Cinema
Night of the Living Dead
George A. Romero · 1968
Synopsis
Barbra and her brother Johnny come to lay flowers on their father's grave in a Pennsylvania cemetery. A pale man in a suit attacks them and kills Johnny. Barbra flees to an isolated farmhouse, where Ben arrives shortly after; together they barricade the house against a crowd of the dead. A couple and their daughter hide in the cellar, and two young people, Tom and Judy, have also taken refuge there. Emergency broadcasts announce that recently dead people are coming back to life and attacking the living.
Context
The distributor, the Walter Reade Organization, changed the working title, Night of the Flesh Eaters, and failed to add the copyright notice to the prints, which caused the film to fall into the public domain upon its release; its authors earned almost nothing from it. The role of Ben, written without an actor of colour in mind, was given to Duane Jones, who rewrote some of his lines.
Who it is for
A film of ninety-six minutes, in black and white; free of rights, it also exists in a new restoration released in 2023.
Prizes and reception
Added to the National Film Registry in 1999, rereleased in French cinemas in 2023, and regarded as a cult classic with countless imitations.
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