Best Horror Films - Night Of The Living Dead
George Romero's Movie Shows How Vietnam Influences The Zombie Genre
Aug 13, 2008
In 1968 a low budget horror film about zombies was released in cinemas to little fanfare. Directed by George Romero it appeared on bills in drive-ins and small cinemas and featured a cast of unknowns. The few people who seen this film were so impressed that word of mouth spread and it eventually became the cult classic that it is today.
Basically a zombie film with a simple premise, a few survivors trapped in a house while a plague of undead try to get at them, it was the inspiration behind the film which elevated it out of the norm. To understand why we have to look at American social history of the time and what was happening to the country at the time.
The end of the 1960's was a turbulent time for America. President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated and the country was in the midst of a civil uprising. Compounding this was the horrific scenes reaching television screens every night of a war which was going horribly wrong. All of this would become the core of the this simple, low-budget film.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Night of the Living Dead to viewers in the 1960's was its choice of hero. Instead of the square jawed all-American type this films hero was Ben, a black man. Into a country torn with strife surrounding the treatment of coloured people Romero chose a hero who would immediately go against all values that the majority of cinema-goers would have held. It is in the final scene when he brings this home with Ben being mistaken for a zombie by redneck hunters and shot dead. What follows can easily be seen as the despicable way coloured people were treated at the time.
The social commentary behind this film is well documented now and part of the success is down to it being such a blatant reminder of a shameful time. Another major part was the issue of gore. Every night people were bearing witness to horrific injuries on their television screens which George Romero would adopt for the gruesome attack scenes in the film. The work in this film would be groundbreaking in horror films. The sequels would include the work of Tom Savini who was an ex-veteran and who based his work on the injuries that he saw in the war.
It could be argued that the second film in Romeros original zombie trilogy (now expanded to five films) was a greater achievement and more worthy of appearing in this list but at the end of the day it was this film which started it all. The groundwork for all that appeared after in his films was started here and its influence is still felt today.
This list of the greatest horror films ever concludes here and although it can easily be picked over and argued about one thing that cannot be changed is that these films influenced pretty much anything the genre has to offer.
