Night Of The Living Dead Analysis

Night of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968) is a movie that contains a large amount of historical significance. This movie is well known for its incredible relevance to the year that it was released. The movie has been described as “A Newsreel of 1968”, and there is ample reason to make that statement. The year 1968 was a very tumultuous period in American history that saw a great deal of violence overseas and in the United States itself. There were many history altering events that took place during 1968, which would all serve to rile up and instill fear and anger in the American people. 1968 saw the latest presidential election in which there was great division amongst the parties, and was the election in which Robert Kennedy was assassinated. Not only did that year see the assassination of another Kennedy, but it also bore witness to the assassination of the most prominent civil rights leader of the time, Martin Luther King Jr. With these tragedies a war in Vietnam raged which had riled much of the country into protest, especially young people.

There has been a resurgence of zombie films in the last decade, ranging from Danny Boyles 28 Days Later to Paul W.S. Andersons Resident Evil. This renaissance of zombie cinema has resurfaced in response to the cultural, political, and social volatility experienced in today’s society, much like its predecessors. A zombie film, unlike other monster movies, plays more with the real-world fears and anxieties, presenting the audience with inescapable realities. However, to understand why this subgenre has been brought back into the mainstream cinema, a comparison is needed across generations of film. This paper will focus on the comparison between George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead and Danny Boyles 28 Days Later; in an attempt to show how zombie cinema is a reaction to cultural shocks.

The foundation of horror genre was set by monsters that not only haunted your dreams but also conveyed rich themes found deep beneath the surface. Vampires are considered a symbol of seduction and sophistication while Frankenstein monsters represent misunderstanding, oppression, and rebellion. Some of the strongest symbolism is found in standard films of the horror genre does not come from the frequently updated relics. Utilizing fear and horror as mechanisms for subtext, social commentary, and symbolism, George Romero created a new horror genre, one that scares and shines just as much as great horror classics. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead revolutionized the once stagnant zombie film and made into something unstoppable, still to this day zombie movies rake in millions of ticket sales at the box office while remaining culturally relevant.

The article “It’s Not Like Just the Wind That 's Passing Through” was published by R.H.W. Dillard to the Film Journal in 1973. Dillard is an author and had published 4 books of poetry, two novels and a collection of short fiction stories. Throughout the article, it is best to say that Dillard argues about how George Romero’s movie Night of the Living Dead (1968) has no special meaning nor purpose from the zombies and the movie itself. Also, based on his article, he describes the movie as a whole as “ordinary” followed by examples and his overall reason. As mentioned in the article, he described the movie as “merely ugly and cheap” which I’m assuming he didn’t like the movie. The way he compared the movie to “The Lone Wolf” and “Rosemary’s Baby” made me think he didn’t like Night of the Living Dead in general while he criticized some elements of the movie. Although, I agree with Dillard’s point in the plot for the fact that after struggling for survival, they all lose in the end, and how the characters are who they are and just aren’t as special as they’re seen to be looked as “ordinary” people. However, I wouldn’t agree with Dillard’s point in trying to compare the movie Night of the Living Dead to other films, such as Rosemary’s Baby and The Birds.

The film “Night of the Living Dead” is a movie based on a zombie apocalypse. The film begins with a man named Johnny and a woman named Barbara, with blonde hair, driving four hours from their home to a cemetery. They drive all that way because their father's grave is in that cemetery and their mother wants her children to replace the flowers on the grave. Once Johnny and Barbara arrive at the cemetery and replace the flower Johnny starts horseplaying around and teasing Barbara saying “they're coming to get you they just want your brain.” After Johnny said that a man was wandering around the cemetery and he walked up to Barbara and grabbed her. Johnny then threw the man off Barbara and the man and Johnny started to wrestle. Johnny was knocked out on the ground and the man started to chase Barbara. Barbara was trying to find a place to hide and was running in fear from the man. She finally found a house, so she ran into the house and closed the door and tried finding a weapon. As she was going through the house trying to find help a man named Ben, who is black, walked into the house trying to talk to Barbara and help her. Ben knew how to keep them safe in the house he wanted to board up the windows and the doors so these creatures wouldn’t get in. These creatures looked like humans and walked very slow and weren’t smart, they didn’t talk and just attacked humans by walking at them grabbing them and then biting them. Ben killed a couple of these things while boarding up the

Reading through the whole essay, there are many appealing strategies found in order to strengthen the essay academically. Brooks attracts the audience with a pathos-style strategy, giving specific movie examples to straighten up the essay. The movie Night of the Living Dead resonates the viewers with an image of a flesh-eating and harmful zombie figure instead of a harmless voodoo-created zombie, which makes the notion of zombies transformed into a horrifying figure, provoking the sense of fear of audience with emotional appeal. The revolutionary creation of zombie film was led by George A. Romero, the father of the entirely new horror genre. In his work, zombies are characterized as a form of undead

The film Dead Man Walking depicts the life of an inmate sentenced to the death penalty through lethal injection. The film portrays prison as grim, isolated and lonely place. The life of prisoners in the film live in agony and suffering. The main issue with prison shown by the film is the death penalty. In specific the main character, Matthew Poncelet has been incarcerated for six years, still awaiting his execution. Furthermore, Matthew Poncelet appeals to another court showing the death penalty being an unnecessary drawn out process taking up lots of time and other resources. The film takes the perspective of a christian nun when talking about the death penalty. As a result, the death penalty is viewed as inhumane, cruel and should be abolished.

