“They're coming to get you, Barbara, there's one of them now!” This quote states the entire theme of the movie, the entire purpose of the zombies. They are out to consume the flesh of the living. A true classic, Night of the Living Dead was quite revolutionary for its time. No other movie had ever incorporated zombie-like creatures that actually eat their victims. Night of the Living Dead is a true horror film, it contains every essential piece that horror movies needs. First off, the movie had supernatural creatures/monsters that were out to punish. What were they punishing people for though? We think that the sin being punished in this film was straying from traditional moral values across America. People during this time period (1968) were beginning to distance themselves from what their parents had taught them. An example of this in the movie would be at the very beginning when Johnny tells Barbara that he stopped going to church. The final part of a horror movie is the confined space, this part is provided when Barbara hides in a house to get away from the zombies. A nonessential aspect of a horror film is the ‘half-man’. The ‘half-man’ in Night of the Living Dead is Ben, an African American man that survived the zombies long enough to find the house and knows how to fight them. Playing Ben was Duane Jones, his acting was quite intense and really gave the film its serious aspect once he made his grand entrance. Barbara is played by Judith O’Dea, who gives us a truly genuine sense of terror and hysteria. All of the acting was very authentic, they all behaved as if there really were zombies attacking.
George A. Romero directed a movie that most directors at the time wouldn’t dare to create. He converted the screenplay that he and co-writer John A. Russo wrote into the now well-known cult classic Night of the Living Dead. His camera angles and use of lighting intensify the mood throughout the film. Romero got great performances out of all of his actors and it seemed that every line had a meaning. The actual plot of the film was surprising at times and took some unforeseen turns that really captured the viewer’s attention. One interesting fact about this film is that they never call the creatures ‘zombies’ throughout the entire film. Instead they call them ‘murders’ and ‘ghouls’. Its influence in the zombie film genre has been exponential. It is reasonable to say that we would not have modern zombie media such as “Dawn of the Dead”, “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, or the video games “Left4Dead” and “Resident Evil”. All of this translates to a solid 8/10 rating from us. Its influence was indescribable, but it defiantly had flaws in continuity and special effects.
The Blake Snyder Beat Sheet for Night of the Living Dead (1968)
1. Opening Image: Barbara and her brother are in a graveyard.
2. Theme Stated: Barbara’s brother says, “They’re coming for you!”
3. Set-Up: We meet Barbara while talking to her brother but the world doesn’t stay normal for long.
4. Catalyst: The first zombie in the graveyard assaults Barbara and her brother is killed as she flees.
5. Debate: Barbara decides if she should stay in the house or go out and try to find her brother.
6. Break into Two: Barbara is inside the house and lock out the zombie.
7. B Story: Ben arrives to protect Barbara by barricading themselves inside of the house that had been abandoned.
8. Fun and Games: Zombies attack and Ben is forced to hold them off.
9. Midpoint: Zombies begin to get smart and break holes into the walls.
10. Bad Guys Close in: Ben and two others are trying to put gas in the truck, zombies close in on them and attack.
11. All Is Lost: The truck explodes, killing Tom and Judy.
12. Dark Night of the Soul: The zombies eat Tom and Judy and Ben returns to the house after accomplishing nothing. Barbara and the rest of the people in the house are pulled out of the house and killed by the zombie0s. Ben has to shoot Cooper because of his hysteric.
13. Break into Three: Ben retreats to the cellar to escape the zombies that broke into the house.
14. Finale: The posse comes and kills the remaining zombies.
15. Final Image: There are dead zombies everywhere. The posse shoots Ben by accident.
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