diary of the Dead''] Mariana McConnell, ''Cinema Blend'', January 14, 2008</ref>}}

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Official [[film adaptation]]s of Matheson's novel appeared in 1964 as ''[[The Last Man on Earth (1964 film)|The Last Man on Earth]]'', in 1971 as ''[[The Omega Man]]'', and the 2007 release ''[[I Am Legend (film)|I Am Legend]]''. Matheson was not impressed by Romero's interpretation, feeling that "It was ... kind of cornball",<ref>Richard Matheson interview, in Tom Weaver, ''Return of the B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers: The Mutant Melding of Two Volumes of Classic Interviews'' (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1999), p. 307, ISBN 978-0-7864-0755-2.</ref> though he later said, "George Romero's a nice guy, though. I don't harbor any animosity toward him".<ref>Clark Collis, ''An Author You Can't Refuse'', [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20164028,00.html Entertainment Weekly], December 7, 2007.</ref> Regarding Romero's use of ''I Am Legend'' as inspiration, critic Danél Griffin remarked, "Romero freely admits that his film was a direct rip-off of Matheson's novel; I would be a little less harsh in my description and say that Romero merely expanded the author’s ideas with deviations so completely original that [''Night of the Living Dead''] is expelled from being labeled a true 'rip-off'."<ref>[http://uashome.alaska.edu/~dfgriffin/website/lastmanonearth.htm ''The Last Man on Earth'' review] by Danél Griffin, ''Film as Art: Danél Griffin's Guide to Cinema''</ref>

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Russo and Romero revised the screenplay while filming. Karl Hardman attributed the edits to lead actor Duane Jones:

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{{cquote|The script had been written with the character Ben as a rather simple truck driver. His dialogue was that of a lower class / uneducated person. Duane Jones was a very well educated man [and he] simply refused to do the role as it was written. As I recall, I believe that Duane himself upgraded his own dialogue to reflect how he felt the character should present himself.<ref name="Hardman/Eastmaninterview"/>}}

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Eastman modified cellar scenes featuring dialogue between Helen and Harry Cooper.<ref name="Hardman/Eastmaninterview"/> According to lead actress Judith O'Dea, much of the dialogue was [[Improvisational theatre|improvised]]. She told an interviewer, "I don't know if there was an actual working script! We would go over what basically had to be done, then just did it the way we each felt it ''should'' be done".<ref name="O'Deainterview">Judith O'Dea interview, in Collum, ''Assault of the Killer B's'', p. 4.</ref> One example offered by O'Dea concerns a scene where Barbra tells Ben about Johnny's death:

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{{cquote|The sequence where Ben is breaking up the table to block the entrance and I'm on the couch and start telling him the story of what happened [to Johnny] it's all [[Ad libitum|ad-libbed]]. This is what we want to get across [...] tell the story about me and Johnny in the car and me being attacked. That was it [...] all improv. We filmed it once. There was a concern we didn't get the sound right, but fortunately they were able to use it.<ref name="O'Deainterview"/>}}

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== Casting ==

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=== Lead cast ===

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{|

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|- valign="top"

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|

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{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"

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|-

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| [[Duane Jones]]

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|   ... Ben

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|-

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| [[Judith O'Dea]]

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|   ... Barbra

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|-

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| [[Karl Hardman]]

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|   ... Harry

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|-

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| [[Marilyn Eastman]]

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|   ... Helen

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|-

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| [[Keith Wayne]]

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|   ... Tom

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|-

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| [[Judith Ridley]]

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|   ... Judy

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|}

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|  

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|  

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|  

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|  

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|  

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|

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{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"

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|-

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| [[Kyra Schon]]

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|   ... Karen Cooper

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|-

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| Charles Craig

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|   ... Newscaster / Zombie

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|-

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| [[Bill Hinzman|Bill Heinzman]]

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|   ... Cemetery Zombie (original and new scenes)

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|-

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| George Kosana

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|   ... Sheriff McClelland

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|-

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| Rusell Streiner

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|   ... Johnny

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|}

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|}

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</div>

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The lead role of Ben was played by unknown stage actor Duane Jones. His performance depicted Ben as a "comparatively calm and resourceful [[Negro]]", according to a contemporary (1969) movie reviewer.<ref>Kevin Thomas, review of ''Night of the Living Dead'', Los Angeles ''Times'', January 10, 1969, reprinted in ''The A-List: The National Society of Film Critics' 100 Essential Films'', ed. Jay Carr (Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, 2002), p. 199, ISBN 978-0-306-81096-1 .</ref> Casting Jones as the hero was, in 1968, potentially controversial. At that time, it was not typical for an African American man to be the hero of a film when the rest of the cast was composed entirely of white actors and actresses. Social commentators saw that casting as significant; on the other hand, Romero said that Jones "simply gave the best audition".<ref name="RomeroJones">George A. Romero, quoted in Jones, ''Rough Guide to Horror Movies'', p. 118.</ref> After ''Night of the Living Dead'', he co-starred in ''[[Ganja and Hess]]'' (1973), ''[[Vampires (1986 film)|Vampires]]'' (1986), ''[[Negatives (film)|Negatives]]'' (1988) and ''[[To Die For (1989 film)|To Die For]]'' (1989) before his death in 1988.<ref>Duane Jones at the [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0427977/ Internet Movie Database]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> Despite his other film roles, Jones worried that people only recognized him as Ben.<ref>Duane Jones interview, Bonus Materials, ''Night of the Living Dead'', Millennium Edition (DVD, Elite Entertainment, 2002).</ref>

