What do you think?
Rate this book
BFI Film Classics
Night of the Living Dead
George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968) is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential horror films of all time. Shot on a low budget on black and white film, Night depicts an America under siege from reanimated corpses. The action centres around a motley group of survivors holed up in a suburb of Pittsburgh, besieged by flesh-eating ghouls. Romero’s focus on tensions between members of this makeshift community resonates with contemporary racial and gender conflicts and, in addition to its shockingly visceral content, the film’s impact lay in its engagement with contemporary social upheaval – Vietnam and the peace movement, the civil rights struggle, assassinations and escalating urban tensions.
Benjamin Hervey’s study of the film is the first to provide a close analysis of the film and an in-depth account of its reception. Drawing on original archival research, Hervey traces how the film quickly gained cult status, while at the same time it was hailed as a piece of art cinema and as a deep political allegory. Hervey analyses the film scene-by-scene, detailing how the scoring, editing, photography and lighting came together to overall powerful effect. He provides a richly detailed historical context for his reading of the film, showing, for example, how scenes in Night directly relate to contemporary news coverage of Vietnam.
Benjamin Hervey’s study of the film is the first to provide a close analysis of the film and an in-depth account of its reception. Drawing on original archival research, Hervey traces how the film quickly gained cult status, while at the same time it was hailed as a piece of art cinema and as a deep political allegory. Hervey analyses the film scene-by-scene, detailing how the scoring, editing, photography and lighting came together to overall powerful effect. He provides a richly detailed historical context for his reading of the film, showing, for example, how scenes in Night directly relate to contemporary news coverage of Vietnam.
128 pages, Paperback
First published July 15, 2008
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 5, 2010
This is a good overview of the production and impact of the movie that introduced our modern pop culture's view of zombies. If you've never seen the original 1968 Night of the Living Dead (not the remake, and never the butchered 30th Anniversary Edition), then you're missing out on a very, very good film.
In addition to giving a lot of information about the movie itself, this little book focuses on the events of the time that likely influenced both the filmmakers and the audiences who reacted to Night so strongly. It also addresses the film's themes and politically-charged ending.
One of the things I found most interesting was that the book sticks up a bit for Harry, the father who clashes with Ben over their potential retreat to the basement. The author makes the case that, while we're tempted to side wholly with Ben, some of his actions are suspect, and Harry has some redeeming traits. Of course even if the group had sided with Harry, the basement held dangers of a different kind...
In addition to giving a lot of information about the movie itself, this little book focuses on the events of the time that likely influenced both the filmmakers and the audiences who reacted to Night so strongly. It also addresses the film's themes and politically-charged ending.
One of the things I found most interesting was that the book sticks up a bit for Harry, the father who clashes with Ben over their potential retreat to the basement. The author makes the case that, while we're tempted to side wholly with Ben, some of his actions are suspect, and Harry has some redeeming traits. Of course even if the group had sided with Harry, the basement held dangers of a different kind...
August 19, 2017
The film Night of the Living Dead changed my life....literally. My mom took my sister and I to see it, along with a Christopher Lee Dracula movie, back when I was nine at a local community college. I'd never heard of it before at the time and was expecting a run-of-the-mill creature feature like they showed on late night television. When I saw it was in black and white, I was even more expecting a humdrum zombie movie like White Zombie or I Walked with a Zombie with voodoo rituals and shambling undead working in sugar cane fields. Boy, was I in for a shock! When it was established that these zombies were EATING PEOPLE, I immediately knew that all bets were off for this film and I was almost too scared to watch the rest of it. The realism, nihilism, and political undertones (not to mention the matricide!) made Night a movie like none I'd ever seen before....and it scarred me for weeks!
This book analyzes the "making of" aspects of the film in both the practical means and the political undercurrents of the time that influenced the film makers. I can't get enough of books like this, being the horror nut that I am! I found this read fascinating and intelligently written. If they're all this well written, I look forward to reading more books in the BFI movie series.
This book analyzes the "making of" aspects of the film in both the practical means and the political undercurrents of the time that influenced the film makers. I can't get enough of books like this, being the horror nut that I am! I found this read fascinating and intelligently written. If they're all this well written, I look forward to reading more books in the BFI movie series.
July 19, 2012
A very nice criticism of George Romero's monumental horror classic. Hervey draws parallels to 1950s McCarthyism and 1960s anti-war/Vietnam and Civil Rights eras. A great read for horror fans and historians.
August 10, 2018
One of th best analysis of Night of the Living Dead I've ever read.I really enjoyed it, a good, short read.
December 30, 2021
In 1968, a low-budget black-and-white horror film premiered in American theaters. Unbeknownst to audiences—-as well as everyone associated with the film’s production—-the film would go on to create an enormous cult following and completely change the genre. It also managed to create its own subgenre, one that is still outrageously popular today.
The film was “Night of the Living Dead”, and it is still one of the most influential and significant horror movies of all time.
The British Film Institute (BFI) publishes a series of books about films that have made some kind of socio-political impact. They offer in-depth analyses of nearly every aspect of the film: narrative, technical, sociological, and philosophical.
