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Night Of The Living Dead.
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October 1, 1968 - 2023: 55 years of: Night Of The Living Dead.

The landmark of death.

Knee deep into counterculture, some hippies would relaunch their version of Frankenstein. In sinister black and white, from grizzly ghouls to gory galore, Night Of The Living Dead's impact on horror is as pertinent as Jimi Hendrix's guitar-playing to rocknroll. Indie and exhumed, here's the end of the world as we know it: the human population being eaten alive by walking zombies.

Inspired by Richard Matheson's novel "I Am Legend", mixed with Mary Shelley's 1910 dead / alive "Frankenstein" monster, radiations from an exploded Venus-bound space-probe seems to spark life ...back into the dead. Cemeteries emptied, this morbid march would surround a tiny farm-house, were fighting survivors would lock themselves to safety until dawn.

With fire and fury, the battle would not only be against the decaying corpses, but also within the clan's inner-politics. In a nihilistic twist of faith: everybody dies. Edgy and audacious, the senseless grim ending of Ben, the brave protagonist, is a dire reminder of black / white divided 60s America.

Rated D ...for DEAD.

The initial reviews didn't came from movie-critics, but from horrified parents and crying children, as the MPAA rating-system had not yet been applied. Still a hit, the movie would become the blue-print for death and all living-dead inspired adventures. Director George A. Romero would later be pronouced Father of the "...Of The Dead" movie-franchise.

Iconic and ...immortal, the living dead format would be reprised numerous times through various entertainment-avenues. The walk, the stare and the stench would even receive a pop-music make-over, courtesy of Michael Jackson's 1982 all-time must dance-along cult-track "Thriller".

"They're coming to get you Barbra." - Johnny

RIP Duane Jones AKA Ben (1937-1988)
RIP Keith Wayne AKA Tom (1945-1995)
RIP William Cardille AKA Chilly Billy (1928-2016)
RIP George Kosana AKA Sheriff (1935-2016)
RIP George A. Romero (1940-2017)
RIP Marilyn Eastman AKA Helen (1933-2021)
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Night Of The Living Dead = movie trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob8vZhSjES8
Night Of The Living Dead = full movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H91BxkBXttE
Interview with George A. Romero
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCpJKakWVRc

more Night Of The Living Dead:

JACKSON, Michael