I’m someone who watches horror films weekly, but plenty of classics have slipped under my radar. One of the oldest classics I hadn’t seen was undoubtedly George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968), streaming on HBO Max.
NOTE: Other than the widely-known “They’re coming to get you, Barbra” quote and the infamous ending, I know very little about the actual plot. *SPOILERS AHEAD.
That said, here are my thoughts after watching Night of the Living Dead for the first time.
1.
After waiting for that car to pull up, we get a title card.
2.
That might’ve been an important message, buddy.
3.
That guy doesn’t seem suspicious at all. (*softly sings* Don’t be suspicious.)
4.
We get a classic line out of the gate: “They’re coming to get you, Barbra.”
5.
Oh, God, they are coming to get you, Barbra! Get out of there!
7.
What my macaroni cup sees when I can’t get the microwave door open:
8.
Taxidermy jump scare! The opening sequence is quite strange, but I like it so far. I imagine this style is what Romero was famous for.
9.
The ghoul brought some friends!
10.
Oof. Nasty looking corpse. (I came back to this, and unless I missed something, I don’t know if this was ever really explained. Resident? Forgotten plot point? A mystery.)
11.
This guy seems prepared.
12.
These ghouls don’t seem very formidable. Or Ben is a beast.
13.
Something tells me these ghouls are only MOSTLY dead.
14.
Barbra with the survival skills of a thumbtack.
15.
More ghouls! Loved this reveal shot. Very cool direction.
16.
They don’t like fire. Noted for the next ghoul-pocalypse.
17.
Barricade time! I hope poor Barbra can get it together.
18.
As someone who grew up in Florida, I know firsthand that boarding up windows is no joke. I imagine it would be even tougher doing it from the inside.
19.
This scene is the best moment so far; I love hearing their stories. It’s nice to see normal people explain their firsthand accounts of these ghouls not dying. The entirety of both monologues is a great display of their characters, and it is also incredibly haunting.
20.
Poor, Barbs. Again, this scene is cooking. I’ve been iffy about the lack of dialogue, but I imagine the ghoul stuff was cool back in the day.
21.
Well, that escalated. I get her wanting to go help her bro, but it is clearly not safe out there. She slapped Ben, blocking her way, and Ben followed her smack by a smack of his own. Hitting a woman and the problematic aspect of that aside, I don’t think smacking her was the right call, especially trying to build trust with someone trapped with you. But perhaps Ben isn’t as reliable as I thought.
22.
Oh, but Ben is ready to go. This man could’ve had his own survival show on the Travel Channel or something.
23.
Heck yeah! Heads up move by Ben torching the armchair. Keep ’em away from the house for as long as possible. It’s winning the little fights that is the winning strategy in the survival game. Although now there is nowhere comfy to sit other than the couch occupied by the woman you just made faint.
24.
Don’t leave this woman, Ben. He clearly is looking after “No. 1” first, but come on.
25.
And now there are new characters! This could get messy. Ben doesn’t seem good with people, and his survival instincts are clearly on another level. Recipe for disaster.
26.
This is a REALLY cool shot of Ben aiming the rifle through the door.
27.
Body shots don’t work, but it looks like one to the head will keep them down. But does Ben realize this?
28.
MORE GHOULS! Maybe gunfire isn’t the best choice.
29.
This is the nastiest part so far: seeing this ghoul eat the first non-ghoul thing it sees. Terrifyingly unsettling to see one of the ghouls eat a big old bug. The gathering of these ghouls is creating great suspense, and there might be no escape for our heroes.
30.
And yet another character! It’s as if they sensed my worries about not enough “conflict” between characters.
31.
Poor girl. It would suck to wake up to a horde of undead people. A movie idea perhaps? *Looks in 28 Days Later‘s direction.*
32.
This relationship seems…dead? lol
33.
I feel like this was my TV setup at one point in college.
34.
I like the game plan, but there are so many of those things, I don’t think it will matter. Either that, or someone will flub their job.
35.
Hey, Harry seems like an idiot, but these were some pretty clutch tosses by him. I was worried he was gonna hit the car.
36.
So far, so good. Fire and gas isn’t a great combo, though.
38.
Welp. That happened. They just needed to bail away from the gas station. Why drive off? It was not worth it. People are not at their best in a crisis.
39.
Poor Ben. Keep that fire forward.
40.
This guy isn’t gonna let him in, is he?
41.
I could see that punch coming a mile away. Again, the survival skills of these people are not the best.
42.
Ghoul food time. It must be like BBQ for them. In all seriousness, I could see why this was so disturbing back then. These guys are brutal for the time.
43.
Save some of those bullets for head shots, man.
44.
Another way out? Barb with the crucial info.
45.
Yeah. Forshadowing-ness is forshadowing.
46.
Oof. I’m not a “zombie” movie guy when it comes to horror, but I imagine the zombie-wields-object was a horrific concept. They all of a sudden become way more dangerous.
47.
The ghouls are breaking in, and the living are turning on one another. The suspense is terrible…I hope it’ll last.
48.
I’m shocked, but not surprised. Ben has shown he is willing to do whatever it takes to stay alive. I’m not sure if it was intentional, but I like Harry’s movement after being shot, reminiscent of the ghouls. Shows we, too, are the ghouls.
49.
Ghoul-child confirmed. I didn’t want to say it out loud, but felt it coming. Great planting and payoff.
50.
Terrifying shot. Again, ghouls with weapons make all this wayyy more scary.
51.
Very slasher-inspired. Unexpected from a zomb…ghoul movie.
52.
Johnny’s back! Great reveal.
53.
They did indeed come to get you, Barbra.
54.
The nightmare never ends. This really picked up in the third act. Ben won’t hesitate.
56.
The calvalry has arrived. Just use your words, Ben!
58.
Overall, I see why Night of the Living Dead is a classic. The first act could’ve been paced a little more engagingly, but I imagine that all the “chase” and “hide” scenes were much more thrilling back in the ’60s. It’s got a great story and characters, but Ben and the ghouls were def the standouts.
What are your thoughts about Night of the Living Dead? What moment/element sticks out to you? Comment below!
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