Night of the Living Dead
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Night of the Living Dead is an American independent horror film, directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, written by Romero and John Russo, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. It premiered in Pittsburgh on October 1st 1968. The film follows a group of seven strangers who barricade themselves in an abandoned farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania, when the recently deceased suddenly awaken from their graves and attack the living.
Released shortly before the adoption of the Motion Picture Association of America rating system, the film's explicit violence and gore were controversial. The film became a cult success, and began a successful franchise of films which includes five sequels (all directed and written by Romero) released between 1978 and 2009; a color remake, written by Romero and directed by make-up artist Tom Savini, was released in 1990. Due to an error when titling the original film, it entered the public domain upon release, which in recent years has resulted in numerous unofficial adaptations, remakes and "revised" versions.
Night of the Living Dead is referenced by The Residents in their own independent film, Triple Trouble, which premiered in 2022. Short clips from the public domain film are also seen throughout Triple Trouble, as the protagonist Junior becomes obsessed with the low-budget classic.
History
The film has been credited with popularizing the modern portrayal of zombies in popular culture (although the flesh-eating monsters that appear in the film are instead referred to as "ghouls"). The script primarily drew inspiration from Richard Matheson's 1954 novel I Am Legend (which itself was later adapted to film on three occasions between 1964 and 2007).
Despite some initial negative reviews, the film became a cult success, eventually grossing $12 million in the US, and $18 million internationally, earning more than 250 times its budget and making it one of the most profitable film productions of its time. Night of the Living Dead has appeared on lists of the greatest and most influential films by such outlets as Empire, The New York Times and Total Film, and in 1999, it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Synopsis
A peaceful Pennsylvania countryside is rampaged by a group of recently deceased, flesh eating corpses who have suddenly risen from the dead.[1] A group of seven terrified survivors barricade themselves inside a deserted farmhouse while the army of ravenous "ghouls" gather outside.[2][3] With the odds increasingly against them, the group's inability to unite ultimately leads to their tragic downfall.[4]
Public domain status
In the United States, Night of the Living Dead was mistakenly released into the public domain because the original distributor failed to replace the copyright notice when changing the film's name. Image Ten displayed a notice on the title frames of the film beneath the original title, Night of the Flesh Eaters, but the Walter Reade Organization removed it when changing the title. At that time, United States copyright law held that public dissemination required copyright notice to maintain a copyright. Several years after the film's release, its creators discovered that the original prints distributed to theaters had no copyright protection.
Because Night of the Living Dead was not copyrighted, it has received hundreds of home video releases. Over two hundred distinct versions of the film were released on videotape, with numerous versions (of varying quality) later appearing on Laserdisc, DVD and Blu-ray. The original film is available to view or download for free on many websites, including the Internet Archive; as of February 2024, it is the Internet Archive's third most-viewed film, with over 3.5 million views.
Usage in The Residents' Triple Trouble
The Residents (who are known to occasionally find inspiration in horror films such as the Exorcist series) directly and repeatedly referenced Night of the Living Dead in their own independent feature film, Triple Trouble, which premiered in 2022.
The protagonist of Triple Trouble, Randall Rose, Jr., becomes obsessed with Night of the Living Dead, and is seen watching the film repeatedly. Clips from Night of the Living Dead are also prominently featured in Triple Trouble; a luxury no doubt afforded by the classic film's public domain status. The earlier film's low-budget production is directly referenced by Junior, in a tongue-in-cheek metatextual nod to the low-budget production of Triple Trouble.
See also
- Triple Trouble (film)
- The Exorcist (franchise)