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Judith O'Dea, a 23-year-old commercial and stage actress, played Barbra. She had once worked for Hardman and Eastman in [[Pittsburgh]], so they called her to audition. O'Dea was in [[Hollywood]] seeking to enter the movie business. She remarked in an interview that starring in the film was a positive experience for her, although she admitted that horror movies terrified her, particularly [[Vincent Price|Vincent Price's]] ''[[House of Wax (1953 film)|House of Wax]]'' (1953). Besides acting, O'Dea performed her own stunts, which she jokingly says amounted to "lots of running". Assessing ''Night of the Living Dead'', she states "I honestly had no idea it would have such a lasting impact on our culture". She was just as surprised by the renown the film brought her: "People treat you differently. [I'm] [[wiktionary:ho-hum#English|ho-hum]] Judy O'Dea until they realize [I'm] Barbra from ''Night of the Living Dead''. All of a sudden [I'm] not so ho-hum anymore!"<ref name="O'Deainterview"/> Following ''Night of the Living Dead'', O'Dea appeared in the television film ''The Pirate'' in 1978 and feature films ''[[Claustrophobia (2004 film)|Claustrophobia]]'', ''[[October Moon]]'', and ''[[The Ocean (film)|The Ocean]]''.<ref>Judith O'Dea at the [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0640621/ Internet Movie Database]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref>

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The supporting cast had no experience in the film industry prior to ''Night of the Living Dead''. The role of Tom remained Keith Wayne's only film role (he committed [[suicide]] in 1995).<ref>Keith Wayne at the [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0915593/ Internet Movie Database]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> Judith Ridley later co-starred in Romero's ''[[There's Always Vanilla]]'' (1971).<ref>Judith Ridley at the [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0725985/ Internet Movie Database]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> The cemetery zombie who kills Johnny in the first scene was played by [[S. William Hinzman]] (credited as Bill Hinzman), in a role that launched his horror film career. Hinzman was later involved in the films ''[[Season of the Witch (film)|Season of the Witch]]'' (1973), ''[[Flesheater]]'' (1988), ''[[Legion of the Night]]'' (1995), ''[[Santa Claws]]'' (1996), and ''[[Evil Ambitions]]'' (1996).<ref>S. William Hinzman at the [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0386100/ Internet Movie Database]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref>

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Cast members Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman and Russell Streiner performed prominent acting roles. Hardman and Eastman co-starred as Harry and Helen Cooper (Eastman also played the female zombie who plucks an insect off a tree and eats it) while Streiner played Johnny, Barbra's brother. Hardman's 11-year-old daughter, [[Kyra Schon]], played Karen Cooper. Image Ten's [[production manager]], George Kosana, played Sheriff McClelland.<ref>Full Cast and Crew for ''Night of the Living Dead'' at the [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063350/fullcredits Internet Movie Database]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> Romero's friends and acquaintances were recruited as zombie [[extra (actor)|extras]]. Romero stated, "We had a film company doing commercials and industrial films so there were a lot of people from the advertising game who all wanted to come out and be zombies, and a lot of them did". He adds amusingly, "Some people from around Evans City who just thought it was a goof came out to get caked in makeup and lumber around".<ref>George A. Romero interview, quoted at [http://www.homepageofthedead.com/films/night/zombies.html Homepage of the Dead]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref>

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=== Directing ===

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''Night of the Living Dead'' was the first feature-length film directed by George A. Romero. His initial work involved filming [[short subject|shorts]] for Pittsburgh public broadcaster [[WQED (TV)|WQED]]'s children's series ''[[Mister Rogers' Neighborhood]]''.<ref name="DOD"/><ref>George A. Romero, "Bloody Diary" available at [http://www.diamonddead.com/diary/view.php?s=YToyOntzOjM6ImFpZCI7czoxOiIzIjtzOjI6ImlkIjtzOjI6IjM1Ijt9 Diamond Dead]. Retrieved June 24, 2006. {{dead link|date=September 2010}}</ref> Romero's decision to direct ''Night of the Living Dead'' essentially launched his career as a horror director. He took the helm of the sequels as well as ''Season of the Witch'', ''[[The Crazies (1973 film)|The Crazies]]'' (1973), ''[[Martin (film)|Martin]]'' (1977), ''[[Creepshow]]'' (1982) and ''[[The Dark Half (film)|The Dark Half]]'' (1993).<ref>George A. Romero biography at [http://www.horrordirectors.com/georgeromero.html HorrorDirectors.com]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> Critics saw the influence of the horror and science-fiction films of the 1950s in Romero's directorial style. Stephen Paul Miller, for instance, witnessed "a revival of fifties schlock shock... and the army general's television discussion of military operations in the film echoes the often inevitable calling-in of the army in fifties horror films". Miller admits, however, that "''Night of the Living Dead'' takes greater relish in mocking these military operations through the general's pompous demeanor" and the government's inability to source the zombie epidemic or protect the citizenry.<ref>Stephen Paul Miller, ''The Seventies Now: Culture as Surveillance'' (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1999), p. 81, ISBN 978-0-8223-2166-8 .</ref> Romero describes the mood he wished to establish: "The film opens with a situation that has already disintegrated to a point of little hope, and it moves progressively toward absolute despair and ultimate tragedy".<ref>George A. Romero, quoted in Royer, ''The Spectacle Of Isolation,'' p. 15.</ref> According to film historian Carl Royer, Romero "employs [[chiaroscuro]] ([[film noir]] style) lighting to emphasize humanity's nightmare alienation from itself".<ref>Carl Royer, ''The Spectacle Of Isolation In Horror Films: Dark Parades'' Binghamton, N.Y.: Haworth Press, 2005), p. 15, ISBN 978-0-7890-2264-6 .</ref>

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While some critics dismissed Romero's film because of the graphic scenes, writer [[R. H. W. Dillard]] claimed that the "open-eyed detailing" of [[taboo]] heightened the film's success. He asks, "What girl has not, at one time or another, wished to kill her mother? And Karen, in the film, offers a particularly vivid opportunity to commit the forbidden deed vicariously."<ref>R. H. W. Dillard, "''Night of the Living Dead'': It's Not Like Just a Wind That's Passing Through", in ''American Horrors: Essays on the Modern American Horror Film'', ed. Gregory A. Waller (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988), p. 15, ISBN 978-0-252-01448-2 .</ref> Romero featured social taboos as key themes, particularly [[cannibalism]]. Although zombie cannibals were inspired by Matheson's ''[[I Am Legend (novel)|I Am Legend]]'', film historian Robin Wood sees the flesh-eating scenes of ''Night of the Living Dead'' as a late-1960s critique of American [[capitalism]]. Wood asserts that the zombies represent capitalists, and "cannibalism represents the ultimate in possessiveness, hence the logical end of human relations under capitalism." He argues that the zombies' victims symbolized the repression of "[[Other|the Other]]" in [[bourgeoisie]] American society, namely [[American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)|civil rights activists]], [[Second-wave feminism|feminists]], [[homosexuality|homosexuals]] and [[counterculture|counterculturalists]] in general.<ref>Robin Wood, "An Introduction to the American Horror Film", in ''Movies and Methods'', Vol. II, ed. Bill Nichols (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1985), p. 213, ISBN 978-0-520-05409-7 .</ref>

