Review of Night of the Living Dead (1968) by Joey B — 25 Mar 2011

The acting's cheesy (Keith Wayne gives one of the worst performances in the history of the movies, I can't see why his career didn't take off), as is the dialogue. It's not as scary these days as it probably was when it was released and the 'gore' is really very tame compared to Romero's subsequent zombie films, but the gritty, low budget look is perfect and when you put this film in the perspective of the year it was made, this is one brave, hardcore horror film.

Romero didn't invent the zombie, but he made it what it is today. And for 1968, there's some sick stuff going on here. Romero wasn't interested in letting the viewer off easy. Just when it seems evil will triumph over good, the tables turn, then they turn again, leading us to a punch in the gut lo-fi ending that seems to say, 'well what did you expect?' A dated classic for sure, but not as dated as it could have been, handled by less talented, and less brave, filmmakers.