Ben Hervey wrote the analysis of “Night of the Living Dead”, and it is as thorough and in-depth as one can be in film analysis. It is also immensely readable and not as academic as it sounds. This is intellectual pop-culture studies at its finest.
According to Cass Sunstein, a Harvard economics professor, there are three factors that determine a film’s success. The first is the film’s quality: is it actually any good? Does it showcase the particular filmmaking talents of the writers, directors, editors, and actors within the film?
“NOTLD” is a good film. I know it’s debatable. I have friends who think it’s one of the most amazing horror films ever made, and I have friends who find it boring and stupid. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. That said, I doubt the film would have had the impact it had if it wasn’t, in some ways, good at what it was trying to do, which was: scaring the shit out of audiences.
George Romero, the director, created a horror film that, at the very least, was good at one thing: overturning audience expectations at every turn. Film conventions and horror tropes of the time were simply ignored or purposely flipped on their heads. Teenagers and even a child in the film died violently. The camera didn’t turn away when the creatures feasted on victims’ flesh. The hero is killed in the end. Nobody saw any of this coming.
The second factor is social influences. Sunstein refers to “echo chambers”, or ways in which word-of-mouth recommendations can explode. Today, with social media, a film’s success or failure can happen almost instantly. This is, in fact, what RottenTomatoes.com capitalizes on. In 1968, long before Facebook and Twitter, people actually had to use mouths to spread the word. And word about “NOTLD” spread like wildfire. People were, at the very least, curious about this film that was terrifying audiences.
The third factor, according to Sunstein, is timing. It’s everything. The film came to theaters in the same year that the Vietnam War ratcheted up its most violent year with the Tet Offensive. It was the year Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. The “free love’ hippy movement was getting dark, and it would only be a year later that four hippies, brain-washed by Charles Manson, brutally murdered five people during a home invasion in the Hollywood hills.
Tensions were high. Fear ruled. A film like “NOTLD” was either the tip of the iceberg or a much-needed catharsis.
Whatever the reason, Romero’s little film about flesh-eating ghouls (the word “zombie”, by the way, is never uttered once in the entire movie, and Romero has gone on the record several times saying that he detests the term), for good or ill, started the whole zombie film genre, a genre that, like the creatures, simply will not die.
The film was “Night of the Living Dead”, and it is still one of the most influential and significant horror movies of all time.
The British Film Institute (BFI) publishes a series of books about films that have made some kind of socio-political impact. They offer in-depth analyses of nearly every aspect of the film: narrative, technical, sociological, and philosophical.
Ben Hervey wrote the analysis of “Night of the Living Dead”, and it is as thorough and in-depth as one can be in film analysis. It is also immensely readable and not as academic as it sounds. This is intellectual pop-culture studies at its finest.
According to Cass Sunstein, a Harvard economics professor, there are three factors that determine a film’s success. The first is the film’s quality: is it actually any good? Does it showcase the particular filmmaking talents of the writers, directors, editors, and actors within the film?
“NOTLD” is a good film. I know it’s debatable. I have friends who think it’s one of the most amazing horror films ever made, and I have friends who find it boring and stupid. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. That said, I doubt the film would have had the impact it had if it wasn’t, in some ways, good at what it was trying to do, which was: scaring the shit out of audiences.
George Romero, the director, created a horror film that, at the very least, was good at one thing: overturning audience expectations at every turn. Film conventions and horror tropes of the time were simply ignored or purposely flipped on their heads. Teenagers and even a child in the film died violently. The camera didn’t turn away when the creatures feasted on victims’ flesh. The hero is killed in the end. Nobody saw any of this coming.
The second factor is social influences. Sunstein refers to “echo chambers”, or ways in which word-of-mouth recommendations can explode. Today, with social media, a film’s success or failure can happen almost instantly. This is, in fact, what RottenTomatoes.com capitalizes on. In 1968, long before Facebook and Twitter, people actually had to use mouths to spread the word. And word about “NOTLD” spread like wildfire. People were, at the very least, curious about this film that was terrifying audiences.
The third factor, according to Sunstein, is timing. It’s everything. The film came to theaters in the same year that the Vietnam War ratcheted up its most violent year with the Tet Offensive. It was the year Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. The “free love’ hippy movement was getting dark, and it would only be a year later that four hippies, brain-washed by Charles Manson, brutally murdered five people during a home invasion in the Hollywood hills.
Tensions were high. Fear ruled. A film like “NOTLD” was either the tip of the iceberg or a much-needed catharsis.
Whatever the reason, Romero’s little film about flesh-eating ghouls (the word “zombie”, by the way, is never uttered once in the entire movie, and Romero has gone on the record several times saying that he detests the term), for good or ill, started the whole zombie film genre, a genre that, like the creatures, simply will not die.
August 23, 2023
If you want a deep dive into Night of the Living Dead, read this book. It’s a scholarly look at the film and its impact.
May 14, 2024
Really poignant contextualization and analysis of Night of the Living Dead. It’s only fault is beating the reader over the head with it.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews