George A. Romero, Father of the Zombie Film, Dies at 77

[P47P47]

Originally Posted by Delahanty

Night of the Living Dead was simply a good movie.

One of the things that I like best about it is the grainy, high-contrast, black&white photography, which, combined with the almost constant voice-over from the TV or radio giving information about what's going on elsewhere, gives it a documentary feel, as though it was really happening and a guy with a camera just happened to be there to record it, but in a different (and better) way than was done in "The Blair Witch Project".

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by Delahanty

That's what I'd heard, too. There was no casting call for a black lead.

Though I consider the banal, PA setting part of its charm and contributing to its success, other actors might have been put off by it.

Night of the Living Dead was simply a good movie.

With a budget of $10k.
They had to do what they could. It was outside Pittsburgh when the economy was collapsing. The farmhouse was an abandoned house. The unemployed town of Irwin, PA, were zombies and extras, and the sheriff was the real guy. Who could write lines like "Beat them or burn them, they go up pretty fast" and "They're slow, yeah, they're ...dead, they're all messed up."

Everything was done as cheap as possible. And it's still one of the all-time great movies. Except for Barbara's catatonic acting and her movable wig. I love every minute of it.

[Labonte18]

Originally Posted by mph101

All of Romero's flicks were political. The zombie flicks became more so by Land of the Dead. After that they just went off the wall. I am a fan and enjoyed them all but for me the pinnacle was Day of the Dead. Even though Night was the most important.

I never thought any of it was in-your-face, though.. I do think in Night, the casting of a black lead (intentional or by necessity as others have said here) just put it out there. He wasn't going out of his way to show it.. It was just so subtle. Look at this guy.. Yes, he's black, but we're not calling attention to it, he's not a "Lordy, Lord" chariacture.

Land certainly had a class warfare subtext to it.. But again.. It was just put out there. You see it, you decide. Was it that Kaufman was evil because he was the 'elite' class.. Or because he was the elite class, it turned him evil?