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=== Music and sound effects ===

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The [[film score|music score]] of ''Night of the Living Dead'' was not composed for the film; Karl Hardman told an interviewer that the music came from the extensive film music library of WRS Studio. Much of what was used in the film was purchased from the library of [[Capitol Records]], and an album of the soundtrack was released at one point. Stock music selections included works by WRS sound tech Richard Lococo, [[Philip Green (composer)|Philip Green]], [[Geordie Hormel]], [[Ib Glindemann]], William Loose, John Seely, Jack Meakin and Spencer Moore.

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Some of the music in the film had previously been used on the soundtrack for the science-fiction [[B-movie]] ''[[Teenagers from Outer Space]]'' (1959). The eerie musical piece during the tense scene in the film where Ben finds the rifle in the closet inside the farmhouse as the radio reports of mayhem play in the background can be heard in longer and more complete form during the opening credits and the beginning of ''[[The Devil's Messenger]]'' (1961) starring [[Lon Chaney Jr.]] Another piece, accompanying Barbra's flight from the cemetery zombie, was taken from the score for ''[[The Hideous Sun Demon]]'' (1959) and had also been used in the final episode of television's ''[[The Fugitive (TV series)|The Fugitive]]'', which had aired one year earlier. According to WRS, "We chose a selection of music for each of the various scenes and then George made the final selections. We then took those selections and augmented them electronically". Sound tech R.Lococo's choices worked well, as Film historian Sumiko Higashi believes that the music "signifies the nature of events that await".<ref>Sumiko Higashi, "''Night of the Living Dead'': A Horror Film about the Horrors of the Vietnam Era", in ''From Hanoi to Hollywood''</ref>

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Sound effects were created by WRS Studio in Pittsburgh. "Sound engineer Richard Lococo recorded all of the live sound effects used in the film". Lococo recalled, "Of all the sound effects that we created, the one that still gives me goose bumps when I hear it, is Marilyn's screaming as [Helen Cooper] is killed by her daughter. Judy O'Dea's screaming is a close second. Both were looped in and out of echo over and over again". A [[soundtrack album]] featuring music and dialogue cues from the film was compiled and released by [[Varèse Sarabande]] in 1982; however, it has never been reissued on [[compact disc|CD]]. In November 2008, recording group 400 Lonely Things released the album ''Tonight of the Living Dead'', "an instrumental album composed entirely of ambient music and sound effects sampled from Romero's 1968 horror classic".<ref>Paul Corupe, "They're Coming to Remix You, Barbra", ''Rue Morgue'' (No. 92, August 2009), p. 63</ref>

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On 25 May 2010, the record company Zero Day Releasing released the CD ''They Won't Stay Dead!: Music from the soundtrack of Night of the Living Dead''. It features all-new digitally restored audio from original library LPs and reels and it's the most comprehensive ''Night of the Living Dead'' soundtrack ever released in any format. It contains much more music than the Varese release, having 40 tracks.

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== Reception ==

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''Night of the Living Dead'' premiered on October 1, 1968 at the Fulton Theater in Pittsburgh.<ref name = "Collum3"/> Nationally, it was shown as a Saturday afternoon matinée — as was typical for horror films at the time — and attracted an audience consisting of [[pre-teen]]s and [[adolescence|adolescents]].<ref>[[Stephen King]], ''[[Danse Macabre (book)|Danse Macabre]]'' (New York: Berkley Books, 1983), pp. 1–9, ISBN 978-0-425-10433-0 .</ref><ref name="Ebertreview">Roger Ebert, review of ''Night of the Living Dead'', Chicago ''Sun-Times'', January 5, 196[9], at [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19670105/REVIEWS/701050301/1023 RogerEbert.com]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> The [[MPAA film rating system]] was not in place until November 1968, so even young children were not prohibited from purchasing tickets. [[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' chided theater owners and parents who allowed children access to the film. "I don't think the younger kids really knew what hit them," he said. "They were used to going to movies, sure, and they'd seen some horror movies before, sure, but this was something else." According to Ebert, the film affected the audience immediately:

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{{cquote|The kids in the audience were stunned. There was almost complete silence. The movie had stopped being delightfully scary about halfway through, and had become unexpectedly terrifying. There was a little girl across the aisle from me, maybe nine years old, who was sitting very still in her seat and crying... It's hard to remember what sort of effect this movie might have had on you when you were six or seven. But try to remember. At that age, kids take the events on the screen seriously, and they identify fiercely with the hero. When the hero is killed, that's not an unhappy ending but a [[tragedy|tragic]] one: Nobody got out alive. It's just over, that's all.

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<ref name="Ebertreview"/>}}

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One commentator asserts that the film garnered little attention from critics, "except to provoke argument about [[censorship|censoring]] its grisly scenes".<ref name="Higashi175">Higashi, "''Night of the Living Dead''", p. 175.</ref> Despite the controversy, five years after the premiere Paul McCullough of ''[[Take One]]'' observed that ''Night of the Living Dead'' was the "most profitable horror film ever [...] produced outside the walls of a major studio".<ref>Paul McCullough, "A Pittsburgh Horror Story", ''Take One'' 4 (No. 6, July–August 1973), p. 8.</ref> The film had earned between $12 and $15 million at the American [[box office]] after a decade. It was translated into more than 25 languages and released across Europe, Canada and Australia.<ref name="Higashi175"/> ''Night of the Living Dead'' grossed $30 million internationally, and the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' reported that it was the top grossing film in [[Europe]] in 1969.<ref name="VH1">''Night of the Living Dead'' at [http://www.vh1.com/movies/movie/24972/plot.jhtml VH1.com]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref><ref>''Wall Street Journal'' (New York), quoted in Dillard, "''Night of the Living Dead''", p. 15.</ref>

