The night that started it all

Before the dawn, day, land, diary and survival. (Unmarked Spoilers)

Night of the Living Dead (1968). This is it, the one that started it all. Where George A. Romero created the modern zombie genre as we know it, launching multiple different sequels, copycats, homages, and parodies like this one that was written by yours truly. With that shameless bit of self-promotion out of the way, let’s get to what the movie’s actually about.

This movie starts with Barbra (Judith O’Dea) visiting her father’s grave with her brother Johnny (Russell Streiner) where they’re both attacked by a zombie. Barbra is able to escape and make it to a nearby farmhouse, all the while looking like the protagonist of the movie. Except the role ends up quickly stolen by Ben (Duane Jones), a more proactive black man while Barbra ends up being useless for the whole movie. Now, Barbra’s obviously in shock from all that’s happened, which is why she retreats into herself, which would probably be true of someone in real life. Except this isn’t real life, this is a movie where certain liberties, like giving every character momentum, needs to be taken.

Ben and Barbra end up at this farmhouse where they meet Harry Cooper (Karl Hardman), this abrasive and domineering a*****e. His daughter Karen (Kyra Schon) is sick, so take a wild guess as to what happens there. Almost immediately Ben and Cooper start butting heads over what they should do next. Cooper says they should retreat to the cellar because there are too many windows upstairs where the zombies could bust in. Ben thinks they should stay upstairs because if the zombies were to get into the cellar, they’d be trapped. Both sides bring up valid points, and both sides are too hot-tempered and stubborn to work together for very long. 

Now, this image of a black and white man struggling for control has led to several comparisons drawn to the Civil Rights Movement that was happening at the time, but I don’t entirely agree with that. I see this as a struggle between two humans where race doesn’t have to be a factor. Granted, the only time I’ve heard someone say race doesn’t have to be a factor is when it definitely is a factor, so I could be wrong. Though the irony of the whole situation is if they had just gone down to the cellar as Cooper said, they all would have made it. Yes, there would still be zombie Karen to deal with, but that’s easily dealt with using a swift bullet to the brain. Instead, Ben ends up being the only one to survive by retreating to the cellar.

Other characters in the film are Tom (Keith Wayne), whose main job is to be the mediator between Ben and Cooper while also being in love with Judy (Judith Ridley). Judy is in love with Tom, deferring to him for guidance, and that’s about it. The best female character of the movie is Helen Cooper (Marilyn Eastman), having an even-tempered personality and not taking any of her husband’s c**p.

There are several different discrepancies with the zombie’s depiction in this film in comparison to later ones. For one, there not even called zombies, their called ghouls, things, flesh-eaters, and monsters. They’re also smart enough to use basic tools, like a rock to bust open a window or a trowel to kill someone. They also have a notable fear of fire, which gets used to repel them at multiple instances. 

I feel like the one connection to the Civil Rights Movement you could make is with the imagery of the ending. Dawn’s come and this posse of zombie killers is approaching the farmhouse, bringing with them guns and police dogs similar to those used in Selma. Right when it looks like the cavalry arrived, they presumably mistake Ben for a zombie and shoot him dead. Oh, and not only that, by the end credits are set to a montage of Ben’s body being dragged off and burnt as just another anonymous corpse among many.

I remember being really put off by that when I saw this movie as a kid. What? They all die? What the hell? But this is an old black and white movie. Were they even allowed to make endings this bleak back then? I mean, now I love it because I’m a sick f**k who thinks the cruel irony of this ending and the ending of The Mist movie is hilarious. It’s also an ending that just stays with you after you finish watching the movie.

Night of the Living Dead (1990) is just one of many remakes, including one that was made in 3D starring Sid Haig (spoilers, that one sucked). The reason why I wanted to focus on this one and this one only was because Romero himself wrote the screenplay, so it’s very true to his themes and ideas. The basic plot is the same, but there are several changes, both big and small.

Barbra is entirely different in this version. For one, her name’s spelled Barbara (Patricia Tallman) now, and she becomes like the type of final girl the decade leading up to the remake codified. An easy to miss line towards the beginning reveals that she hasn’t been seeing anyone for the longest time, she ends up taking on traditionally masculine characteristics, like trading a skirt for a pair of pants and ends up being the only main character to survive this version. Barbara being a final also makes her interactions with Ben a little funny, given that Tony Todd plays him in this version. However, you could say this is going too far in the opposite direction, due to the implication that the reason she gets to survive is that she shed her worthless, traditionally feminine traits. Though if I had to choose between two different problem characters, I’d consider Barbara the best of a bad situation.

