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MOVIES / ON DVD / NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
Night of the Living Dead

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Night of the Living Dead (1968)

95%
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93%
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95 %
Reviews Counted: 38 Fresh: 36  Rotten:2 Average Rating: 8.5/10
 
Consensus: Features tight editing, realistic gore, and a now-standard view of zombies. George A. Romero's debut set the template for the zombie film, and features tight editing, realistic gore, and a sly political undercurrent. more
 
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Synopsis:
George Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is a low-budget, homegrown classic that had great difficulty finding a distributor at the time of its release in 1968, and has since become one of the most influential horror films of all time. (Aside from its visceral impact years before realistic gore... [More]
George Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is a low-budget, homegrown classic that had great difficulty finding a distributor at the time of its release in 1968, and has since become one of the most influential horror films of all time. (Aside from its visceral impact years before realistic gore became the fashion, the film is also important for its portrayal of a black man as the protagonist during a time when race was an extremely sensitive issue in the United States.) The plot is simple: seven people secluded in a Pennsylvania farmhouse face relentless attacks by reanimated corpses seeking to eat their flesh. The group, which includes a married couple and their daughter, a pair of young lovers, and an African-American man, try to keep their sanity as the living dead keep trying to enter the house. Radio news reports tell of the plague taking over the eastern United States, while the ever-decreasing band of survivors rapidly loses ground in the battle to both keep peace with one another and stay alive. [Less]

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Starring: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne

Director: George A. Romero
Screenwriter: John A. Russo, George A. Romero
Producer: Russell W. Streiner, Karl Hardman

DVD Info

Release:

May 20, 2008

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital Stereo - English

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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Ratings Image

Seldom have so many pundit parses and public praises owed so much to so little as in the case of the career-launching 'Night of the Living Dead.'

Full Review | Comment
11/06/07 11:24 AM
Donald J. Levit
ReelTalk Movie Reviews
Ratings Image

A quarter of a century old and it is still absolutely terrifying.

Full Review | Comment
09/19/07 06:29 PM
Channel 4 Film
Ratings Image

George Romero's remarkably assured debut, made on a shoestring, about a group of people barricaded inside a farmhouse while an army of flesh-eating zombies roams the countryside, deflates all genre clichés.

Full Review | Comment
09/19/07 06:27 PM
Elliott Stein
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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Over its short, furious course, the picture violates so many strong taboos -- cannibalism, incest, necrophilia -- that it leaves audiences giddy and hysterical.

Full Review | Comment
09/19/07 06:26 PM
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
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I felt real terror in that neighborhood theater last Saturday afternoon. I saw kids who had no resources they could draw upon to protect themselves from the dread and fear they felt.

Full Review | Comment
09/19/07 06:25 PM
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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This is horror at its most probing, subversive and socially aware, with a truly harrowing ending that reveals the dangers of misdirected fear and prejudice.

Full Review | Comment
08/02/07 07:34 AM
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film
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Chuckle, if you can, during the first few minutes; because after that laughter catches in the throat as the clammy hand of terror tightens its grip.

Full Review | Comment
01/26/06 03:16 AM
Time Out
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One of the best films ever made, and possibly the most influential horror movie of all time.

Full Review | Comment
10/18/05 02:53 AM
Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum
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No review available.

| Comment
09/28/05 10:34 AM
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
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No review available.

| Comment
06/18/05 02:15 PM
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
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A doozie.

Full Review | Comment
04/04/05 04:22 PM
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
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The grandaddy of them all. Created a whole new genre'

| Comment
12/12/04 01:55 AM
Michael A. Smith
Nolan's Pop Culture Review
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A tightly-edited, claustrophobically-framed horror film that retains, along with its relevance, its ability to startle and appall.

Full Review | Comment
10/05/04 08:00 AM
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central
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The latest "Ultimate Edition" features a digitally colourised version as well as an audio commentary by Mike Nelson.

Full Review | Comment
09/29/04 12:09 AM
James O'Ehley
Sci-Fi Movie Page
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Maybe the best movie ever made in Pittsburgh.

Full Review | Comment
09/24/04 02:52 PM
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly
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Sorry, but it really isn't that scary in this day and age.

| Comment
06/24/04 01:22 AM
Luke Y. Thompson
New Times
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Night of the Living Dead happens to rank squarely with the greatest films ever made, period.

Full Review | Comment
05/25/04 08:16 AM
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
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No review available.

| Comment
01/24/04 02:42 PM
Spence D.
IGN Movies
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Ainda hoje permanece como um dos melhores do gênero.

| Comment
01/09/04 10:27 PM
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
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Landmark horror film somewhat blunted by bad acting.

| Comment
06/23/03 06:00 PM
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
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