“They’re coming to get you Barbara!”

You want zombies? You got zombies! The original zombie flick: Night of the Living Dead. No, I’m not claiming that the old flick White Zombie and a few others were not the first, but that Night of the Living Dead was the foremost film to bring zombies to the big screen in a big way.

Through the eyes of now legendary director George Romero (also famous for Creepshow, TV’s Tales From the Darkside, and even producing the new version of The Crazies after directing the original in 1973) zombies came alive for several generations of horror movie watchers. And it was almost believable too. In 1968, people knew of Vietnam, Agent Orange, and the affects it had on people. People feared the ever increasing presence of the Cold War and the effects of nuclear radiation . And people watched in awe, wonder, and a little trepidation as the space race, full of its rockets and ever increasing satellites, gained full steam into a whole new realm. What would scare us more than a combination of all our worst fears… throwing in some walking dead for good measure.
The story? Simple, yet brilliant… a military satellite falls to earth and mysteriously causes the dead to rise from their graves. Was it a virus from beyond? A military created agent? Radiation? We never really know, which is the brilliance of it all. The reason almost gets overlooked as we cower on the edge of our seats, watching as our friends and family slowly turn into the walking dead… one by one. The black and white effects (even in a 1968 film) show the stark contrast between wrong and right, living and dead, night and day. Surprisingly, the fact that the actors were barely known only adds to the effect because you’re not familiar with them. And Romero gives us the inevitable zombie cause, one bite and you’re as good as gone. Ever since then, this has been the primary way to become a zombie. It even featured the first black actor in a starring role in a horror film, Duane Jones.

I have to admit, originally being from the Pittsburgh area, NOTLD holds a special place in my heart. I grew up on this movie and all the sequels it spawned. There are so many places and people I personally recognized. My favorite story is from hometown newscaster Bill Cardille (also known to us as Chilly Billy, the host of a long running local tv series showing monster and horror movies: Chiller Theater). Cardille was a news reporter at the time covering the “little” movie shoot for the local, channel 11, news. As he and his cameraman were shooting their news footage, they were asked if they wanted to play a newscaster and cameraman in the film. Seeing a great opportunity and lots of fun, they quickly agreed.

The movie is a great scare (tame by today’s movies) and a standard in the horror movie database. It has inspired a string of sequels, remakes and even AMC’s new hit, The Walking Dead.

So, grab your popcorn, hold your loved ones tight, and watch the beginning of the zombie apocalypse with Night of the Living Dead!

(Sequels spawned: Dawn of the Dead (filmed in the Monroeville Mall!), Day of The Dead, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, and Survival of the Dead… and inspiration for so many more!)