Night of the Living Dead

Night of the Living Dead, with its disturbing atmosphere, made an impression on its original audience for how it proved the potential behind zombies in the movies. To make the film look as chilling as it does, the makeup artists for the ghouls took the time to emphasize the prominent features of each actor’s face. (For instance, an actor with a narrow nose would have ghoul makeup that made his nose look even more narrow.) Other actors portraying the ghouls had black makeup around their eyes and gray powder on their bodies to appear dead, while the blood effects were made from black paint and chocolate syrup.
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The movie is made to feel all the more claustrophobic inside a single house shot in black-and-white film with stark lighting, yet the scope also feels a little bigger with some news reporter scenes included from Washington D.C. For as uncomfortable as all the creative decisions feel, the ending was equally as uncomfortable for audiences at the time, because the co-lead, a Black man, was wrongfully shot and killed by law enforcement. Yet the filmmakers felt this ending was necessary because it reflected the death of Martin Luther King Jr., which happened while production neared its end. Ultimately, while this film may suffer from paper-thin unlikable characters, it’s still just the right kind of entertainment necessary to help anyone appreciate the possibilities behind the horror genre.

NR (LV)
Horror
1 hr. 36 min.

Watch it for FUN.
​Watch it to feel AFRAID.