Night Of The Living Dead was the film that really sparked off the zombie genre. It was the first of its kind, and inspired almost every other zombie film to date. Interestingly, the living dead are never called 'zombies' within the film, but the film laid down the characteristics of zombies to come.
What's particularly interesting about the film's zombies is the influence the nuclear age had on them. The broadcast of news updated throughout the event at one point states that the revived dead were the result of radiation. My first thought was nuclear radiation, and the dropping of US atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Released in 1976, the film originated in the USA, where the Cold War was currently escalating.
Both the space and arms race of the Cold War were in full swing, bringing new anxieties to the public. Space was a big unknown, the idea of a danger from space could be a possibility, and meanwhile the new nuclear weapons being developed were an obvious sues for fear. The new, scary technology being developed by the US and USSR led to some drastic thinking. Night Of The Living Dead displays a result of some of this thinking. What could be some of the effects of radiation? This question inspired the risen dead we see within the film.
-Stop reading if you don't want spoilers!-
But what I really loved about this film was its ending. It's tragic. Surviving throughout the whole incident, our protagonist, Ben, goes to the window to see the arriving officers, only to be shot, the officers thinking he was one of the risen dead himself. It's so raw and crushing, the traits of his character really get you hoping that he makes it out. He's kind but firm, he's logical and a real leader, and he's just shot down right when he's got through it all.
It's a frustrating ending, but great. The film is extremely worthy of all the praise it receives.
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