Night of the Living Dead

Portrayals of zombies fill the mainstream media and popular culture. From television shows such as The Walking Dead to movies like 28 Days Later and Zombieland. Zombies have even been largely popularized through the Resident Evil novels followed by video game and big screen adaptations. The most awarded video game, The Last of Us, is based on a post-apocalyptic world full of zombie-like creatures. The popularity that zombies still elicit in the media can be traced back to one film that changed the landscape of horror films to come after it. George Romero’s 1968 independent black and white classic film, Night of the Living Dead, shocked the American public with a level of violence and gore that had previously never been seen in films. It created a divide between people who both loved it and hated it, but since its release, Night of the Living Dead has become touted as the film that revived and renewed the zombie genre. In addition, this film portrayed the social and political…

society or an individual. We see this time and time again, from Little Red Riding Hood to the collection of Grimm’s Fairytales. Night of the Living Dead, the movie can be seen as a struggle or revolt against collectivism and consumer culture. When the Night of the Living Dead is looked at in comparison to the time it was created, a deeper meaning becomes much more transparent. NoTLD was filmed in the 60’s, a time known for its counter-cultural movements and revolutionaries. This generation was…

Night of the Living Dead, released in 1968, directed by Gorge A. Romero and Carnival of Souls, released in 1962, directed by Herk Harvey, are two popular movies in the horror genre. Both low budget and filmed in black and white, captivated audiences with their filming techniques and psychological impact. Night of the Living Dead better represents the horror genre than Carnival of Souls because of its use of characteristics, stereotypes and technical components throughout the film. A typical…

Zombies are a phenomenon that almost everyone has heard about. Shambling mindless corpses trying to feast on the flesh of the living. The idea of the undead has been around for almost as long as people and their culture have. There have been multiple cultural variants of zombies and ideas of how to keep the dead from coming back to haunt the living such as the theory behind the origin of the tombstone was that it was literally a giant rock that cavemen rolled on top of graves to keep the…

Night of the Living Dead” is film about a zombie outbreak in the 60s. First in the film we meet Barbara and her brother Johnny when they are arriving at their father’s grave to pay their respects in wish of their mother. Upon leaving the grave site it is very clear something devastating has happened. Throughout the film different concepts can be examined and related to our everyday lives. Hedonism is the belief that our actions are driven by the desire for pleasure. When analyzing the film we…

In both of the films, I Walked with a Zombie from 1943 and George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead from 1968, race and Vodou play a large factor in creating the elements that compose the zombies of the stories. I Walked with a Zombie addressed the complications of white power by representing slaves working in the sugar industry as nothing more than mindless zombies, being manipulated by the white race to conform to their will. Night of the Living Dead also incorporated a wide range of racially…

In Jeff May’s Zombie Geographies and the Undead City, he starts by explaining that “contemporary zombie films mark a geographical move to large urban areas, bringing the zombie masses to the city and foregroundIng urban fears while containing implicit messages about social difference and otherness”(May 286). I found this quote extremely interesting. If I could fast forward time, and somehow be placed in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, I would chose to be in a more rural or even suburban area.…

With Night of the Living Dead, zombie movies established a metaphorical connection to the social and political commentary. The movie Night of the Living Dead incorporates political scenario of the time when the film was released. This was the period when leaders were assassinated, America was on verge of nuclear war, and the feminist movement was on the rise. The irony of the movie was that everyone else was killed by the undead, Ben, the last survivor, was shot dead by a police officer. The…

In Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later (2002) the conclusion of the film has Jim, Selena, and Hannah recovering at a remote cottage another 28 days after they escaped the mansion. Outside the three have made a cloth banner that spells out “HELLO” laid over a field, while the three are outside a jet flies over them and the film ends with the pilot calling in a rescue helicopter. The future of the three is quite uncertain and there isn't much closure to the film. The future of Jim, Selena, and Hannah…

John Carpenter Pans AMC’s Zombie Series ‘The Walking Dead,’ Says He Didn’t Like it ‘The Walking Dead’ is one of those rare shows that boast of a cult status and massive fan following. It is a rage among horror show aficionados but it looks like some prominent icon from the horror world is not impressed with the zombie series. According to reports, John Carpenter, the man behind popular and successful movies ‘Halloween’ and ‘The Thing,’ has said that he did not like it. He stated that it was just…