Night of the Living Dead
The Easter holiday is a pretext to screen some cult films in their restored versions. Including John Waters' Multiple Maniacs and George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, two films with horrific aspects, made at the turn of the 70s. The program also includes works by Vera Chytilova, David Lynch and Terry Gilliam.
Shot outside of Pittsburgh at a fraction of the cost of a Hollywood feature by a band of filmmakers determined to make their mark, George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead is one of the great stories of independent cinema: a midnight hit turned box-office smash that became one of the most influential films of all time. A deceptively simple tale of a group of strangers trapped in a farmhouse who find themselves fending off a horde of flesh-eating ghouls newly arisen from their graves, Romero’s claustrophobic vision of a late-sixties America (literally) tearing itself apart rewrote the rules of the horror genre, combined gruesome gore with acute social commentary, and quietly broke ground by casting a black actor (Duane Jones) in the lead role. After decades of poor-quality prints and video transfers, Night of the Living Dead can finally be seen for the immaculately crafted film that it is thanks to a new 4K restoration, scanned from the original camera negative and supervised by Romero himself. Stark, haunting, and more relevant than ever, Night of the Living Dead is back. (Janus films)
George A. Romero
George A. Romero was an American-Canadian film director, writer, editor and actor. He is regarded as an influential pioneer of the horror film genre, particularly zombie films, for which he has been called an "icon." The first half of his Night of the Living Dead series — Night of the Living Dead (1968), Dawn of the Dead (1978), and Day of the Dead (1985) — are considered three of the best and most influential horror films ever made, and were major contributors to the image of the zombie in modern culture. Noted for his frequent social commentary, Romero had a prolific career outside of zombie films, albeit mostly still within horror: The Crazies (1973), The Amusement Park (1975), Martin (1977), Creepshow (1982) and Monkey Shines (1988) are regarded as minor cult works, as is his anthology television series Tales from the Darkside (1983-1988). His ventures outside horror include the feminist drama Season of the Witch (1972) and the action film Knightriders (1981), while his final three films form the second half of his Night of the Living Dead franchise.
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Night of the Living Dead by George A. Romero
Night of the Living Dead by George A. Romero
Night of the Living Dead by George A. Romero
Night of the Living Dead by George A. Romero
What people got in Romero's film was their very first glimpse of what we now think of as zombies: shambling undead who hunger for human flesh. They're mindless and slow and kind of goofy looking, but nearly unstoppable. They just keep coming unless you destroy their brains. Much of the film is presented in a kind of faux documentary style that heightens the anxiety. There is the sense that civilization itself is unraveling.
- Brian Mann, NPR
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