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DVD Night of the Living Dead (Millennium Edition)
We can hardly imagine how shocking this film was when it first broke into the film scene in 1968. There's never been anything quite like it again, though there have been numerous pale imitations. Part of the terror lies in the fact that it is shot in such a raw and unadorned fashion that it feels like a home movie, and is all the more authentic because of that. It draws us into its world gradually, content to establish a merely spooky atmosphere before leading us through a horrifically logical progression that we hardly could have anticipated. The story is simple: Radiation from a fallen satellite has caused the dead to walk, and hunger for human flesh. Once bitten, you become one of them. And the only way to kill one is by a shot or blow to the head. We follow a group holed up in a small farmhouse who are trying to fend off the inevitable onslaught of the dead. The tension between the members of this unstable, makeshift community drives the film. Night of the Living Dead establishes savagery as a necessary condition of life. Marked by fatality and a grim humor, the film gnaws through to the bone, then proceeds on to the marrow. --Jim Gay
Review(s): DVD Night of the Living Dead (Millennium Edition)
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I was always a little on the squeamish side, and as a child, I never had much use for horror movies. I don't think it was until my mid- to late teens that I even started seeing very many on any kind of regular basis--and then mostly because my friends wanted to go. Nonconformist that I was, I tagged along.
Well, it wasn't just that: I should give myself some credit. There was already some criticism appearing in the mid- to late 60s about how horror movies were a coded (or maybe not-so-coded)commentary on our times. What with all those references to radiation and all. And some were supposed to be allegories. And you could do Freudian interpretations of vampire or zombie flicks. So budding intellectual that I was, I could surely find rationalization for tagging along with my friends to horror flicks.
And lo, I made the discovery: they weren't quite as scary as all that. A good many of them were downright campy.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD was one I did avoid, however. I don't recall if others in my crowd attended, but I'd read and heard enough about it to put me off. For about 35 years, in fact.
But this past Halloween, I went on a scary movie binge, of sorts. And since, this low budget shocker was on just about everyone's list of horror movie "must sees," I finally saw it. This despite the fact that the cover on the library copy I borrowed clearly said, "Not For the Squeamish." And Leonard Maltin had warned "Don't watch this alone." Well, I'm still kind of squeamish and I watched it alone (if you don't count my cat Zsa Zsa) and lived to tell the tale.
It's pretty clear why the movie shocked audiences in 1968. By today's ghoulish standards, it's nothing too outrageous. But intestine devouring, bone chomping zombies were something of a novelty in '68. Of course, this was the era when the Vietnam war was being beamed into suburban homes every night on network news. And it was the year that RFK and MLK were assassinated. The Summer of Love was the year before. The movie was filmed slightly before the Manson murders--but it's random violence and (SPOILER WARNING, in case you couldn't guess) its laying to waste of all its major characters was pretty emblematic of the tumultuous era.
But wasn't I just being a little snide about horror movies reflecting the fears and axieties of their era? Well, yes, but it IS true, on a number of levels. Radiation is once again at the root of the horror. Random, mindless (literally) violence rends the fabric of everyday petit bourgeois life, and every other kind of life come to think of it.
And it's all on television. At least until the power goes out.
George A. Romero's Groundbreaking Horror Film!
I just don't know what it is about this movie that grabs my attention. It doesn't matter what you do, where you run, or where you hide. They are there! There is no escape! They won't stop til you are dead! The original 1968 Night of The Living Dead is a true horror masterpiece. The zombies are...awesome, to say the least. When a few characters are killed by an exploding car, the film continues with a grotesque display of the zombies eating the left over body parts. The actors (especially Duane Jones) did a wonderful job, especially since this was their first movie! The ending, in my opinion, is probably the best ending in any movie of the genre. I won't spoil it for you, but even the grizzly images during the credits will make you think.
As for the 30th anniversary edition, I advise everyone who is a fan of this film, or someone who has never seen this film before to avoid it as much as possible. They add a new beginning with two guys driving the casket of the first zombie (the first one we see in the cemetery played by Bill Heinzman) from the prison where he was just executed to the cemetery where he's to be interred. A cheesy bald priest and the parents of the little girl that the dead guy apparently killed are there waiting for the body. The girl's father wants to see his body to make sure...and then spits on it and leaves with the girl's mother. The dead guy stirs, gets up, and bites the priest...then he wanders away leading us to the REAL beginning of the movie. They took out the whole "driving up to the cemetery" stuff from the original, and begin the older footage with Barbara and Johnny stopping and getting out.
During the film, they've added a car crash family of zombies, as well as some zombies from the Diner where Ben came from (all played by family members and friends of the "flim makers"). Some feeding stuff...nothing big.
