cread Review of Night of the Living Dead

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Romero's best, with the power to shock after all these years . . .

[19 October 1999]

George Romero made his directorial debut with this film, a low-budget B-movie that would go on to become a classic, hailed by all connaisseurs of horror. Although famous for its gore and ruthlessness, this is far more accessible than Romero's later films of the seventies such as Martin and Dawn of the Dead. That said, the rapid editing and early gore effects are combined to give a claustrophobic and unrelenting portrait of seven survivor's attempts to escape the clutches of seemingly endless crowds of the undead. Romero's greatest film (closely followed by the masterpiece Martin) and highly influencial, partlicularly amoungst cult horror, Romero's work was to influence many other horror directors including Italian directors and other cult icons such as John Carpenter. For what is essentially an independant film, the acting is not too bad and the script is superb - both believable and endlessly quotable. Scenes to look out for include a scene where a zombie is set on fire (done without protection of course), and a scene where dozens of zombie hands break through a window and grab out at our heros. Actually, the entire end sequence is utterly terrifying. For the first time, a horror movie was set in reality (relatively speaking). Utterly unrelenting and totally compelling, this cult masterpiece is an absolute must-see for all horror-buffs, even if you don't like the later work of the great Romero.