and heres another for a classic we all love:
Night of the Living Dead (USA 1968)
CAST: Duane Jones, Judith O?Dea, Karl Hardman, Russell Streiner, Marilyn Eastman
PRODUCERS: Russell Streiner and Karl Hardman
DIRECTOR: George A. Romero
ALSO KNOWN AS:
The black and white one with the farmhouse, the zombies and the ?shock? ending.
THE PLOT:
A mysterious virus, brought to Earth by a returning Venus space probe, re-animates the bodies of the recently dead. A group of mismatched strangers find themselves trapped in a farmhouse and are forced to contend not only with the slowly advancing undead hordes but there own prejudices and mistrust of each other?it?ll end in tears...
QUOTE UNQUOTE:
?They?re coming to get you Barbara! ?
?They?re dead?.they?re all messed up...?
GREATEST MOMENTS:
The opening scenes, with Barbara and Johnny?s sibling bickering that culminates in the first zombie attack. The fact that, although they are under siege and trapped in a farmhouse, no-one really believes what?s happening till they see it reported on television. The zombie child attacking her pleading mother with a handy trowel. George A. Romero?s directors credit offset by the stars and stripes. The movies ending.
HUNKY:
Tom (Keith Wayne) probably the first example of a teenager clearly marked for death in a modern horror movie.
FUNKY:
The late, great Duane Jones as the hard talking hero, Ben. Film ?academics? like to point out the casting of a black lead as being cutting edge and an obvious statement on the civil rights movement, by viewing the film you can tell that Duane Jones was cast simply for being a bloody good actor.
SPUNKY:
Helen (Marilyn Eastman) the abused wife of bigoted, balding bad man Harry Cooper. Although spending most of the film just cutting her hubbie dirty looks, occasionally she will rise up and deliver a great put down. Plus she?s quite a hottie in a kind of older, supply teacher way.
FASHION VICTIMS:
Barbara?s backcombed hairstyle. Johnny is a kind of blond, proto-Austin Powers who, in the widely available ?colourised? version sports a truly frightening bright yellow and black polka dot tie. The nude female zombie.
BEST VIEWED:
Alone in the dark very late at night with a supply of strong black coffee, just to make you even more jittery.
SUMMARY:
Inspired partly by Richard Matheson?s thrice filmed novel ?I Am Legend? and often citied as the most influential horror movie ever made (sometimes even by people who?ve seen it), Romero?s low-fi shocker has stood the test of time. The fact that the movie was shot on grainy 35 mm black and white stock works to the it?s advantage, adding an air of realism to the effects and an overall sense of foreboding to the proceedings. As a horror film, it?s still as powerful and scary as it was when originally released and as a piece of guerrilla film making it shows how to deliver exactly what?s expected on an ultra-low budget. Redefining and reinvigorating the living dead genre, what started as a project to simply make money spawned two sequels, which in turn gave birth to a whole Italian mini-industry, remember, without this movie there would be no ?Evil Dead? or ?Resident Evil? games. A pedestrian remake in colour by FX maestro Tom Savini in 1990 and an ill advised ?special edition? overseen by co-writer and original one trick pony John Russo have done little to diminish the raw power and energy of Romero?s classic.