Matt Connarton Unleashed: Erich Pilcher reviews George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Knight of Total Terror. Knights of the Living Dead. The dead who live unliving flesh, the dead whose haunted souls hunt the living, the living whose bodies are the only food for these hunted godly creatures. Knight of the Living Dead, bizarre adventure in an experience in shock, more shuddering than your strangest nightmare. Night of the Living Dead, A Night with the Dead who cannot done, A Knight of Total Terror, Night of the Living Dead. It's hard to imagine a time when horror films did not use an element of realism to strike fear into the hearts of film goers.

However, prior to nineteen sixty eight, horror films were old Gothic monsters, aliens in various science enhanced creatures. That is until a director known for his work on Mister Rogers Neighborhood would create the first major independent film that would change horror forever. Our final film in this month long tribute to director George A. Romero is his first film, the nineteen sixty eight release Night of the Living Dead. In this film, a group of individuals seek refuge in a farmhouse from beings that have inexplicably risen from the dead and crave human flesh.

The film stars Duane Jones, Judith O'Day, Karl Hardeman, Marilyn Eastman, and Keith Wayne. Despite this film being our introduction to zombies, it is also known for being the first successful independent film. Our next two clips, George A. Romero explains during a Toronto Film festival in two thousand and five the film success and how losing the copyright to the film led to it gaining a stronger following throughout the years, and then Romero will discuss the groundbreaking decision of casting Duane Jones's Ben.

It was groundbreaking because it is the first American film to have an African American male be the quote unquote hero of the film, and a historic tragedy that enhanced the film's profile. Oh, the fact is that when when the film was first released, it made money. It actually it costs US about one hundred and seventeen thousand, and it made about seven hundred thousand in the first year in those drive ins and neighborhood theaters and you know, blah blah blah, and we said, wow, this is an easy business.

Then it went away, I mean just disappeared. And then one day somebody discovered that there was no copyright on the film because we had our title. Our original title was Night of the Flesh Eaters, and we, stupidly, as young filmmakers, put up put the copyright bugged a little see with the circle around it on the title on the title card, and when they changed the title, that bug came off, and all of a sudden there was no copyright. They didn't notice, We didn't notice, nobody noticed. You know, it was one of those things that just one of those the one that got away, and all of a sudden there was no copyright on the film.

So you know, the moment that people realize that everybody was selling it on VHS and you know, everybody could release it without having to pay any royalties or anything else. And that's that's really the journey of that film. Then all of a sudden the French discovered it's a magazine called Kahier the Cinema, which you may know wrote the huge article about it being amazing important American cinema and I wasn't thinking of it as that at all, but they everyone who was sort of noticing the film was talking about the racial issue, and

to honestly, it wasn't a racial message at all. In fact, we were what when when we casket Dwayne Jones? When Dwayne Jones agreed to do it, we didn't change the script. And when Jack and I were writing the script, it was the guy in our mind was Caucasian and the same things happened to him. And people are saying, well, here come these posse's with the posse with dogs and going into the black guy. They were going after the guy when he was white, and so that was not our point. Our point was more the disintegration of society, the inability to communicate, the disintegration of the family unit.

And that's the stuff that we were. You just you just picked him because he was the best actor you could find. Russ my partner, and Russ and Russ Strainer and I were driving into New York. We had the first answer print of this of the film in the trunk of our car and driving to New York, we heard on the radio that Martin Luther King had been assassinated, and that, I think is where the whole race thing came from. I mean that sort of made the film that much more exotic, or that much because you just hearing that lose what you had in the trunk.

Suddenly it changed, What if this is going to be good for us? I mean, you know, I hate to say that, but you know it's obviously the thing that occurs in this film was made before the start of the MPAA, the Motion Picture Association of America, which gave films ratings that we know today. So Romero was able to use disturbing realism to depict the zombies. The people that played the Walking Dead actually eight cow livers and pig intestines that were depicted as human in trails to keep the realism.

Well, that was groundbreaking, making no mistake. What is most memorable and is still talked about to this day is the performance of Duane Jones. As we learned in our previous clip, Romero did not cast him because he was African American, but by casting him, Romero created a cinematic symbol for the civil rights movement. In Jones's performance is what makes Ben that it brings that symbol the life. Our next clip is an example of this. When we first encounter Ben, he rescues Barbara Judith O'Day from a zombie attack and brings her into the farmhouse.

Despite society crumbling around him and everyone else hysterical, Ben keeps his cool in this scene shows what makes him a strong hero, no matter his color. He grabbed me and he ripped me. He helped me, and he ripped in my clothes. Just calmed down. Oh, I screamed, Johnny. Johnny helped me, Oh help me, and he wouldn't let me go. He ripped and then Johnny came and he ran and he had he fought this man, and I got so afraid. I ran, I ran, and Johnny didn't come. We've got we had to wait for Johnny. Maybe we better go out and get him.

