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Horror Review #1 "Night Of The Living Dead" by George A. Romero


Written by: Herzebeth
Published: 15.10.2007




When I was a little kid all small and swallowing my Han Solo figurines I remember watching a film so scary and so freakingly gross that kept haunting me until I grew a little more and started swallowing other random but bigger things, that film was George A. Romero's "Night Of The Living Dead" from 1968, one of the first movies in the planet that featured flesh-eating Zombies, all in Black and White and more creepy than any of your grandmother's cellars...

Anyway, by the time I saw that movie tons of other filmmakers had already released Zombie films with better special effects and six gallons of full colored gore, I was too scared to watch them as I was only 6 years old and I wasn't as twisted then as I am now...some years passed by and then I was able to get my hands on this film again on DVD (yeeey!) so I bought it and damn this film rules, after watching gorier films like Lucio Fulci's "Zombie" or Umberto Lenzi's "Cannibal Ferox" I thought a 1968 Zombie film would only add a "cult" tag in my collection, but I was incredibly wrong, this film is to this day one of the most intense films ever made!

It all starts with Barbara and Johnny driving long hours to visit their father's grave...one could wonder why didn't they just buried him in a nearby sacred place instead of a far far away cemetery...so anyway, A zombie then attacks poor Johnny and Barbara just sits there and watches how his brother gets killed in a very unpleasant and disrespectful manner (with no forks...ewww!) later he returns as a zombie to get his revenge but that's a whole different story...after the Zombie cleans his cheek off and stares at the not so hot woman she inmediately starts running and gets into a farmhouse where zombies will eventually find her and the rest of the cast...well we know more o less the plot now right?

So, maybe this is not as gory as some of you could imagine, but it is one hell of an experience in black and white (not made intentionally, the director didn't have money to shot in color...lol...) the zombies are really scary and the music is indeed very chilling. There are some memorable scenes of course, you'll see the undead eating some insects, a living dead girl, humans fighting with each other for power while rotten dudes are destroying the doors to find their way in, and hell yeah! a lot of walking corpses willing to eat bare flesh and bloody stuff even if it means hearing a woman's annoying screams for an hour or so.

I really recommend this movie to every horror freak, though if you're only casual in the genre and your favorite films are remakes or "28 days later" you'll seriously get bored as the pace is not nearly as fast as those films and there are no naked chicks in the entire movie...

Enjoy!





Comments

Comments: 18   Visited by: 56 users
16.10.2007 - 21:19
jupitreas
hi-fi / lo-life
very cool idea for a blog my friend!!
and yes, Night Of The Living Dead is a classic film in more ways than one. Yes sure, it is one of the most important films in the so called "zombie horror" genre but it is much more than that. The reason is simple - this film isnt about cheap thrills and gore for the sake of gore. "Night", like other Romero zombie films, is more of a social commentary than a niche film, merely using the zombies as a metaphor for real world problems. Highly recommended to anyone who considers themselves a film aficionado, not only horror fans...
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17.10.2007 - 18:17
Herzebeth

wow my first comment after 4 long days... yeeey!


"Highly recommended to anyone who considers themselves a film aficionado, not only horror fans..."

It's funny you mention that, a couple of years ago when I was having a degree in cinema one of my teachers said that same phrase (with a little more words), I agree with you, most of the people see this film and inmediately label it for "Horror aficionados"... but most of the film delivers a great approach for artistic cinema aswell, everything from the lighting and the bizarrely political plot has something that people who's not into the horror genre could appreciate and love.
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18.10.2007 - 06:21
Doc G.
Full Grown Hoser
Yeah Im a pretty big Zombie movie fan but strangely I havnt seen this one yet, I was never really into black & white films, but I suppose I should give it a chance...can't be bad at all by the sounds of it. And George A Romero never disapoints.
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"I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck."
- George Carlin
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18.10.2007 - 07:35
Dangerboner
Lactation Cnslt
Written by Doc G. on 18.10.2007 at 06:21

Yeah Im a pretty big Zombie movie fan but strangely I havnt seen this one yet, I was never really into black & white films, but I suppose I should give it a chance...can't be bad at all by the sounds of it. And George A Romero never disapoints.


Dude, black and white horror films are the best. They have some sort of atmosphere to them, along with the old school-sounding narration that goes with.
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19.10.2007 - 07:07
Doc G.
Full Grown Hoser
Written by Dangerboner on 18.10.2007 at 07:35

Written by Doc G. on 18.10.2007 at 06:21

Yeah Im a pretty big Zombie movie fan but strangely I havnt seen this one yet, I was never really into black & white films, but I suppose I should give it a chance...can't be bad at all by the sounds of it. And George A Romero never disapoints.


Dude, black and white horror films are the best. They have some sort of atmosphere to them, along with the old school-sounding narration that goes with.