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More than 40 years after its release, the film enjoys a reputation as a classic and still receives positive reviews; ''Night of the Living Dead'' currently holds a 96% "Certified Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website [[Rotten Tomatoes]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1015052-night_of_the_living_dead/ |title=Night of the Living Dead Movie Reviews, Pictures |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref> and it is regarded by many as one of the best films of 1968.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmsite.org/1968.html |title=Greatest Films of 1968 |publisher=Filmsite.org |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.films101.com/y1968r.htm |title=The Best Movies of 1968 by Rank |publisher=Films101.com |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/year/1968 |title=Most Popular Feature Films Released in 1968 |publisher=IMDb.com |date= |accessdate=2010-05-13}}</ref> In 2008, the film was selected by ''[[Empire Magazine|Empire]]'' magazine as one of ''The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.empireonline.com/500/21.asp |title=Empire Features |publisher=Empireonline.com |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' also placed the film on their ''Best 1000 Movies Ever'' list.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Film |first=The |url=http://www.nytimes.com/ref/movies/1000best.html |title=The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made - Reviews - Movies - New York Times |publisher=Nytimes.com |date= April 29, 2003|accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref>

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''Night of the Living Dead'' was also awarded two distinguished honors decades after its debut. The [[Library of Congress]] added the film to the [[National Film Registry]] in 1999 with other films deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".<ref name="CNN">"U.S. film registry adds 25 new titles", November 16, 1999, at [http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/9911/16/natl.film.registry/ CNN]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref><ref>"Librarian of Congress Names 25 More Films to National Film Registry", November 16, 1999, at [http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/1999/99-174.html Library of Congress]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> In 2001, the film was ranked #93 by the [[American Film Institute]] on their ''[[AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills|100 Years...100 Thrills]]'' list, a list of America's most heart-pounding movies.<ref>''AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills'', at [http://www.afi.com/docs/tvevents/pdf/thrills100.pdf American Film Institute]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> The zombies in the picture were also a candidate for AFI's ''[[AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains|100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains]]'', in the villains category, but failed to make the official list.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/handv400.pdf?docID=245 |title=AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains: The 400 Nominated Characters |publisher=afi.com |date= |accessdate= June 6, 2010}}</ref> The [[Chicago Film Critics Association]] named it the 5th scariest film ever made.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.altfg.com/blog/hollywood/chicago-critics-scariest-films/ |title= Chicago Critics’ Scariest Films |publisher=AltFilmGuide.com |date= |accessdate= May 21, 2010}}</ref> The film also ranked #9 on [[Bravo (US TV network)|Bravo]]'s ''[[100 Scariest Movie Moments]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Scariest_Movie_Moments/index.shtml |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20071030070540/http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Scariest_Movie_Moments/index.shtml |archivedate=2007-10-30 |title= Bravo's The 100 Scariest Movie Moments |publisher=web.archive.org |date= |accessdate= May 21, 2010}}</ref>

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=== Reviews ===

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Reviewers disliked the film's gory special effects. ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' labeled ''Night of the Living Dead'' an "unrelieved [[orgy]] of [[Sadism and Masochism|sadism]]" and questioned the "integrity and social responsibility of its Pittsburgh-based makers".<ref>''Variety'', review of ''Night of the Living Dead'', October 15, 1968, quoted in Higashi, "''Night of the Living Dead''", p. 184.</ref> ''[[New York Times]]'' critic [[Vincent Canby]] referred to the film as a "junk movie" as well as "spare, uncluttered, but really silly."<ref>Vincent Canby, "Getting Beyond Myra and The Valley of the Junk", New York ''Times'', July 5, 1970, p. 49.</ref>

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Nevertheless, some reviewers cited the film as groundbreaking. [[Pauline Kael]] called the film "one of the most gruesomely terrifying movies ever made — and when you leave the theatre you may wish you could forget the whole horrible experience. . . . The film's grainy, banal seriousness works for it — gives it a crude realism".<ref name="Kael">Pauline Kael, ''5001 Nights at the Movies'' (Henry Holt and Company, 1991), ISBN 978-0-8050-1367-2 .</ref> A ''Film Daily'' critic commented, "This is a pearl of a horror picture which exhibits all the earmarks of a [[sleeper hit|sleeper]]."<ref>''Film Daily'', review of ''Night of the Living Dead'', quoted in Higashi, "''Night of the Living Dead''", p. 175.</ref> While Roger Ebert criticized the matinée screening, he admitted that he "admires the movie itself".<ref name="Ebertreview"/> Critic [[Rex Reed]] wrote, "If you want to see what turns a [[B movie]] into a classic [...] don't miss ''Night of the Living Dead''. It is unthinkable for anyone seriously interested in horror movies not to see it."<ref>Rex Reed, quoted at [http://www.houseofhorrors.com/night68.htm House of Horrors]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref>

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Since the release, critics and film historians have seen ''Night of the Living Dead'' as a subversive film that critiques 1960s American society, international [[Cold War]] politics and domestic [[racism]]. Elliot Stein of ''[[The Village Voice]]'' saw the film as an ardent critique of American involvement in [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]], arguing that it "was not set in [[Transylvania]], but Pennsylvania — this was [[Middle America (United States)|Middle America]] at war, and the zombie carnage seemed a grotesque echo of the conflict then raging in [[Vietnam]]".<ref name="Steinreview">Elliot Stein, "The Dead Zones: 'George A. Romero' at the American Museum of the Moving Image", ''The Village Voice'' (New York), January 8–14, 2003, available here [http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0302,stein,41018,20.html]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> Film historian Sumiko Higashi concurs, arguing that ''Night of the Living Dead'' was a horror film about the horrors of the Vietnam era. While she asserts that "there are no Vietnamese in ''Night of the Living Dead'', [...] they constitute an absent presence whose significance can be understood if narrative is construed". She points to aspects of the Vietnam War paralleled in the film: grainy black-and-white newsreels, [[search-and-destroy]] operations, helicopters, and graphic carnage.<ref>Higashi, "''Night of the Living Dead''", p. 181.</ref>

