In grad school, I had a roommate who lived in western Pennsylvania. He pointed out to me that after the making of this film, they rented the house to people who wanted to have overnight parties there. We almost did this, but schedules got in the way. I had heard so much about this movie, when I finally saw it, I was expecting too much. Like silent films or art films, the second and third viewing convinces one that these are trend setters. Because I had seen other movies like this, I thought it was clichéd, but then realized that those movies were the clichés and this set them up. The zombies are frightening, the feasting on human flesh is disgusting, those poor people, trapped in that house, not just fighting the enemies outside, but their own, inside, make for quite a film. It's easy to laugh at this because of inexperienced actors, cheap sets, and, basically, pretty bad special effects. Nevertheless, there is a throbbing threat that begins with the car in the graveyard and goes all the way to the unfortunate ending. It's a very frightening movie and set the standard for a raft of others to come. I don't like slasher movies and I'm not fond of gore in film, but it is a part of cinema today, and a lot of imagination went into this.
Review of Night of the Living Dead
