It was a night like no other, a night of terror! Classic horror doesn’t get much better than George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, where zombies rise up and eat their way through a small town.
The 50th anniversary after the release of George A. Romero ’s classic Night of the Living Dead is cause for celebration, and the restored film is returning to movie theaters all across America to celebrate the milestone.
The newly restored flick is a crisp and beautifully rendered film that will pull you into the black and white horror of a town under siege from the undead.
Just before Halloween, it’s time to plan on watching this majestic zombie flick as it should be seen, on a proper movie screen! On October 24 and 25 only, you can check the Fathom Events website to find out exactly where you can go see this movie on the big screen.
For two nights only, this formerly murky version seen mostly on television will be able to be viewed in restored glory as Romero would have wanted it.
Fun Living Dead Facts
According to Fathom, this restoration was supervised by Romero prior to his death in 2017, “working with the film’s sound engineer Gary Streiner to restore and remaster the movie in 4K Ultra HD from the original camera negative.”
The film was a total budget score, as it was made for around $150,000. Night of the Living Dead was shot in black and white so the production designer and art department could improvise on what they used for blood and guts.
In the book Night of the Living Dead: Behind the Scenes, author Joe Kane noted that the crew used all sorts of odd things to emulate blood.
Chocolate syrup, red ink, and even…lunch? For the scene in which Karen Cooper (Kyra Schon) begins eating her father’s corpse, the crew’s leftover lunch was employed.
“Earlier in the day, we were eating hamburgers or meatball sandwiches, so they just smeared chocolate syrup all over it and that’s what I was biting into,” Schon said.
The character of Ben was originally written as “an angry, rough truck driver,” with dialogue to reflect that. When actor Duane Jones was cast, he tweaked his own dialogue to fit his character better.
“As I recall, I believe that Duane himself upgraded his own dialogue to reflect how he felt the character should present himself,” actor/producer Karl Hardman, who played Harry Cooper, said.
What is it about?
Living Dead is a simple story about strangers who must band together, while they are trapped in a farmhouse. They are in the midst of a bizarre attack from a horde of recently dead flesh-eating zombies and must work together to survive.
Romero’s claustrophobic view of a late-1960s America tearing away at each other was metaphorical and defied the norms of filmmaking including the casting an African-American actor (Duane Jones) as the lead, which was out of the norm at that time.
Where can I see this film?
The film will play at 7 pm and 10 pm (local time) on both nights, and tickets are available now at Fathom Events’ website.
“There are not many films that warrant the kind of attention ‘Night of the Living Dead’ has received from the Museum of Modern Art, but there are also not many films whose influence remains so strong in global popular culture 50 years after it was made.”
“George A. Romero’s film has never looked better, and we are proud to present this dazzling new restoration to film lovers and horror fans,” said Fathom Events VP of Studio Relations Tom Lucas in a press statement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TAGtIQvebs
Steve Wolsh, CEO of Living Dead Media, added, “It’s been a two-year labor of love to bring this stunning version of ‘Night of the Living Dead’ into theaters for the 50th anniversary.”
“This movie was intended to be seen in a dark theater with a live audience, and this restoration gives fans and newcomers alike a chance to see the film as they’ve never seen it before.” Please visit the film’s Facebook page for all things “Night of the Living Dead.”
If you’re looking for a local theater to watch Night of the Living Dead, check here and enter your zip code for the closest theaters.