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While George Romero denies he hired Duane Jones simply because he was black, reviewer Mark Deming notes that "the grim fate of Duane Jones, the sole heroic figure and only African-American, had added resonance with the assassinations of [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] and [[Malcolm X]] fresh in the minds of most Americans."<ref name="RomeroJones"/><ref>Mark Deming, review of ''Night of the Living Dead'', at [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:35311 Allmovie]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> Stein adds, "In this first-ever subversive horror movie, the resourceful black hero survives the zombies only to be killed by a [[redneck (stereotype)|redneck]] posse".<ref name="Steinreview"/> The deaths of Ben, Barbra and the supporting cast offered audiences an uncomfortable, [[nihilism|nihilistic]] glimpse unusual for the genre.<ref>Jones, ''Rough Guide to Horror'', pp. 117–118.</ref>

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Other prevalent themes included "[[wiktionary:disillusionment|disillusionment]] with government and [[patriarchal]] [[nuclear family]]"<ref name="Steinreview"/> and "the flaws inherent in the media, local and federal government agencies, and the entire mechanism of [[civil defense]]".<ref>Gregory A. Waller, Introduction to ''American Horrors'', p. 4.</ref> Film historian Linda Badley explains that the film was so horrifying because the monsters were not creatures from [[Outer Space]] or some exotic environment, "They're us".<ref>Linda Badley, ''Film, Horror, and the Body Fantastic'' (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1995), p. 25, ISBN 978-0-313-27523-4 .</ref> Romero confessed that the film was designed to reflect the tensions of the time: "It was 1968, man. Everybody had a 'message'. The anger and attitude and all that's there is just because it was the Sixties. We lived at the farmhouse, so we were always into raps about the implication and the meaning, so some of that crept in."<ref name="RomeroJones"/>

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=== Influence ===

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Romero revolutionized the horror film genre with ''Night of the Living Dead''; per Almar Haflidason, of the BBC, the film represented "a new dawn in horror film-making".<ref>Almar Haflidason, review of ''Night of the Living Dead'', March 20, 2001, at [http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/03/20/night_of_the_living_dead_1968_review.shtml BBC]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> The film has also effectively redefined the use of the term "[[zombie]]". While the word "zombie" itself is never used, Romero's film introduced the theme of zombies as reanimated, flesh-eating cannibals.<ref name="Collum3">Collum, ''Assault of the Killer B's'', p. 3.</ref><ref>Andrew Tudor, ''Monsters and Mad Scientists: A Cultural History of the Horror Movie'' (Oxford, Eng.: Blackwell Publishing, 1989), p. 101, ISBN 978-0-631-16992-5 .</ref> Early zombie films like [[Victor Halperin|Victor Halperin's]] ''[[White Zombie (film)|White Zombie]]'' (1932) and [[Jacques Tourneur|Jacques Tourneur's]] ''[[I Walked with a Zombie]]'' (1943) concerned living people [[slavery|enslaved]] by a [[Haitian Vodou|Voodoo]] [[witch doctor]]; many were set in the [[Caribbean]].

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The film and its successors spawned countless imitators that borrowed elements instituted by Romero: ''[[Tombs of the Blind Dead]]'', ''[[Zombi 2|Zombie]]'', ''[[Hell of the Living Dead]]'', ''[[Night of the Comet]]'', ''[[Return of the Living Dead]]'', ''[[Night of the Creeps]]'', ''[[Children of the Living Dead]]'', and the video game series ''[[Resident Evil (series)|Resident Evil]]'' (later adapted as films in [[Resident Evil (film)|2002]], [[Resident Evil: Apocalypse|2004]], and [[Resident Evil: Extinction|2007]]), ''[[Dead Rising]]'', and ''[[House of the Dead (film)|House of the Dead]]''. ''Night of the Living Dead'' is [[parody|parodied]] in films such as ''[[Night of the Living Bread]]'' and ''[[Shaun of the Dead]]'', and in [[episode]]s of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' ("[[Treehouse of Horror III]]", 1992; "[[Treehouse of Horror XIII]]", 2004 and "[[Treehouse of Horror XX]]", 2009), ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', ''[[South Park]]'' ("[[Pink Eye (South Park episode)|Pink Eye]]", 1997; "[[Night of the Living Homeless]]", 2007), ''[[Medium (TV series)|Medium]]'' ("[[Bite Me]]", 2009) and ''[[Invader Zim]]'' ("[[Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom]]" 2001 and "[[FBI Warning of Doom]]" 2002).<ref>Rockoff, ''Going to Pieces'', p. 36.</ref><ref>"Treehouse of Horror III", episode 64, ''The Simpsons'', October 29, 1992, at the [http://imdb.com/title/tt0758368/ Internet Movie Database]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref><ref>"Pink Eye", episode 107, ''South Park'', October 29, 1997, on ''South Park: The Complete First Season'' (DVD, Warner Bros., 2002)</ref>

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''Night of the Living Dead'' ushered in the [[splatter film]] sub-genre. As one film historian points out, horror prior to Romero's film had mostly involved rubber masks and costumes, cardboard sets, or mysterious figures lurking in the shadows. They were set in locations far removed from rural and [[suburban]] America.<ref>Jones, ''Rough Guide to Horror'', p. 117.</ref> Romero revealed the power behind [[exploitation film|exploitation]] and setting horror in ordinary, unexceptional locations and offered a template for making an "effective and lucrative" film on a "minuscule budget".<ref name="Rockoff">Adam Rockoff, ''Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film, 1978–1986'' (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2002), p.35, ISBN 978-0-7864-1227-3.</ref> [[Slasher films]] of the 1970s and 80s such as [[John Carpenter]]'s ''[[Halloween (1978 film)|Halloween]]'' (1978), [[Sean S. Cunningham]]'s ''[[Friday the 13th (1980 film)|Friday the 13th]]'' (1980), and [[Wes Craven]]'s ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street]]'' (1984) "owe much to the original ''Night of the Living Dead''", according to author Barry Keith Grant.<ref>Grant, "Taking Back the ''Night of the Living Dead''", p. 201.</ref>

