'Night Of The Living Dead' (1968)

In autumn of this year, the horror movie 'Night Of The Living Dead' will officially celebrate it's 50th anniversary. It's written by John Russo and director George Romero who was inspired to write his original story by Richard Matheson's novel 'I Am Legend' (1954). Official screen versions of 'I Am Legend' include 'The Last Man On Earth' (1964), 'The Omega Man' (1971) and 'I Am Legend' (2007), all of which have their merits. 'Night Of The Living Dead' is about a group of people who become trapped in a rural farmhouse in Pennsylvania that's besieged by the undead. The living dead in the film are considered to be zombies though they were originally conceived as ghouls. The undead also eat people, an idea that was humorously floated in 'King Of The Zombies' (1941) but is made shockingly real by 'Night Of The Living Dead'.

If someone were to ask me to select a single film I feel marks the birth of modern horror cinema, I'd consider several candidates from the 1960s. 1960 was a watershed year that saw the release of major genre works such as 'Psycho' (1960) and 'House Of Usher' (1960) in the United States of America, 'Black Sunday' (1960) in Italy, 'The Housemaid' (1960) in South Korea and 'Jigoku' (1960) in Japan. In France, 'Blood And Roses' (1960) and 'Eyes Without A Face' (1960) were released, while here in the United Kingdom, cinemas were screening 'Brides Of Dracula' (1960), 'Peeping Tom' (1960) and 'Village Of The Damned' (1960). Clearly, it was an important year in the evolution of horror cinema, yet with so many titles to choose from, I tend to look more towards the release of Herk Harvey's 'Carnival Of Souls' (1962). Here's a film that seems to stand as its own entity; one that's at once modern, very independent and forward-thinking, sharp, visceral and extremely atmospheric. Yet 'Carnival Of Souls' shared the stage with another key work that ticks some of the same boxes, Curtis Harrington's 'Night Tide' (1962).

For some film fans, modern horror truly begins with the release of 'Night Of The Living Dead'. A strong case could certainly be made as modern American cinema really took off in the late 1960s with the release of groundbreaking films like 'Bonnie And Clyde' (1967), 'The Graduate' (1967), 'Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice' (1969), 'Easy Rider' (1969) and 'The Wild Bunch' (1969). I select George Romero as one of my four heads for modern horror cinema's Mount Rushmore, alongside his friends and contemporaries Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper and John Carpenter, so it's important to note that Craven, Hooper and Carpenter were all inspired in their creative filmmaking by 'Night Of The Living Dead'. Only Carpenter is still with us, but these four pioneers in their chosen field all held great respect for one another.

'Night Of The Living Dead' has had recognised cultural impact and it changed society's perception of zombies completely. Before it, zombies were from Haitian folklore and connected to magic. In cinema, hypnosis was key to creating zombies who were often people caught in a trance rather than reanimated dead. 'Night Of The Living Dead' convinced an entire generation that zombies were in fact marauding undead looking to snack on people which is quite something. There's also incisive social commentary throughout the film, a hallmark of the socially conscious Romero's work.

'Night Of The Living Dead' has been remade numerous times, notably by Tom Savini as 'Night Of The Living Dead' (1990) and Jeff Broadstreet as 'Night Of The Living Dead 3D' (2006). 'Night Of The Living Dead : Darkest Dawn' (2015) is an animated retelling of the story and 'Mimesis : Night Of The Living Dead' (2011) is a reimagination. Dan O'Bannon's 'The Return Of The Living Dead' (1985) is a direct descendant and has its roots in a 1977 novel by John Russo. Bill Hinzman, who plays the graveyard zombie seen at the beginning of the movie, directed his own spin-off feature 'Flesheater' (1988).

'Night Of The Living Dead' grossed $12,000,000 domestically and $18,000,000 internationally, earning over 250 times its budget. It wasn't well received by everyone upon its initial release (October 1st, 1968), but it had its champions, and its reputation has grown over time. George Romero went on to direct five more installments in the 'Dead' franchise : 'Dawn Of The Dead' (1978), 'Day Of The Dead' (1985), 'Land Of The Dead' (2005), 'Diary Of The Dead' (2007) and 'Survival Of The Dead' (2009). In 1999, 'Night Of The Living Dead' was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry, as a film deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Social events are due to be held in October in Evans City, Pennsylvania to celebrate the film's 50th anniversary.