Night of the Living Dead (1968)

The first thing to strike me about the genitor of the modern zombie movie is the fantastically melodramatic music. The visuals and audio are as grainy as you like, but you can cut the atmosphere with a knife and every one of the characters shows the undeniable marks of a zombie movie archetype. It's the classic structure, beginning from our lone female protagonist who finds a place of sanctuary, is joined by a small group of fellow survivors, and they attempt to find a more permanent place of safety. But, inevitably, there is the pivotal moment of any zombie film, the point at which someone does something incredibly stupid and the whole situation breaks down into chaos. In any other situation I would call this film derivative, but being the first of its kind allows for certain liberties, and if you go into it with the right mindset, this will be as chilling now as it was in the 60s. The only real mis-step of the entire film is the death of the young couple Tom and Judy in a typical "explosive properties of petroleum" movie misconception. Besides that, it still stands up as a claustrophobic and emotive horror film forty years on, and gave rise to a genre that, despite many failures, still enthrals viewers up to the present day.


Co-starring S. William Hinzman as the most lucid-looking zombie in movie history.