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== Revisions ==

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The first revisions of ''Night of the Living Dead'' involved [[film colorization|colorization]] by home video distributors. [[Hal Roach|Hal Roach Studios]] released a colorized version in 1986 that featured ghouls with pale green skin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.copyright.gov/records/ |title=Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) — ''Night of the Living Dead'' |accessdate=2008-01-16 |last= |first= |coauthors= |date= |work= |publisher=[[United States Copyright Office]]}}</ref> Another colorized version appeared in 1997 from [[Anchor Bay Entertainment]] with grey-skinned zombies.<ref>''Night of the Living Dead'' (VHS, Anchor Bay Entertainment, 1997), ISBN 6301231864.</ref> In 2004, [[Legend Films]] produced a new colorized version. Technology critic Gary W. Tooze wrote that "The colorization is damn impressive", but noticed the print used was not as sharp as other releases of the film.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare5/nightlivingdead.htm |title=Review of ''Night of the Living Dead'' |accessdate=2 January 2009 |last=Tooze |first=Gary W |publisher=DVD Beaver}}</ref> In 2009, Legend Films coproduced a colorized [[3-D film|3-D]] version of the film with PassmoreLab, a company that converts 2-D film into 3-D format.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/33597/johnny-ramone-tribute-includes-night-living-dead-3d |title=Johnny Ramone Tribute Includes Night of the Living Dead in 3D |publisher=Dreadcentral.com |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref> This version will receive a full theatrical release in Europe, followed by a limited theatrical release in the United States<ref>{{Cite news|first=Michael |last=Lee |title=''Bringing Romero’s ‘Dead’ to Life with Color and 3-D'' |url=http://homemediamagazine.com/product-news/bringing-romeros-dead-life-with-color-and-3-d-14201 |publisher=[[Home Media Magazine]] |date=December 29, 2008 |accessdate=2 January 2009 }}</ref> According to Legend Films founder Barry Sandrew, ''Night of the Living Dead'' is the first entirely live action 2-D film to be converted to 3-D.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Legend Films, Inc. |authorlink= |author= |coauthors= |title=''“Night of the Living Dead” to Be Released in Color and 3D'' |curly= |url=http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20081223005830&newsLang=en |agency= |work= |publisher=Business Wire |location= |id= |pages= |page= |date=December 23, 2008 |accessdate=2 January 2009 |language= |quote= |archiveurl= |archivedate= }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/18491 |title=Trailer for 3D 'Night of the Living Dead' Re-Release |publisher=Bloody-disgusting.com |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref>

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In 1999, co-writer [[John A. Russo]] released a modified version called ''Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition''.<ref>''Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition'' (DVD, 1999), [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000JXVO/ ASIN B00000JXVO].</ref> He filmed additional scenes and recorded a revised soundtrack composed by Scott Vladimir Licina. In an interview with ''[[Fangoria (magazine)|Fangoria]]'' magazine, Russo explained that he wanted to "give the movie a more modern pace".<ref>John A. Russo interview, ''Fangoria'', quoted at [http://www.homepageofthedead.com/films/night30/index.html Homepage of the Dead].</ref> Russo took liberties with the original script. The additions are neither clearly identified nor even listed. However, ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' reported "no bad blood" between Russo and Romero. The magazine, however, quoted Romero as saying, "I didn't want to touch ''Night of the Living Dead''".<ref>''Entertainment Weekly'', quoted at [http://www.homepageofthedead.com/films/night30/index.html Homepage of the Dead]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> Critics panned the revised film, notably [[Harry Knowles]] of ''[[Ain't It Cool News]]''. Knowles promised to permanently ban anyone from his publication who offered positive criticism of the film.<ref>Harry Knowles, review of ''Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition'', at [http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=4397 Ain't It Cool News]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> A sequel called ''[[Children of the Living Dead]]'' followed in 2001.<ref>http://www.homepageofthedead.com/baps/cotld_email.html</ref>

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A collaborative [[animation|animated]] project known as ''Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated'' is currently playing several film festivals<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=95647949762 |title=Niet compatibele browser |publisher=Facebook |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.horror-movies.ca/horror_16657.html |title=Night of the Living Dead Re-animated FREE New Jersey Screening |publisher=HorrorMovies.ca |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.noroominhell.com/wordpress/?p=1632 |title=Horror Movie Reviews and Commentary |publisher=No Room In Hell |date=2009-12-06 |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metrocinema.org/film_view/2290/ |title=Night of the Living Dead Reanimated |publisher=Metro Cinema |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://events.getoutaz.com/tempe-az/events/show/91764705-night-of-the-living-dead-reanimated |title=Tempe Film: Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated on Thursday 1/28 - GetOutAZ.com |publisher=Events.getoutaz.com |date=2010-01-28 |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref> and was released onto DVD on July 27, 2010 by Wild Eye Releasing.<ref>[http://www.wildeyereleasing.com/futureNEW.html Coming Soon]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.facebook.com/pages/Night-of-the-Living-Dead-Reanimated/285585421922 |title=Niet compatible browser |publisher=Facebook |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=by Garth, February 20, 2010 1:03 AM |url=http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2010/02/night-of-the-living-dead-reanimated-review.php |title=Reviews: Night Of The Living Dead: Reanimated Review |publisher=Twitchfilm.net |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shootforthehead.com/356-Interview-with-Night-of-the-Living-Dead-Reanimated.html |title=Interview with Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated's Mike Schneider |publisher=ShootForTheHead.com |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> This project aims to "reanimate" the 1968 film by replacing Romero's celluloid images with animation done in a wide variety of styles by artists from around the world, laid over the original audio from Romero's version.<ref>Official NOTLD:Reanimated Site-- http://www.notldr.com/ retrieved 16 October 2009</ref> ''Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated'' premiered theatrically on October 10, 2009 in [[Ramsey, New Jersey]]<ref>{{cite web|author=24 Sep |url=http://www.cinema-suicide.com/2009/09/24/night-of-the-living-dead-reanimated-east-coast-premier/ |title=retrieved 25 September 2009 |publisher=Cinema-suicide.com |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref> at the Zombie Encounter and Film Festival.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfsnnj.com/ftfZombieEncounter.html |title=retrieved 25 September 2009 |publisher=Sfsnnj.com |date=2009-10-10 |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref> ''NOTLDR'' was nominated in the category of Best Independent Production (film, documentary or short) for the 8th Annual [[Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards]], but lost to ''[[American Scary]]'', a documentary on television [[Horror host|horror movie hosts]].<ref>[http://rondoaward.com/rondo/rondos.html retrieved 11 April 2010]</ref>

