Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 horror movie from director George A. Romero. This low-budget picture was followed by three sequels, along with several parodies and spinoffs.
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[change] Plot
A nineteen year-old (Aaron Hammer) goes to his home town to get a job application as a headhunter. After having a curious talk, the manager starts to follow him awkwardly to the bus stop. Martin frantically calls his mother and tells her he thinks his manager is planning to kill him. She is not able to get their in time, so Martin has to take an airplane. At the airport, he meets his mother and a few of his high school friends, including a troubled Kevin Timmerman who is being abused by his large family. When Martin finds out the plain has a delay due to bad snowy weather, Martin plans to stay at a nearby hotel.
While leaving the airport and returning to his home town, Martin is surprised to hear that a warning over the radio is calling a "zombie" attack at his town, that the dead have risen from the cemetery nearby. He thinks this is a prank, but screams and commotion suggest otherwise. The threats and tension grow increasingly, and Martin and a group of about fifteen other people run to a family of three's house. One of them is Martin's ex-girlfriend, Madeline. The group does not find any news or coverage on the TV, but does happen to get information on the local radio station. They say the attack is genuine. Martin and Madeline start to hear pounding and realize a "Frankenstein"-like zombie is trying to get in the locked door. At first, they think it is funny he cannot get in and they tease him. But he then uses his claws and an axe to hack down the door. While trying to stop him, a guy named Hunter gets the claws of Frankenstein in his chest, eventually killing him. The others scurry. But Madeline, Martin and Ossie stay. Ossie gets his chest axed to the other two leaving. The group franticlly looks for the shotgun. While trying to find it, Frankenstein kills a girl on the top floor, sending the bedroom down to the basement because of Frankenstein's weight. One of them is the couple's daughter. While in the basement, Martin tries to stab the zombie with the family's crucifix through the vent upstairs, without success. The father, Tim gets the gun and eventually kills the stranger. Staying their longer, Martin explains to the group his manager must have been a zombie, and that the outbreak must be spreading through the air but they have trouble believing him. The next day, the group hears screaming and looks out the half-hacked door to see a group of the townspeople being chased by the zombies. Disturbing sounds include screaming and struggling that eventually turns into failure. Those who try to get in, including Kevin Timmerman get killed.
After the attack, the group goes out to escape, but only Martin and a few others survive. After being attacked by werewolves and vampires, Martin calls his father at his deserted old house. He is able to come, along with Martin's best friend, Erik and he asks him if others around the area or world know about the current situation. It appears no one does and they get in the car. But with numerous attempts, it does not work. They then have to walk home, but Erik stays behind to try to start the car or stay in Martin's old house. On the way down about two blocks, they find a figure in the middle of the street walking toward them. They both argue whether its a zombie or not, and the credits roll before we know what or who it is, hinting to the audience to make up their own mind.
[change] Development and Production
Originally, every single thing that happened in Night of the Living Dead except for the dialogue was based on a dream Aaron Hammer had. Even Martin's famous line: "I think he's planning to kill me" was from his dream. Even the scenes of black and white alternating to color and scenes with black and white but with red blood. Hammer thought it had to have been turned into a movie and so he met up with Patrick Kubrick, thinking he was the perfect director for that sort of film. Kubrick also casted Lauren Paul in the movie as Hammer had intended. Along with Cindy Hammer, Jeff Hammer, Erik Nelson, and Eric Malterer as Kevin Timmerman.
[change] Music and Sound Effects
The film actually has little music. In fact, two songs were adopted from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. The beginning titles is simply the sound of a heart beat and background sound effects that eventually leads the heart to beat faster. It then moves on to The Shining theme song. In the theatrical release, when Ossie gets axed, there is no music in the whole entire scene. But when it was released on DVD, it added a score from The Shining when Mr. Halloran gets axed by Jack Nicholson.
Sound effects for the zombies were added on during the editing process. In the "Frankenstein" scene, he never actually makes any noise. The sound of the axe going in one's body was actually the sound of an axe going into meat and animal bones. Ketchup and water was used as blood and turned into red later on. Other than this, these are actually the only effects and music used during the entire film, which gives it some realistic-like power.
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