Judy, whose name has also been changed slightly to Judy Rose (Katie Finneran), still looks to her boyfriend for guidance and has taken up Barbra’s role as the hysterical woman of the group. I’d still call that an improvement over how the original had no personality to speak of. Plus, Judy Rose of all people ends up being the first person to call Ben and Cooper (Tom Towles) out on “playing rooster,” a term that I have to use sometime in the future. Also, unlike in the original, Judy Rose volunteers to drive the truck they need to be refilled to the gas pump, accurately pointing out it’s a three-person job. 

This remake managed to make Cooper even more of an unlikeable a*****e than he was in the original. Primarily by removing all the instances of him being helpful or making a valid point. Except for how once again, they all would have survived if they had gone down to the cellar. Something that’s driven home even further by how other characters have to use a chainsaw to break down the cellar door. Then again, there’s still zombie Karen, renamed Sarah (Heather Mazur) here, and this version depicts Cooper not only refusing to put her down but fighting against other people that would. Something that was less likely to happen in the original.

As bad as Cooper manages to get in this version, Ben once again proves not to be that much better. If anything, this version makes that even more apparent through additional scenes that weren’t in the original. Such as when Ben seems to catch Cooper trying to take the only television to the cellar and the resulting fight ends up smashing the tv, destroying what was possible their only chance to find out what was going on. At this point, Cooper reveals that he wasn’t going to bring it down to the cellar because there’s no signal down there. Besides that, there’s also how Ben refuses Barbara’s suggestion that they just run away from the shambling corpses twice. With his rather weak rebuttals making me think that he’s only refusing because it wasn’t his idea.

Helen (McKee Anderson) is now a tad more submissive partner to her husband, with the reason as to why she married him being even more of a mystery. She has none of the great lines that she had in the original. However, Helen still manages to put her foot down when it matters.

Besides Sarah, Tom (William Butler) and Johnnie (Bill Moseley) resembles their counterparts from the original the most in terms of personality and character arc. Tom is slightly more developed through how, in this version, his uncle is the one that owns the farmhouse where the movie takes place.

The most significant departure from the original is that the ending has been almost totally rewritten. What happens is that Barbara eventually manages to escape from the zombies by just running from the shambling corpses, just like she suggested. She then runs into the posse that’s been going around killing zombies, like in the original. Except now they’re made up of slack jawed yokels who drunkenly partake in gladiator games with the zombies and pelt zombies hanging from nooses with rocks, leading Barbara to note “we’re them and they’re us.” Romero totally self-plagiarized that for Diary of the Dead, (spoilers and NSFW) but that’s beside the point.

Then when they make it back to the farmhouse, they find Ben now a zombie, who’s gets put down right before Barbara runs into Cooper, who’s miraculously managed to survive, at least until Barbara shoots him right between the eyes. In his essay “Taking Back the Night of the Living Dead: George Romero, Feminism, and the Horror Film,” Barry Keith Grant calls that Barbara striking back against “monstrous patriarchy.” That the remake endorses his fate just as much as Day of the Dead endorses the fate of Rhodes (NSFW)(Joseph Pilato). I can’t entirely agree because the way Barbara repeats what was originally said after Ben got shot in the original (‘that’s another one for the fire’) and the thousand-yard stare she gives afterward suggests that killing Cooper isn’t meant to be seen as an entirely good thing.

Which of these two versions is better? The original is a classic. The remakes looks so much better in terms of sets and camera angles. The original probably would have done that too if they had the opportunity and obviously bigger budget. The character’s in the remake are on a whole better developed and played by better actors. They didn’t turn Cooper into as much of a cardboard cutout as they did. I also liked how in the remake, after he’s forced to go down to the cellar, Ben finally finds that damn gas pump key. The way Karen kills her mother was more frightening. The title sequence depicts a rising moon, which sets the tone so much better than just watching a car driving, and the very first line of the movie is the line. The original had a better ending.

Despite its problems, I feel myself preferring the remake. Believe me, my inner film snob is screaming at me for that one. So how about this? We say that both versions have their strengths and weaknesses and both are worth watching at least once in your life.