I have yet to watch a horror film in black and white, im just saying black and white films never tickled my fancy so to speak, but i can definitly see it giving an atmosphere to a horror film.
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"I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck."
- George Carlin
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18.11.2007 - 19:27
Remus

Written by Herzebeth on 15.10.2007 at 04:48

...and Barbara just sits there and watches how his brother gets killed


Hmmm, i take it Barbara is a transvestite?

Man, i am a fan of horror movies but i somehow missed this one. But you gave it an excellent review so i'll look for it at the video shop. 'Will be back in a week or two to tell you what i thought of it.
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Procrastinate, NOW!
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19.11.2007 - 17:30
Warman
Erotic Stains
One of my favourite movies and probably the best zombie movie ever! I own it on DVD and I'm thinking of seeing it soon again...
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28.11.2007 - 01:17
Dane Train
Beers & Kilts
Herzebeth, you already know my feelings on this film. Thank you so much for writing a review. Granted 28 Days Later is one of my all time favorite films (and not just zombie flicks either), this is the movie that started it all.

The most disturbing thing for me is the ending. Oh man...without spoiling it for anyone, the morning after sucks even more than the Night of the Living Dead!
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(space for rent)
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03.12.2007 - 19:22
Herzebeth

Written by Dane Train on 28.11.2007 at 01:17

The most disturbing thing for me is the ending. Oh man...without spoiling it for anyone, the morning after sucks even more than the Night of the Living Dead!


I didn't want to talk about the ending...but now that you mention it I can express my feelings...

I think it's the most depressing and frustrating endings ever in a Zombie flick....I also think it's quite racist and I seriously...SERIOUSLY wanted that guy to live....fuckers!!!

anyway...finally I said it yeeeey!
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04.12.2007 - 15:00
Warman
Erotic Stains
I like the ending, but it's disturbing. Wasn't this the first movie to have a black man in the leading role? I think I read that somewhere.
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05.12.2007 - 18:42
Dane Train
Beers & Kilts
Written by Herzebeth on 03.12.2007 at 19:22

I didn't want to talk about the ending...but now that you mention it I can express my feelings...

I think it's the most depressing and frustrating endings ever in a Zombie flick....I also think it's quite racist and I seriously...SERIOUSLY wanted that guy to live....fuckers!!!

anyway...finally I said it yeeeey!


I don't know if I would call it racist or not. If the main character had been white and they still ended it the same way, what would that say? I mean, everyone else in the movie was white (or dead) and instead of the typical Black guy dies first he lived until the end.
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(space for rent)
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05.12.2007 - 18:50
Herzebeth

Written by Dane Train on 05.12.2007 at 18:42

Written by Herzebeth on 03.12.2007 at 19:22

I didn't want to talk about the ending...but now that you mention it I can express my feelings...

I think it's the most depressing and frustrating endings ever in a Zombie flick....I also think it's quite racist and I seriously...SERIOUSLY wanted that guy to live....fuckers!!!

anyway...finally I said it yeeeey!


I don't know if I would call it racist or not. If the main character had been white and they still ended it the same way, what would that say? I mean, everyone else in the movie was white (or dead) and instead of the typical Black guy dies first he lived until the end.


uhm...Damn it you're right...my bad actually.

Still I actually felt bad about that particular character, I really wanted him to live forever hehe...
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26.01.2008 - 14:29
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Wow,... sounds great man.. I'm relly like the strge stuff that comes in the old movies that are so underrated now.

For example.. Have some of you guys seen the movie "Nosferatu" from 1922?
It's a f*cking masterpiece... The music and how the characters moves, it's just insane!.

I would check out this movie, sounds really good.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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16.05.2008 - 05:26
Fhuesc

I've never seen this movie, and franquilly i don't want to, i can't stand black and white.. and old movies. Lucky for me, there's a 1991 remake. Even when i didn't saw the original, i have to say that this is the best Romero film.

If you like zombies and you haven't seen this movie give, what are you waiting?

P.S. If you don't like old movies, remember there's a remake.
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Hasta la victoria, siempre!
Until victory, always!
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16.05.2008 - 07:23
jupitreas
hi-fi / lo-life
the remake is absolute crap compared to the original.
if you can't watch a film just because it's black and white, I would recommend sticking to shows like the Young And Restless.
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16.05.2008 - 19:40
Fhuesc

It's not only the black and white, it's the pace, the old movies, for me, have a very slow pace, and that bothers me. And pardon me, for not liking B&W, i promise that i'll do my best to enjoy them from now on.
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Hasta la victoria, siempre!
Until victory, always!
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16.05.2008 - 20:31
jupitreas
hi-fi / lo-life
the pace of a film is also not a reason to dislike a film, unless it is obviously inappropriate (say Bourne Ultimatum, with its epilepsy inducing pace for god knows what reason). Night Of The Living Dead, or other 'old' films (classics like Searchers and Double Indemnity) have a deliberately slow pace to maximize the role of nuance in the experience of watching film.
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30.06.2008 - 21:18
Warman
Erotic Stains
The remake is a disgrace. I know I'd hate it even if there was no original "Night of the Living Dead".

Hahaha, BTW I just noticed "the not so hot woman".
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