The 1968 cult classic, Night of the Living Dead, begins under the credits with brother and sister Johnny (Russell Streiner) and Barbara (Judith O’Dea) bickering about the long journey to rural Pennsylvania after arriving at a secluded cemetery to leave flowers on their father’s grave at their mother’s request. As they make their way back to the car, Johnny begins to tease Barbara. “They’re coming to get you, Barbara… They’re coming for you… Look, there’s one now!” A staggering, pale-faced figure (S. William Hinzman) approaches the two siblings and attacks Barbara. When Johnny comes to her rescue, he is killed during the struggle

The main claim of An Introduction to the American Horror Film by Robin Wood, was to address the difference and similarity between repression and oppression, as seen in horror cinema. Before jumping into the difference between repression and oppression, the essay shows the difference between basic repression and surplus repression. “Basic repression is universal, necessary, and inescapable […] Surplus repression, on the other hand, is specific to a particular culture and is the process whereby people are conditioned from earliest infacy to take predetermined roles within that culture.” (Wood 197) This means that basic repression is needed in a society, but surplus repression is what makes us “into monogamous heterosexual bourgeois patriarchal capitalists.” (Wood 197) Further on, the essay mentions repression versus oppression. “What is repressed is not accessible to the conscious mind.” This states that what we repress is not available to us. We do not realize what we have repressed, while we do realize what has oppressed us.

Literary Analysis of The Living and the Dead Brian Mockenhaupt’s “The Living and the Dead” is a story illustrating the hardships of the Marines at Patrol Base Dakota. At the stories heart is a brilliant depiction of the effects of war on the human mind. Once he returns home, a veteran Marine must mentally deal with the tragic loss of two friends during his time at war. Mockenhaupt achieves the greater theme of “The Living and the Dead” through his use of three literary themes.

The popularity and appeal of the undead has greatly increased in the past few years with the rise of the popular television show, The Walking Dead. The show began in October 2010, and is still on the air today. Before the show was created, there were The Walking Dead comic books that were first published in 2003, and continue to be published today with over 148 issues. The fascination did not begin with The Walking Dead, though. Many movies were produced, and many books published before The Walking Dead was even thought of. An extremely influential individual to note is George Romero. Romero is an American-Canadian screenwriter, film producer, film director, and editor. He is best known for his series of apocalyptic films, beginning with Night of the Living Dead in 1968. Romero has been nicknamed the “Godfather of the Undead.” Some other works of fiction and film to note include 28 Days Later, I am Legend, Pride and Prejudice Zombies and The Zombie Survival Guide, also by Max Brooks. Our cultural fascination with “the return of the dead” can be traced back to the events and the general morale leading up to World War Two, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

I would like to address the culture of consumerism, our desire for violence, and the change in gender roles from Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, to Boyle’s 28 Days Later.

Both Night of Living Dead scenario and 28 Days Later scenario focused on two deferent serious illnesses that spread among the people. These infections caused transform in the human and turn them to a killing machine without brain. An example from the first move, the infected people had a desire of eating the human flesh. Likewise, the desire of the infected people at the second movie was the anger and the brutality; this virus turned the human into monsters that seek only for killing. As I noticed at the beginning; neither the source nor the symptoms were similar. However, the two films emphasized similar final goal, which was killing the human, and eliminating them by themselves. Therefore, if the night of living dead is considered a first

The theoretical perspective I found most convincing when analyzing the behavior of the main character, Mathew Poncelot, in the film, Dead Man Walking, are the ideologies of sociologist Max Weber. He believed that rather than only focusing on one’s social actions, it is instead important to understand why people do the things that they do (Long-Crowell). Empathizing with individuals and identifying their perspectives explains one’s rationales behind each choice and behavior (Long-Crowell). By gaining an understanding of an individual’s point of view, we can make sense of their reality and how their perceptions affect their role in our world (DuBose, 2015). Weber’s theory supports that Poncelot’s behaviors can be explained by evaluating the rationale behind the factors that influenced and affected the choices he made. His childhood experiences, family values, education level, social-class, and economic status were crucial factors when explaining why he became the person he was. Furthermore, the combination of Poncelot’s thoughts and actions were based on the experiences and social interactions he encountered. Throughout this analysis, I will reflect on the various theoretical perspectives discussed this semester and what I have learned from each of these concepts. I will address why I found Weber’s theory most convincing and apply connections between theories as they relate to understanding social problems and the values of daily social work practices.

Corpse Bride is a beautiful movie about love, death, and sacrifices, in a classic Tim Burton style the movie is dark but with a gradual light. The living world is portrayed as dull and nearly colorless but the land of the dead is a completely different situation because it is full of color and excitement. Although this movie sounds like a horror film just by the title and the appearance of the cover art but it is the exact opposite. This movie is very well written and played out, it may one of the most beautiful and touching animated love stories. Tim Burton is an excellent writer, animator, director, artist, and producer known for his dark and gothic works so this movie does not fall short of any expectations. Many people compare Corpse Bride to other Tim Burton movies because of its eerie vibes and uniqueness. (Member reviews for Tim Burton's Corpse Bride | Common Sense Media.).