Here is the first one that started it all, George Romero’s low budget 1968 zombie film. There are quite a few versions of this out there but I recommend you get yourself the Millennium Edition, by Elite Entertainment. Romero himself states that this is a quality version of the film and the video transfer process, truly a collectors edition.

When NOTLD was released many people were watching and soon many would imitate. Here in the US countless zombie flicks started popping out, always adding some twist to differentiate but it was always clear that NOTLD was the inspiration. Many other countries like Italy and Spain started making their own zombie movies. Romero later made Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Land of the Dead, and recently Diary of the Dead.

The film in question starts out with Barbara, a young woman played by Judith O’ Dea and her brother visiting a cemetery to place fresh flowers on their grandfather’s tombstone. Then a zombie grabs Barbara and attacks her. Her brother wrestles the fiend but has his head cracked on a stone and dies. Yes my friends, the story jumps at you that quickly. In the first ten minutes we have ourselves a zombie attack and a frantic woman running for shelter. The story then focuses on Barbara and Ben (a man she meets at the farmhouse where she’s hiding out), played by Duane Jones. At this point Barbara is in some sort of panic attack, played brilliantly. The forceful, in-command Ben keeps things moving until we meet a few more characters that had been hiding out in the cellar all this time. There are exchange of ideas, yelling, and punching between Ben and a family man who was hiding in the cellar with his wife and sick child who had been bitten by a zombie. In my opinion Ben and Harry, played by Karl Hardman, are equally annoying because they don’t seem to want to compromise. If Harry was as strong as Ben, these two brutes would have had a hell of a battle while the zombies watched outside.

Now towards the end there is a brilliant scene where Harry’s kid has turned into a zombie and attacks him. The black and white really works well here. The entire film is directed and shot creatively and beautifully. The characters dialogue can often be funny but it is natural to that time. I recommend this to anyone. Don’t just watch it, buy it. Classic Zombie masterpiece. Oh, and enjoy the jolting ending that if you haven’t seen the film I don’t think you could guess. Romero, I can’t believe you got away with that ending, I loved it!

- Jorge Antonio Lopez