Night of the Living Dead **** (1968, Judith O’Dea, Duane Jones, Karl Hardman, Keith Wayne) – Classic Movie Review 4842

Co-writer/ director George A Romero’s eerie, grizzly 1968 horror movie Night of the Living Dead, with its yarn about a group of panicked strangers holing up in an isolated farmhouse to elude a throng of attacking, flesh-eating zombies, is cheaply made (for only $100,000) in black and white with amateur actors.

This groundbreaking cult classic is ragged at the edges, and quite patchy, but there are brilliant sequences of terror and it is a labour of love invested with extraordinary enthusiasm and lust for the horror movie, mixing scares with sly social commentary.

It launched the remarkable movie career of the 28-year-old industrial film-maker Romero, who also served as cinematographer and co-editor, and has a cameo as a news reporter. It stars Judith O’Dea, Duane Jones, Karl Hardman and Keith Wayne.

Also in the cast are Russell Steiner, Marilyn Eastman, Judith Riley, Kyra Schon, Charles Craig, A William Hinzman, George Kosana, Frank Doak, Bill Cardille, A C McDonald, Samuel R Solito, Mark Ricci, John A Russo and Russell Streiner.

It proved the start of the Living Dead quartet and was followed by Dawn of the Dead (1978), Day of the Dead (1985) and Land of the Dead (2005). In 1999 the film enjoyed the honour of being inducted into the US National Film Registry.

It was remade by Romero’s makeup expert Tom Savani as director in 1990 as Night of the Living Dead, with a bigger budget and more gore, and a screenplay by Romero.

‘I started something with Night of the Living Dead that I couldn’t have foreseen,’ said Romero.

Night of the Living Dead celebrated the 50th anniversary of its US release on 4 October 2018.

George Kosana, most famous for playing Sheriff McClelland, died on 2 January 2017 at his home in Clairton, Pa, aged 81. Kosana was one of ten investors in the film, who each committed $600 to the project, comprising the initial $6,000 budget. John Russo, who co-wrote the film, remained a close friend of Kosana. Russo said: ‘He will be greatly missed by me, by his fellow cast and crew members and by his many fans.’

George A Romero died on 16 July 2017 at the age of 77 after a ‘brief but aggressive battle with lung cancer’. RIP.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 4842

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