The Zombie Evolution

In the middle of the 20^th century, “horror had been stuck in a musty, cobwebbed past …that didn't frighten a generation of young people” (Zinoman). The horror genre had lost its frightening ways. And as I said before, the earlier zombie movies were people that were alive but just being controlled by voodoo. So they were basically brainwashed voodoo slaves.

Not until George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead did the horror genre become increasingly popular, “the phenomenon it kicked off has spread like a full-on zombie apocalypse” (Truitt). It was the first movie to portray zombies as living corpses. They had an insatiable lust for the living‘s flesh. Its graphic nature “shocked unsuspecting audiences,” and appalled some of its critics (Truitt).

It was Romero’s first feature film, he had only worked on a few short films and commercials. So he was taking major risks making a movie such as this during that time, but it eventually paid off. It is “one of the major achievements of American cinema, an extraordinary feat of imagination and audacity carried through with exemplary courage and conviction” (George A. Romero). It was selected to be preserved in the National Film Registry and is seen as a defining moment for modern horror cinema.

Works Cited

"George A. Romero." Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Vol. 80. Gale, 2008. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 22 Apr. 2011.

Truitt, Brian. "George A. Romero's legacy refuses to die." USA Today 7 June 2010: 02D. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 21 Apr. 2011.

Zinoman, Jason. "Killer Instincts." Vanity Fair (Vol. 50, No. 3). March 2008: 304+. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 21 Apr 2011.

Picture Source
http://www.moviepostershop.com/night-of-the-living-dead-movie-poster-1968/