If there were a horror movie hall of fame (There is right? There must be…) then tonight’s entry would be in the inaugural class. Zombies and George Romero, a promising combination. Let’s see how this classic holds up.
Coming at this film with fresh eyes is nothing short of impossible. Yes, I’ve seen it before (though it’s been over a decade), but even if I hadn’t, Night of the Living Dead has pretty much been seared into the collective subconscious of people my age. Especially given the current pop culture zombie bubble we are all living in, the tropes that this movie codified have been replicated, subverted, parodied and paid homage to so frequently that its hard to imagine that they were once fresh. Seeing them laid bare here without the weight of the subsequent 50 years of film-making is kind of jarring. The plot mechanics are all well laid out, with more and more information being eked out about the crisis over the run time. I do think that Romero relies a bit too much on the plot device of intermittent TV and radio broadcasts to give the characters (and us) intelligence on the situation that could have been delivered more eloquently through other methods. Ultimately, it’s a lean, simple concept that is executed well.
On the acting front, it’s all about Duane Jones, who plays our chief protagonist, Ben. Everyone else is overdoing it a bit (or more than a bit, actor who plays the young man in the basement), but not so badly to derail the film. Ben, though, is all intense pragmatism, the type of character that an audience immediately rallies around. He may be overdoing it too, to be honest, but overdoing it in the right direction at least.
It helps that there is a strong presence in the lead role, because the film doesn’t deliver as much horror as you might expect. There are a couple of moments of genuine creepiness here: The zombies nonchalantly munching on the entrails and limbs of two of our unlucky shut-ins, the iconic “They’re coming to get you, Barbara…” and (spoilers for a 47-year-old movie, I guess) the little zombie girl in the basement killing and eating her parents. Records of the initial release paint the picture of deeply disturbed adults and completely terrified children (the film was released months before official ratings were established that would have prohibited the curious and pre-pubescent from purchasing a ticket.) In 2015, I can’t pretend that anyone is going to be too traumatized by watching the exploits of these proto-zombies. The Walking Dead obviously owes an infinite debt to this film, but it is also about a thousand times more disturbing, and it airs weekly on cable television. Times have changed.
Look, I’m not out to stir up shit at the expense of one of the most beloved horror films of all time, and I do think any self-respecting horror fan would get something out of watching Night of the Living Dead (as if you were waiting on my invitation). I just found it less enjoyable than I remembered. Call it zombie fatigue, or desensitization, but I found myself having to resist the urge to pull out my phone and browse the web while it was on. I do still think it has one of the most deliciously nihilistic endings of all time, which takes balls in a commercial art form. I wonder if Dennis Hopper drew inspiration from that moment for Easy Rider, which came out the following year? Overall, I don’t think I’ll be in any rush to revisit this one, but I wouldn’t rule out some more Romero in future entries.
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