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=== Romero's ''Dead'' Films ===

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''Night of the Living Dead'' is the first of six ''...of the Dead'' films directed by George Romero. Following the 1968 film, Romero released ''[[Dawn of the Dead]]'', ''[[Day of the Dead (1985 film)|Day of the Dead]]'', ''[[Land of the Dead]]'', ''[[Diary of the Dead]]'' and ''[[Survival of the Dead]]''. Each film traces the evolution of the living dead epidemic in the United States and humanity's desperate attempts to cope with it. As in ''Night of the Living Dead'', Romero peppered the other films in the series with critiques specific to the periods in which they were released.

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=== ''Return of the Living Dead'' series ===

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The same year ''Day of the Dead'' premiered, ''Night of the Living Dead'' co-writer John Russo released a film titled ''[[Return of the Living Dead]]'' that offers an alternate [[continuity (fiction)|continuity]] to the original film than ''Dawn of the Dead'', but acted more as a [[parody]] or [[satire]] and is not considered a sequel to the original 1968 film. Russo's film spawned four [[Return of the Living Dead (film series)|sequels]]. ''Return of the Living Dead'' sparked a legal battle with Romero, who believed Russo marketed his film in direct competition with ''Day of the Dead'' as a sequel to the original film. In the case ''Dawn Associates v. Links'', Romero accused Russo of "appropriat[ing] part of the title of the prior work", [[plagiarism|plagiarizing]] ''Dawn of the Dead'''s advertising slogan ("When there is no more room in [[hell]] [...] the dead will walk the earth"), and copying stills from the original 1968 film. Romero was ultimately granted a [[restraining order]] that forced Russo to cease his advertising campaign. Russo, however, was allowed to retain his title.<ref>Patrick J. Flinn, ''Handbook of Intellectual Property Claims and Remedies: 2004 Supplement'' (New York: Aspen Publishers, 1999), pp. 24–25, ISBN 978-0-7355-1125-5 .</ref>

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=== Remakes and prequels ===

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''Night of the Living Dead'' has been [[remake|remade]] twice, with a third announced for a 2010 release. The first remake, debuting in 1990, was directed by special effects artist [[Tom Savini]]. [[Night of the Living Dead (1990 film)|The remake]] was based on the original screenplay, but included more gore and a revised plot that portrayed Barbra<ref>The character's name is spelled ''Barbra'' in the remake, not ''Barbra''.</ref> ([[Patricia Tallman]]) as a capable and active heroine. [[Tony Todd]] played the role of Ben. Film historian Barry Grant saw the new Barbra as a corrective on the part of Romero. He suggests that the character was made stronger to rectify the depiction of female characters in the original film.<ref name="Grant">Barry Keith Grant, "Taking Back the ''Night of the Living Dead'': George Romero, Feminism and the Horror Film" , in ''The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film'', ed. Barry K. Grant (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996), ISBN 978-0-292-72794-6 .</ref> The second remake was in 3-D and released in September 2006 under the title ''[[Night of the Living Dead 3-D]]''. Directed by [[Jeff Broadstreet]]. Unlike Savini's 1990 film, Broadstreet's project was not affiliated with Romero.<ref>''Night of the Living Dead 3-D'' at the [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489244/ Internet Movie Database].</ref><ref>''Night of the Living Dead 3-D'' [http://www.nightofthelivingdead3d.com/ official site]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=216095417168&ref=nf |title=Niet compatibele browser |publisher=Facebook |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref>

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On September 15, 2009, it was announced that [[Simon West]] planned a [[3-D film|3D]] prequel to the original movie, to be titled ''[[Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/33563/night-living-dead-3d-again |title=Night of the Living Dead in 3D Again? |publisher=Dreadcentral.com |date=2009-09-16 |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/17391 |title='Night of the Living Dead' Origin Story Told in 3D CGI |publisher=Bloody-disgusting.com |date=2009-09-16 |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref> The movie is being written and directed by Zebediah de Soto. The cast includes [[Tony Todd]] as Ben, [[Danielle Harris]] as Barbra, [[Joe Pilato]] as Harry Cooper, [[Alona Tal]] as Helen Cooper, [[Bill Moseley]] as Johnny and newcomers Erin Braswell as Judy and Michael Diskint as Tom.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/33728/terror-tweets-notld-origins-casting-news-and-area-51-update |title=Terror Tweets: ''NOTLD: Origins'' Casting News and Area 51 Update |publisher=Dreadcentral.com |date=2009-09-25 |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/33843/casting-notld-origins-coming-together |title=Casting for ''NOTLD: Origins'' Coming Together |publisher=Dreadcentral.com |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/17501 |title=Danielle Harris to Topline 'Night of the Living Dead: Origins' |publisher=Bloody-disgusting.com |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Submitted by dorkydude on Tue, 20 October 2009 - 3:54pm. |url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/33737/exclusive-first-look-night-living-dead-origins |title=Exclusive: First Look at ''Night of the Living Dead: Origins'' |publisher=Dreadcentral.com |date=2009-10-20 |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/19066 |title=BD Horror News - Awesome First Look at 'Night of the Living Dead: Origins' |publisher=Bloody-disgusting.com |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/35842/exclusive-first-look-tony-todd-ben-night-living-dead-origins |title=Exclusive: First Look at Tony Todd as Ben - Night of the Living Dead: Origins | Horror Movie, DVD, & Book Reviews, News, Interviews at Dread Central |publisher=Dreadcentral.com |date= |accessdate=2010-03-26}}</ref>