Finally, at the end, after Ben is shot, they superimpose a "One Year Later" and show some reporter going to visit the cheesy priest in the hospital. He didn't die from his wound, because of "prayer" and crap like that. Oh, and he has a dog named "Mewshew" (not sure if that's the spelling...but that's definitely the pronunciation) that he has so that, in case he DOES turn into a zombie, he can chow down on it rather than some person who's near by.
Anyway, it's HORRIBLE. The acting of the new people is just pathetic...especially the priest (who just happened to do the new score for the movie...which was equally horrible). Also, they said how they "seamlessly" intercut the old footage with the new, and how Bill Heinzman looked exactly how he looked back then due to the great make up FX...but that was utter *beep* Very sad. Very pathetic. Avoid it.
The original Night of The Living Dead is a true horror classic that should not be missed. Avoid the 30th anniversary edition!
- Zack, 16 years old
First movie I was afraid to watch a 2nd time!!!
I bought this movie with another movie in one of those cheap movie bins at places like Walmart. When I watched this movie for the first time I was shivering through it. I could't even eat popcorn and watch this movie at the same time.
If I wanted to watch a movie I wouldn't even touch the box I was so creeped out. I wouldn't be able to sleep from fear of a zombie walking through the door.
The black and white version adds to the atmosphere of the movie and I thought made it more creepy.
Related DVD's Night of the Living Dead (Millennium Edition)
George Romero's 1978 follow-up to his classic Night of the Living Dead is quite terrifying and gory (those zombies do like the taste of living flesh). But in its own way, it is just as comically satiric as the first film in its take on contemporary values. This time, we follow the fortunes of four people who lock themselves inside a shopping mall to get away from the marauding dead and who then immerse themselves in unabashed consumerism, taking what they want from an array of clothing and jewelry shops, making gourmet meals, etc. It is Romero's take on Louis XVI in the modern world: keep the starving masses at bay and crank up the insulated indulgence. Still, this is a horror film when all is said and done, and even some of Romero's best visual jokes (a Hare Krishna turned... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 07 September 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Chapter three of George Romero's mighty zombie trilogy has big footsteps to follow. Night of the Living Dead was a classic that revitalized a certain corner of the cinema, and Dawn of the Dead was nothing short of epic. Day of the Dead, however, has always been regarded as a comedown compared to those twin peaks--and perhaps it is. But on its own terms, this is an awfully effective horror movie, made with Romero's customary social satire and cinematic vigor--when a "retrained" zombie responds to the "Ode to Joy," the film is in genuinely haunting territory. The story is set inside a sunken military complex, where Army and medical staff, supposedly working on a solution to the zombie problem, are going crazy (strongly foreshadowing the final act of 28 Days... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Lori Cardille - Terry Alexander Director(s): George A. Romero DVD Release Date: Released the 19 August 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Without a doubt, this is one of the best horror movies I have ever seen. The intensity and suspense really start to pick up speed at about ten minutes in, and it doesn't let up until the end credits. Although it would be impossible to top George A. Romero's phenomenal, original 'Night Of The Living Dead', Tom Savini's 1990 version truly is an excellent remake and an all around superb horror movie. Out of the countless zombie flicks that I have seen, I highly regard this as one of, if not the best. If you are looking for a movie that best depicts what it would be like if the dead were to rise, then I suggest you immediately look into this film. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Tony Todd - Patricia Tallman Director(s): Tom Savini DVD Release Date: Released the 06 September 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Bolstered by the success of 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, the Resident Evil movies and the hit remake of his own Dawn of the Dead, George A. Romero returns to the horror subgenre he invented with Land of the Dead. The fourth installment in Romero's zombie cycle (and the first since 1985's Day of the Dead) presents a logical progression of events since 1968's horror classic Night of the Living Dead: Zombies (also known as "stenches" for their rotting odor) are the dominant population, and they've begun to show signs of undead intelligence and gathering power. The wealthiest survivors live comfortably in a luxury high-rise within a barricaded safe zone, ignoring the horrors of the outside world while armed scavengers stage raids in the... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Simon Baker - John Leguizamo - Asia Argento Director(s): George A. Romero DVD Release Date: Released the 18 October 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Although it was made in 1936, Reefer Madness didn't become a cult hit until 1972 when the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) rescued it from the Library of Congress film archive. Thereafter, it was a mainstay on the midnight movie circuit. And it's easy to see why. The ostensible story involves a group of upstanding young high school students who succumb to the allure of the "killer weed." What follows, as if by natural progression, is a catalog of crimes that includes hit-and-run driving, loose morals, rape, murder, suicide, and my personal favorite, permanent insanity! The action is at times so hysterical, in both senses, that you may forget to inhale. Honors go to the wild-eyed, cackling hophead David O'Brien; his performance reaches a raw... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Dorothy Short - Kenneth Craig - Lillian Miles Director(s): Louis J. Gasnier DVD Release Date: Released the 20 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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