They're Coming to Get You, Barbra!

No discussion of horror films, and zombie movies in general, is complete without talking about the original Night of the Living Dead. In many respects, it was the beginning of the zombie movie subgenre, but it was also the film that catapulted a young director named George A. Romero into the spotlight. While he is best known for the 1978 film Dawn of the Dead, in which he established some general rules for dealing with zombies, it is the 1968 debut that brought to mind a "what if" situation in which the dead suddenly come back to life.

The movie begins with a brother and sister driving out to the countryside to lay a wreath on their mother's grave. Before I continue, I'd like to make a joke here, but this sounds like the drive that I would have to make if I was to visit the grave of my grandmother on my mom's side of the family, so I won't do it. Back to the movie, before the siblings can get back to the car to go home, a man with some serious skin and knee problems comes ambling along and gets his hands on Barbra. The brother tries to to save her, only to meet his fate after getting his head rammed against a rock. This leads to Barbra trying to find shelter in an abandoned house. Soon, she is joined by Ben, who is definitely taking this zombie invasion seriously, as he not only tries to board up the house, but also sets fires to keep zombies away. At the time of this movie, there wasn't a set way of dealing with zombies, so fire was the best way to keep them at bay. That duo is joined by a mother and father, and a couple of teens/young adults. Let's just say that they don't make it to the end of the story. I'm not telling you how that happens, so you'll just have to see it for yourself.

George A. Romero made his name with Dawn of the Dead, but it was Night of the Living Dead that ended up being the beginning of all things zombie related. With both films, he brought some subtle, yet clever social commentary to the horror genre and at the same time, inspired others to make such films, however horrible most of those are.