Night of the Living Dead

"If it doesn't scare you, you're already dead!"

1968 1h 36m EN

🙌

7.6

BANGER

🔥

95%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.8

IMDB

★7.6TMDB · 2,849🍅95%Rotten Tomatoes●89Metacritic★7.8IMDB · 148,892

HorrorThrillerScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A ragtag group barricade themselves in an old Pennsylvania farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls ravaging the Northeast.

“If it doesn't scare you, you're already dead!”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Cast

Judith O'Dea
Barbra
Duane Jones
Ben
Marilyn Eastman
Helen Cooper
Karl Hardman
Harry Cooper
Judith Ridley
Judy
Keith Wayne
Tom
Kyra Schon
Karen Cooper / Corpse in House
Charles Craig
TV Newscaster / Zombie

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: George A. Romero
Writers: George A. Romero, John A. Russo
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $30M — a 265.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

58 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Living Dead Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by George A. Romero, shot by George A. Romero. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor George A. Romero shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Judith O'Dea and Duane Jones and Marilyn Eastman carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "If it doesn't scare you, you're already dead!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

George A. Romero directs. George A. Romero behind the camera. George A. Romero cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $30M — a 265.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
358 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Part of the "Living Dead Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by George A. Romero, shot by George A. Romero. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Editor George A. Romero shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Judith O'Dea and Duane Jones and Marilyn Eastman carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "If it doesn't scare you, you're already dead!".
9IMDB entry: tt0063350 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 17 themes, including "sibling relationship", "pennsylvania, usa", "loss of loved one", "gun".
11Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: George A. Romero
Editing: George A. Romero
Makeup / hair: Marilyn Eastman
Sound: Marshall Booth
Stunt coordinator: Jacqueline Streiner
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $114,000
Box office: $30,236,452
Return: 26523% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Rotten Tomatoes: 95% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 89/100
IMDB rating: 7.8/10 · 148,892 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

7 wins total

Part of

Living Dead Collection

Night of the Living Dead is a series of zombie horror films written and directed by George A. Romero beginning with the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead written by Romero and John A. Russo. The loosely connected franchise predominantly centers on different groups of people attempting to survive during the outbreak and evolution of a zombie apocalypse.

Also by

George A. Romero

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Nathan2023-02-17
★ 5/10
Night of the Living Dead is without a doubt a fantastically innovative film; creating the modern day interpretation of a zombie and forever changing the genre as we know it. There is a lot to like about this film, but unfortunately the limitations of its time hold it back, resulting in a somewhat boring viewing experience. For starters, the story was pretty good. I really enjoyed how the plot focused on a single group of survivors and their thought process as they attempt to deal with the horror and panic of the dead reanimating. There was a tremendous amount of lore delivered via telecommunication broadcasts that I thought added to the movie perfectly. The performances were uneven, some were quite stellar, particularly Duane Jones and Karl Hardman. But Judith O’Dea was quite bad. I’m not sure if it was her performance or the way her character was written but it was just bizarre to see her body language and gestures throughout the film. The beginning chase scene with her was fantastic, with some stellar cinematography. But after that, the way she portrayed shock was laughable. The action in this movie was bad, with punches being all too slow and clunky. I would imagine this movie was quite scary for the time, but with modern day horror constantly elevating, I hardly found myself unnerved. Overall, this movie is Time Capsule for horror and the genre has taken so much from this film throughout the years, but unfortunately it’s legacy far outweighs the entertainment the film brings. Score: 54% | Verdict: Average
Filipe Manuel Neto2024-04-11
★ 5/10
The film that practically founded the zombie subgenre. As I've said on other occasions, I'm not a fan at all of films about zombies and similar creatures. It's a type of horror cinema with a strong graphic appeal that doesn't really captivate me. However, I confess that I liked this film. It is much more moderate in its approach to these types of monsters, and effective in building tension and suspense. It's not scary (I believe it was very scary at the time, but these are different times), but it's entertaining. The story told doesn't give us much explanation: we see two brothers who visit a grave in an isolated cemetery and, upon returning to the car, they are chased by what looks like a very disturbed man. It's obviously a zombie, and we know it, but the characters don't know and are extremely confused by what happens next: a growing group of zombies attacks them and forces them to seek shelter in a nearby house, where shortly afterwards they realize that they are not alone and, thanks to radio and television, that the problem is not just there, but it's national. George Romero was very intelligent in the way he conceived and wrote the film, which is an entirely independent production and the result of the ingeniously of everyone involved. It is an innovative work, it was one of the first films to bring zombies to the horror universe and the influence of “Carnival of Souls” is very clear in the cinematography, in the way the sound and soundtrack were worked on. The short budget forced the production to be very pragmatic and efficient, to do a lot with little and prioritize credibility and authenticity. I would like to highlight some effective effects such as the flesh eaten by zombies, fake blood and Molotov cocktails. The design of the sets and choice of filming locations is also to be congratulated. The cast has a few points in its favor, but it is essentially amateur and only tries to do what has to be done. Despite being a minor issue and not usually subjected to reflection, it seems significant to me to highlight the choice of a black actor for the main role. Duane Jones, in the film of his life, does a very well done job, with great commitment and that fulfills everything necessary. Karl Hardman is just annoying and the two actresses, Judith O’Dea and Marilyn Eastman, don’t really add anything positive to the film, simply appearing helpless the whole time.
CinemaSerf2024-04-30
★ 6/10
"Barbra" (Judith O'Dea) and her brother are laying some flowers at a cemetery when they espy a man wandering around aimlessly. He suggests it's really a zombie and boy how right he is. She manages to flee to their car but, oh, only if she could have just steered the thing - we might not have had a film! She hits a tree, though, and now dazed and suffering from shock has to take shelter in a nearby house where she gets an hint of what's marauding around outside. Luckily, "Ben" (Duane Jones) also finds the house and with a few emerging from the safety of it's cellar, they proceed to fortify the place as best they can and sit it out. It's soon clear from the television and radio reports that this is an epidemic and that those critters are resurrecting themselves and eating their victims. "Tom" (Keith Wayne) and girlfriend "Judy" (Judith Ridley) decide their best hope is to get the truck parked outside gassed up so they can all escape to the nearest town - but will that work? This film is almost as old as I am, and I am afraid to say it hasn't really aged an whole lot better. Much of the sense of peril comes from the frantic dialogue at the start and the scary elements are now more comical than menacing - especially towards the end. The regular use of the television reportage is useful at first but then seems more designed to pad out this thin story for a ninety minutes that I felt looked more like a TV movie that was just too contrived. It was good to see it on a big screen, but I really don't think I'd bother to watch it again.