Greetings!


Greetings, and welcome to VIEWING THE CLASSICS. Here you'll find capsule reviews of vintage movies from the early days of cinema through the 1970s, with a special emphasis on sci-fi, horror, and mystery movies. Be sure to check out the Pages links, where you can find a Film Index of all my reviews, links to the reviews organized by cast members, directors, and other contributors, and links to my reviews of the films of talented young director Joshua Kennedy.

Thanks for visiting!


Saturday, July 6, 2013

Night Of The Living Dead (1968)

Starring Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne
Directed by George A. Romero
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

An onslaught of ravenous zombies out to devour their victims forces a group of strangers to barricade themselves inside an abandoned house for survival.

Impressively assembled for an independent movie, and groundbreaking as an inspiration for countless films to follow, this is a justifiably lauded classic.  However, I can't quite commit to unyielding praise of the movie, as it is likely responsible for ushering in a horde of films seeking to be as shocking without the same level of imagination as previous efforts.  The filmmakers should be praised for their casting of an African-American as their central protagonist, devoid of any stereotypes, which countless filmmakers should have done far earlier, and the gripping realism of the zombies' attacks.  Still, I can't quite endorse their guiding of horror films down a new and disturbing path.

No comments:

Post a Comment