We have to go out and get Johnny. He's out there. Please, don't you hear me. We've got to go out and get him. Please, we have got to go get life. Please help me. Please, don't you know what's going on up there? This is my Sunday school picnic. Don't you understand? My brother is alone? Your brother is dead. My brother is not dead. With the casting of Jones,

how he played the strong hero role, it would be accurate to assume that this was about the civil rights movement, but that would be too simple for the great mind of Romero he has said, this film is about the crumbling of society, as we have heard earlier. Through further research, I found that during the Vietnam War, America had lost the idea of heroes. That also, during the sixties, the ideas of families, values and morals had crumbled and people were fighting against the new ideas that others presented.

That ultimately is what Romero wanted to depict in this film. Our final clip is a great example of this. When faced with survival in the farmhouse, Ben encounters Harry Cooper, his wife, their daughter, and a young married couple. Harry Cooper is an older man that fights Ben for leadership and control over the farmhouse. This final clip shows this fight between the old rules of society that being Cooper and the new world ideas that being Ben, and how that conflict is constant and even when both of their survivals are on the line, they cannot get past this internal struggle.

How help, Let's just sell us to save us place. You know you're gonna hear the rector. I don't we supposed to know what was going on because there have been those things, bro, You know that girls screaming? Sure you must know what a girl's screaming sungs Michael Spakes, don't make any noise. You're anybody could know somebody that could need to help. Its clue. It's kind of hard to hear what's going on for us down there. Any we thought we could hear a screams man, or all we knew that couldn't at those things were in the house after her, and you wouldn't come up as hell.

Well if there were more of the racket, sounding like the place was being ripped apart, how were we supposed to know what was going on now? We isn't you just got a fifty same You couldn't hear from down there? Now you see a time like the place was being written apart. It wouldn't be nice if you get your story straight. Man. All right, now, you tell me, I'm not going to take that kind of a chance where we got a safe place. We look into a safe place, and you're telling us we got to risk our lives just because somebody might need help.

Yeah, something like that. All right, why don't we settle this. That's her, We came out. Okay, we're here now, I said, guess we all go back downstairs before any of those things find out we're in here. They can't set in here. You got the whole place boarded up, Yeah, most of it, an call it. The few spots upstairs, they won't be hard to fix you already safe the seller is a safe best place. I'm telling you, they get in here, and I'm telling you those things turned over our car. We were damn lucky you get away at all.

Now you tell me those those things can't get through this lousy pile of wood, this wife and kids downstairs, Any kids heard him? Ye? Holy point? Well, I still think we're better off up here. We could strengthen everything up, mister Cooper, with all of us working, we can fix this place up in no time. We have everything we need up here. We can take all that stuff downstairs with us. And you're really crazy. You know that you got a million windows up here. All these windows you're gonna you're gonna make them strong enough to keep these things out.

I told you those things don't happen you strength. I smashed three up'em and pushed another one out the door. Did you hear me when I told you they turned over our car? Or how any good five men could do that? That's my point only there's not going to be five or even ten. There's gonna be twenty thirty, maybe a hundred of those things. And as soon as they know we're here, this place is gonna be calling with'em. Well, if there's that many, though, probably get us wherever we are. Book right, do the cellar?

The cellar, there's only one door, right, just one door, that's all we have to protect follow and I fixed its locks and boards from the inside. But up here, all these windows, right, we'd never know where they We're gonna hit us next. You got a point, mister Cooper. But down in the cellar, there's no place to run to. I mean, if they did get in, there'd be no back exit. We'd be done for. We can get out of here if we have to. And we got windows to see what's going on outside. But down there, with no windows, if a rescue party did come, we wouldn't even know it.

But the summer is the strongest place. The cellar is a death's draft. I don't know, mister Cooper. I think he's runned. You know how many's out there? Maybe six or seven? Clucking, You two can do whatever you like. I am going back down to the cellar, and you better decide, because I'm gonna board up that door and I'm not going to unlock it again, no matter what happens. This film is a monumental achievement for so many reasons. I could go on and on about the first it presented the starter Romero's film career, the great performances, and so much more.

However, my words do not do it justice. This film is frightening, disturbing, in fear inducing. The black and white it is shot in only enhances that to this day, its scenes and images leave a mark on a viewer that you cannot forget. In two days, this film celebrates its fifty fifth anniversary of being released. It has had five direct sequels, two remakes, and even an unofficial sequel done by the co writer of this film called Return of the Living Dead, and its influence continues to this day in comic books, movies, and video games.

That influence is not felt just with the creation of zombies, but it is seen in filmmakers, actors, in those just getting their start in cinema. It provides a reminder that all you need is a will and division, because that is what carried George Romero to his status as a master of cinema. I hope you join me next Friday when we start our Halloween slate of films with arguably the scariest film ever made, the late William Friedkins The Exorcist, and then in two weeks we will look at the sequel to this film, George Romero's Dawn of the Dead.

To close this week's review, I would like to present the final scene of this film, as we learn of the fate that Matt, the heroic band, the lone survivor of the farmhouse for W M n H and Matt Connerton unleashed. This has been a classic film review with Eric Pilcher. You drag that out of here and throw it on the fire. Nothing down here, all right, go ahead down and give him a hand. Let's go check out the house. Here's something there. I heard a noise, all right, Vince hit him in the head, right between the eyes.

Good shot. Okay, he's let's go get him. That's another one for the fire, yea, by all right? Set the wagon through directly on

Matt Connarton Unleashed: Erich Pilcher reviews George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968)

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