Review of Night of the Living Dead (1968) by Nick O — 27 May 2011

You're breaking Zombieland 101 when you let the evil undead catch up to the times. Lock away the town's daughters. Crank the PSA's on your radios and, above all, beware; brains are the new black, and these baddies are out to kill. Warning: "we won't be home till after midnight." It's the poetic line of ego-driven sleaze that first purses George Romero's chilling epidemic "Night of the Living Dead", spoken by Johnny (Russell Streiner), who along with sister Barbara (Judith O'Dea) are six hours from home in a ghost town graveyard to bestow a wreath on their father's headstone. Johnny teases her by fingering a stray passerby as a monster. She turns a cold shoulder to bro's insult. Johnny gets eaten by the walking nerd, and scares start a-blazin'.

Barbara storms to shelter in a house whose basement is occupied by stickler Harry (Karl Hardman, from whom Rob Corddry apparently stole his looks) and Tom (Keith Wayne), and their wives Helen and Judy (Marilyn Eastman and Judith Ripley, respectively) and Harry and Helen's possibly infected daughter Karen (Kyra Schon). Another incomer Ben (Duane Jones) tries to commander the fate of the group, pushing the fiery Harry to argue that father knows best. Truth is, none of 'em have the slightest clue, which is all the more fun. No character is particularly worth saving (Barbara especially just glazes on the couch.) The only glimpse of apocalypse we hear is throated on airwaves and TV. It's the perfect crime. Slasher flicks often wrong the short stick of the ordeal by making the story easy prey like unfeeling urchins in a Rockstar video game. Romero and co-writer John A. Russo give everyone (and everything) their fair chance at dominance. Through visionary camera direction Romero lands a dark analysis of standing sideline in a world turned battlefield. There's a voice in "Night of the Living Dead", but it's a whisper. Listen for it in the terror on the stereo. The anchored cries never stop. Good thing it's all They feed on.