Logan Nicholas
July-16-2019
Night Of The Living Dead
Analysis
This horrific black and white film told to be the original zombie ice breaker into the movie industry was directed by George Romero, and can be described as one of a kind. Solely written by Romero this movie is a pure representation of his way of portraying a zombie horror film. Even with a low budget Romero was able to exemplify his film to an accepting audience fairly well. With sex, political views, violence, and racial equality incorperated with its blood and gore it seemed to not shock its audence as a reasonable person would think. Audencese took Romeros take on a zombie horror film as a reality that could happen. While first impressions of the film being in black and white might have labeled it as poor quality, some might say it was because of the low budget, others seem to think of it as having a deeper meaning.
With racial tensions high at this time, you can notice some racial tension during the film. Nevertheless the making of this cinema caused a huge fascination in zombie horror and films alike. It may have been the feeling it radiates when you think of a world dominating force with only your demise as its goal, and that coming together to stop the carnage is all that we have left. At this time coming together as a whole may not have been the country’s main objective in the 1960’s. It could even be seen as a metaphorical picture to unite white people together and eliminate a threat to their livelihood, which in this day was seen to be African Americans.
”choppy black/ and white scenes” was just one discription about the actual picture and visual of this cinema, although having “special effects ahead of its time” during the Vietnam era this film experienced a number of rewrites and character changes throughout the filming. With emotions and opinions high about war, sexual opinions, racial equality and politics, having these themes bridge together by a global threat was a smart tactic to use to keep viewers entertained. Over all this film was a small spark that helped edge many movements to the light. Not only in society but in the film industry as well. For younger folks at the time it was something no one had seen before which made it so special.
Fast forward to current horror genre zombie films such as 28 days later, resident evil, World War Z, and even some comedies like Shawn Of The Dead zombie movies have been steadily increasing in popularity since then. Night Of The Living Dead was original, had shock value, incorporated social and political views, and was advertised well enough to make a big hit in the world of cinema, Although the film may be more appreciated in recent years it’s ripped its way into the televisions of generations not only as a benchmark for zombie films, but as a teaching subject for cinema enthusiasts.