Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968)

Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968)
Rating: 8.0

Technically this film is laughable; full of cheesy dialogue, bad acting, jumpy editing, double shadows, etc., but the fact that it still stands the test of time despite these flaws is a testament to the importance of this cult hit that changed the horror genre in 1968. Night of the Living Dead is a product of it's time as it was made during the most chaotic and revolutionary decade in U.S. history, amidst the Vietnam war, civil rights and feminist movements, the sexual revolution, the space race, and the assassinations of figures such as JFK, MLK and Malcolm X. More than just a horror film, the movie is a pessimistic social critique. The "epidemic of mass murder" in the film is allegorically similar to the real world. The film also overtly explores racial attitudes and is a scathing indictment upon the untrustworthy nature of our government officials as they try to hide some sort of radiation disaster. During the struggle for survival, the protagonists find themselves at war with each other as much as if not more than with the zombies.