Night of the Living Dead

Synopsis

There’s before NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and after NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. George Romero’s epochal horror film uses its low budget to its advantage. Everything has a newsreel immediacy thanks to Romero’s use of handheld cameras and real locations. The colorblind casting process he used was revolutionary as well. Here, the hero is the tall, dark, and handsome Duane Jones, the best actor Romero could afford on his low budget — and he’s very, very good. The story is: a group of people are besieged by an invasion of dead people returning to life. They barricade themselves in a farmhouse and fight back as the strains from within and without become intolerable. With one of the all-time surprise endings.