[20] Filming took place between June and December 1967 under the working title Night of Anubis and later Night of the Flesh Eaters. What are the differences between the original cut and the 30th-anniversary cut. team members, a traffic reporter, and his television executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall. Russo and Romero revised the screenplay while filming. View production, box office, & company info. Directed by George A. Romero. Variety labeled Night of the Living Dead an "unrelieved orgy of sadism" and questioned the "integrity and social responsibility of its Pittsburgh-based makers". As the horde breaks into the house, Ben takes refuge in the cellar, where he shoots Harry and Helen's reanimating corpses. 397 of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. [75] The film also ranked No. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? [25] In a 1997 interview with the BBC's Forbidden Weekend, Romero explained that the script developed into a three-part short story. The first remake, debuting in 1990, was directed by special effects artist Tom Savini. As the world is overrun by zombies, a small group of scientists and military personnel dwelling in an underground bunker in Florida must determine whether they should educate, eliminate or escape the undead horde. 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 used to going to movies, sure, and they'd seen some horror movies before, sure, but this was something else." 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. As I recall, I believe that Duane himself upgraded his own dialogue to reflect how he felt the character should present himself.[20]. She flees and takes shelter in a farmhouse, but finds the woman who lived there dead and half-eaten. He's wrong. The site is now a turf farm. Join them. [30], Official film adaptations of Matheson's novel appeared in 1964 as The Last Man on Earth, in 1971 as The Omega Man, and the 2007 release I Am Legend. [44][45] Romero's decision to direct Night of the Living Dead essentially launched his career as a horror director. [20] According to lead actress Judith O'Dea, much of the dialogue was improvised. [89] In 1998, Russo's revised version of the film, Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition, was released on VHS and DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment. Although zombie cannibals were inspired by Matheson's 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. This portrayal of an African-American as protagonist and problem solver is also unique to films of forty years ago. When two bumbling employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors cause the dead to rise again as zombies. Premiere Details", "Danielle Harris to Topline 'Night of the Living Dead: Origins, "Exclusive: First Look at Night of the Living Dead: Origins", "BD Horror News – Awesome First Look at 'Night of the Living Dead: Origins, "Exclusive: First Look at Tony Todd as Ben – Night of the Living Dead: Origins | Horror Movie, DVD, & Book Reviews, News, Interviews at Dread Central", "Director Talks Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead", "Apocalypse is Trending: 'Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection", "Night of the Living Dead getting another remake", "Shambling Forward – Night of the Living Dead: Rebirth nearing May 2015 wrap date", "Another Night of the Living Dead Remake in 2012", "George A. Romero thought Night of the Living Dead would be a 'one-off, "The Dead Zones: 'George A. Romero' at the American Museum of the Moving Image", The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Dead On: The Life and Cinema of George A. Romero, Saturn Award for Best DVD or Blu-ray Special Edition Release, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut, Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave, Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Night_of_the_Living_Dead&oldid=1014488303, United States National Film Registry films, Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Album articles lacking alt text for covers, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2019, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles containing potentially dated statements from March 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2020, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, "Discovery of TV/Preparing to Escape/Tom & Judy", "Truck on Fire/Ben Attacks Harry/Leg of Leg*", "Helen's Death*/Dawn/Posse in the Fields/Ben Awakes". [117] The fully restored version was shown at MoMA in November 2016 as part of To Save and Project: The 14th MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation. Two people dead in Friday night house fire in Kershaw County The Camden Fire Department responded to a house fire on Lyttleton St. around 8 p.m. Friday night. As their situation deteriorates, their chances of surviving the night lessen minute by minute. [124], On September 15, 2009, it was announced that Simon West was producing a 3D animated retelling of the original movie, originally titled Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D and later re-titled Night of the Living Dead: Darkest Dawn. She sees a multiplying number of strange ghouls, led by the man from the cemetery, approaching the house. In Washington, reporters confront a government official about the situation, the government official tells the reporters the truth, and everyone believes what the government has told them. [58] 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. 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). [68] Reader's Digest found it to be the 12th scariest movie of all time. [37][38], The outdoor, indoor (downstairs) and basement scenes were filmed at a location northeast of Evans City, near a park. . [89] On October 3, 2017, Mill Creek Entertainment released a standard 1080p version of the film on Blu-ray in the United States, however, this was a transfer of an existing release print, and not a restoration. The site's critical consensus reads, "George A. Romero's debut set the template for the zombie film, and features tight editing, realistic gore, and a sly political undercurrent. Directed by Kevin Munroe. [56][57][58] The MPAA film rating system was not in place until November 1968, so even young children were able to purchase tickets. Beset by the walking dead all around them Ben does his best to secure the doors and windows. [44] The Manhattan-based 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 similar title to the former. Film historian Barry Grant saw the new Barbra as a corrective on the part of Romero. 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". "[48], While some critics dismissed Romero's film because of the graphic scenes, writer R. H. W. 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