Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Director: George A Romero
Starring: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman

Synopsis:
A handful of survivors hole up in a farmhouse menaced by the walking dead.

Impressions:
Though this is not the first zombie movie, it is the one that pretty well set the stage for zombie fiction as we know it. One thing that's bound to surprise you is how intelligent the zombies are. It's a common theme throughout Romero's films that the zombies retain some trace of their humanity, but their resourcefulness here adds to the creep factor. I want to give particular praise to Duane Jones as Ben. Karl Hardman also makes a pretty good foil as the contentious Cooper. The character of Barbra has been roundly criticized for being mostly inert. There's merit in the idea of a character being so traumatized that they go into total brain-lock, but it wasn't all that well executed here. There's a good sense of suspense and tension and while there are more slickly produced successors out there, for its time and budget, it's quite effective. I know the zombie subgenre has become rather saturated, but I definitely recommend seeing where it all got started. Give it a watch.

Rating:
Watch It