Of course, Night Of The Living Dead is a classic and seminal film...but what if you're "Generation Y" and haven't seen it? How would it strike you? Let's follow Jasmine as she goes on her...
By JASMINE ORR (Note: Jasmine Orr, who is fifteen years old, just viewed Night Of The Living Dead for the first time and herein gives her initial impressions of the film. You can read her earlier article on The Rocky Horror Picture Show here.) Everything seemed pretty normal, a nice breezy day. Johnny and Barbara are seen driving up a nice little road, toward a cemetery. Johnny is venting to Barbara about his not wanting to drive the three hours to lay flowers on their father’s grave again, while their mother stayed at home. A man walks towards them, and Johnny teases Barbara that "He’s coming to get you!" Much to their surprise, he’s right. The man attacks her; Johnny grabs him, and is killed as Barbara runs away toward the car, which of course has no keys in it. (All movies have their share of unlikely coincidences. Of course there are no keys in the car—that would be too easy. Jackets get caught on everything, and a storm never misses an opportunity to start in a cemetery.)
Thus, the opening scenes of (1968's) Night Of The Living Dead, the first in a trilogy. There is no long wait for action to get your attention--it starts right away, and never stops.
Barbara coasts down the hill to a nearby house. She hides inside, where Ben comes to her rescue. Eventually, people emerge from the house’s cellar--Tom, Judy, Mr.. and Mrs. Cooper, and their daughter, Karen, who has been bitten by a zombie and is still downstairs, unconscious. Everyone argues whether staying in the cellar or being above ground would keep them safer from the zombies. Some people stay above, some return below. All this time, Barbara is in shock and doesn’t speak much. He realizes she is in shock, and starts looking after her. Judy and Tom try to go and put gas in the truck, but are blown up while trying to shoot the lid off, and are devoured by the flesh-eating zombies. While Ben tries to keep the zombies from breaking in, Mr.. Cooper gets the gun, and holds Ben with it. Ben gets it back in a tussle, and shoots him Cooper, who drags himself downstairs, and is killed by his daughter who has died and become reanimated. Karen waits for her mother to come downstairs, then kills her too. The zombies, including Barbara’s brother, break the door down, and carry Barbara off with them. Ben runs downstairs to find two corpses, and is attacked by Karen. He shoots her and barricades himself in the cellar.
In the morning, the local police chief is out killing all the zombies and comes upon the house. Ben hears people and comes upstairs. Assuming he is a zombie, the chief shoots Ben and tosses him in the fire with the rest of the bodies to be cremated.
BEN: Duane Jones Ben arrives on the scene just when Barbara is most desperate--her knight in shining armor. He is kind, watches out for her, and seems to really know what he’s doing. He’s strong both mentally and physically--someone I’d like to have around during a crisis. BARBARA: Judith O’Dea Barbara starts out seeming strong, but quickly her mental balance is damaged when she’s confronted by what’s going on. She sinks into herself and refuses to speak most of the time. MR. HARRY COOPER: Karl Hardman This is the movie’s resident jerk character. Although he ends up being right about the cellar being safest, he is also controlling and continually angry. His marriage is falling apart, his daughter is dying, and zombies are taking over the world...he can’t handle the stress and goes insane. MRS. HELEN COOPER: Marilyn Eastman Cooper’s wife is sick of her husband, worried about her daughter, terrified of the zombies, but seems to still keep a good hold on sanity. She’s a strong woman, but she can handle what’s happening.
Judy, Tom, Johnny, and Karen are the other characters, but have relatively small parts. The one other person you might not think about, or who probably gets little acclaim, is the newscaster. He has a rather large part, but people barely remember him.
Although people watching old movies may call them corny or unrealistic, they have to realize these are the movies that spawned our current horror movies: Scream, Interview With The Vampire or Children Of The Corn. In the 1960’s, Night Of The Living Dead was terrifying, a new level of horror. It was also one of the first zombie movies. The style of zombies in it have been copied for years into modern movies--the glassy eyes, pale skin, lumbering gait, arms outstretched in the fashion of Hollywood's Frankenstein Monster. The idea of this movie has been copied repeatedly. It was a more peaceful era in movies making. Although not quite as refined, after watching them you’re left wondering things. Why didn’t the police attack sooner? How did the zombies get out of their coffins? Why were the older bodies so intact and not deteriorated from passing time? Why didn’t the phone work? These things were not explained. Night Of The Living Dead does unfortunately perpetuate the stereotypical "damsel in distress" theme with Barbara...the stupid, incompetent female seems to be present in too many movies. Barbara has been traumatized by her brother's death and for most of the movie, she is mentally unstable, only speaking while describing the horror she witnessed. The theme of radiation causing corpse reanimation seems to be overused in horror movies. Perhaps at the time this was written, due to what was going on in military history, there was a preoccupation with this concept. In Night Of The Living Dead, this theme is prevalent, and has been used in movies such as The Incredible Hulk and Godzilla.
No matter how many things I found wrong, I’d have to admit there were intense moments. When Karen attacks Helen, there is a certain sense of horror, not only in seeing a bloodthirsty child, but also in seeing it attack its mother. The sound of the mother’s looped screams echoing was an eerie, bone chilling effect. Somehow, I think the movie has something else...there is something scary in the subtle ways things happen. Most of the deaths are implied, you don’t actually see them, but perhaps just hear them or see blood dripping. That’s the moment when you’re suddenly slammed with a death. This is a major difference from today’s movies. Modern movies show you gore constantly so you become almost immune to it, losing its shock value. This film emphasizes suspense over blood and body parts. The black and white filming of this film actually adds atmosphere, a certain quaintness, or more surreal tone. Today’s movies are almost gaudy in comparison while black and white is easy on the eye and helps set up the mood. Another difference in Night Of The Living Dead and the movies of today is that there is no romantic story line and actors seemed to be chosen more for their acting abilities than their looks.
The film seems to have themes that might have created controversy in the 1960’s. The presence of an evil child was still relatively new as a theme (proceeded primarily by The Bad Seed a few years earlier) and a black hero fighting a white man must have raised a few eyebrows. The movie has long periods of silence, setting you up for surprises. The emphasis the producers put on music made the film more dramatic; the warbling tunes make you lean forward in anticipation. Although there is less dialog in this movie than most, they are followed by bursts of action. Regarding characters, the police chief did not seem real to me. The way he spoke, his mannerisms and his attitude seemed odd. I know that he was acting under stress and out of normal procedures, but he went too far...and that’s how he ended up shooting Ben. I felt bad about Ben dying but if he had lived, he probably would have been permanently traumatized, so perhaps his death was actually a blessing. However, Ben supposedly surviving this whole situation gave the viewer a sense of contentment and so when he is shot, it’s a blow to the viewer. The film had no happy ending, no "happily ever after," just a pile of corpses. The scenes shown during the end credits were the most horrifying. The character I had come to like--Ben--the one who was supposed to be triumphant, who was kind and courageous and whom you just knew was going to make it was now being carelessly thrown into the fire, among the bodies of the "other" dead zombies.
I am sure that viewing this movie when it originally came out was terrifying and disturbing; seeing it now it is not, simply because the whole horror genre has been designed for an audience that wants more high-tech, glitzy, explicit effects and story lines. While certain elements of the film can still be appreciated, it doesn’t strike me as a movie that anyone who has grown up on Freddy and other slasher movies will enjoy. Thanks again, Jasmine! Even if Night Of The Living Dead has lost its visceral shock value, it certainly can still send a shiver up your spine! Cheers! Article copyright Jasmine Orr. "Trowel" courtesy of Kyra Schon. |