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== Copyright status ==

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''Night of the Living Dead'' entered the [[public domain]] because the original theatrical distributor, the Walter Reade Organization, neglected to place a [[copyright]] indication on the prints. In 1968, [[United States copyright law]] required a proper notice for a work to maintain a copyright.<ref>U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 92, ''Copyright Law of the United States of America'', Chapter 4: Copyright Notice, Deposit, and Registration, [http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap4.html#405 Omission of notice on certain copies and phonorecords].</ref> Image Ten displayed such a notice on the title frames of the film beneath the original title, ''Night of the Flesh Eaters''. The distributor removed the statement when it changed the title.<ref>United States Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Technology and the Law, ''Legal Issues that Arise when Color is Added to Films Originally Produced, Sold and Distributed in Black and White'' (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1988), p. 83.</ref>

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Because of the public domain status, the film is sold on home video by several distributors. As of 2006, the [[Internet Movie Database]] lists 23 copies of ''Night of the Living Dead'' retailing on [[DVD]] and nineteen on [[VHS]].<ref>Merchandise for

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''Night of the Living Dead'' at the [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063350/sales Internet Movie Database]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref> The original film is available to view or download free on Internet sites such as [[Google Video]], [[Internet Archive]] and [[YouTube]].<ref>''Night of the Living Dead'' at [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2956447426428748010 Google Video]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref><ref>''Night of the Living Dead'' at [http://www.archive.org/details/night_of_the_living_dead Internet Archive]. Retrieved June 24, 2006.</ref><ref>''Night of the Living Dead'' at [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBc18J5cUcs YouTube]. Retrieved January 14, 2008.</ref> As of October 31, 2010, it is the Internet Archive's second most downloaded film, with 708,608 downloads.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=%28collection%3Afeature_films%20OR%20mediatype%3Afeature_films%29%20AND%20-mediatype%3Acollection&sort=-downloads |title=Most Downloaded Items |accessdate=2008-04-29 |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |work= |publisher=Internet Archive |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= }}</ref>

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== See also ==

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* [[List of films in the public domain]]

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== References ==

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== Further reading ==

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* Becker, Matt. "A Point of Little Hope: Hippie Horror Films and the Politics of Ambivalence". ''The Velvet Light Trap'' (No. 57, Spring 2006): pp. 42–59.

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* Carroll, Noël. "The Nature of Horror". ''Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism'' 46 (No. 1, Autumn 1987): pp. 51–59.

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* Crane, Jonathan Lake. ''Terror and Everyday Life: Singular Moments in the History of the Horror Film''. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1994. ISBN 978-0-8039-5849-4.

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* Dinello, Daniel. ''Technophobia!: Science Fiction Visions of Posthuman Technology''. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0-292-70986-7.

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* Harper, Stephen. "''Night of the Living Dead'': Reappraising an Undead Classic". ''Bright Lights Film Journal'' (Issue 50, November 2005): [http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/50/night.htm online].

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* Heffernan, Kevin. ''Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 1953–1968''. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-8223-3215-2 .

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* Heffernan, Kevin. "Inner-City Exhibition and the Genre Film: Distributing ''Night of the Living Dead'' (1968)". ''Cinema Journal'' 41 (No. 3, Spring 2002): pp. 59–77.

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* Jancovich, Mark, Antonio Lazaro Reboll, Julian Stringer, and Andy Willis, eds. ''Defining Cult Movies: The Cultural Politics of Oppositional Taste''. Manchester, Eng.: Manchester University Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-7190-6631-3

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* Lowenstein, Adam. ''Shocking Representation: Historical Trauma, National Cinema, and the Modern Horror Film''. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-231-13246-6.

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* Moreman, Christopher M. "A Modern Meditation on Death: Identifying Buddhist Teachings in George A. Romero’s ''Night of the Living Dead''," ''Contemporary Buddhism'' 9 (No. 2, 2008): pp. 151–165.

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* Newman, Robert. "The Haunting of 1968". ''South Central Review'' 16 (No. 4, Winter 1999): pp. 53–61.

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* Paffenroth, Kim. ''Gospel of the Living Dead''. Baylor University Press, 2006.

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* Pharr, Mary. "Greek Gifts: Vision and Revision in Two Versions of ''Night of the Living Dead''". In ''Trajectories of the Fantastic''. Ed. Michael A. Morrison. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997. ISBN 978-0-313-29646-8.

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* Pinedo, Isabel Cristina. ''Recreational Terror: Women and the Pleasures of Horror Film Viewing''. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997. ISBN 978-0-7914-3441-3.

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* Russell, Jamie. ''Book of the Dead: The Complete History of Zombie Cinema''. Surrey: Fab Press, 2005. ISBN 978-1-903254-33-2.

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* Shapiro, Jerome F. ''Atomic Bomb Cinema: The Apocalyptic Imagination on Film''. London: Routledge, 2001. ISBN 978-0-415-93660-6.

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* Wood, Robin. ''Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan''. New York: Columbia University Press, 1986. ISBN 978-0-231-05777-6.

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* Young, Lola. ''Fear of the Dark: 'Race', Gender and Sexuality in the Cinema''. London: Routledge, 1996. ISBN 978-0-415-09709-3.

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</div>

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== External links ==

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* {{IMDb title|id=0063350|title=Night of the Living Dead}}

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* {{Allmovie title|35311|Night of the Living Dead}}

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* {{rotten-tomatoes|id=1015052|title=Night of the Living Dead}}

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* {{Internet Archive film|id=night_of_the_living_dead}} ([http://www.archive.org/details/Night.Of.The.Living.Dead_1080p Blu-Ray version])

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* {{YouTube|id=85C2JnZOY4k|title=Night Of The Living Dead in HD}}

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[[Category:1968 films]]

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[[Category:1960s horror films]]

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[[Category:American science fiction horror films]]

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[[Category:English-language films]]

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[[Category:Black-and-white films]]

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[[Category:Directorial debut films]]

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[[Category:Films which are set within one day]]

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[[Category:Films directed by George A. Romero]]

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[[Category:Independent films]]

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[[Category:Living Dead films]]

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[[Category:Films set in Pennsylvania]]

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[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]

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[[Category:Zombie films]]

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[[Category:Public domain]]

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[[Category:New Line Cinema films]]

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