Today's movie of the day = Night of the Living Dead (1968). This one tops my list of favorite zombie films even though the use of the term 'zombie' was nowhere to be found in the film. Instead the news story referred to then as 'flesh-eating ghouls'.
Of course one of the big things about this film is that it started the entire zombie genre. Sure, there had been other films which has a single monster like this, but George Romero really opened it up to the mega-genre it is now.
One thing I had forgotten about the zombies in this one was that they used tools. When they didn't like bright lights, they smashed them. When they wanted to get into a house, they used clubs and other tools to attempt to bash down doors. One even used a garden tool to kill another.
There are so many great things about this film it's hard to narrow down. The social dynamic is a big one. There are all kinds of people represented in the house, from the one who is unable to do anything due to shock, to the complete jerk, to the one who has a head on their shoulders. This is one of the reasons it works so well and still does today as the characters are relatable, good or bad.
The other thing that really hits home is the fact that there was nothing to base a zombie invasion on so the characters were as much in the dark as the rest of the country. Due to this, the shock Barbara feels is believable as she just suffered a severe trauma and had no time to come to terms with it.
The last big thing is how it ends. There is no happy ending where things work out for the protagonists. Instead, they are just trying to survive. The characters all meet their end, either by zombie or otherwise.
If you couldn't tell, yes, I absolutely recommend this film and always will. Even though it's 53 years old, it still not only holds up, but is superior to the majority of zombie films these days.
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