Retro Review: Night of the Living Dead

On a night that wasn't Halloween, or anywhere close to it, my friend and I were flipping channels on the digital cable box, when we found that George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead was playing on one of the higher numbered movie channels. We had missed the beginning and were somewhere in the middle of the introduction of the "basement people". Barbara was already catatonic, and Ben had already assumed his role as the "guy in charge", but Harry Cooper wouldn't hear anything of the sort, because up to that point he was the ruler of his own domain in the basement. This immediately created tension between the two men, and everyone in the house.

It was this struggle for power that got me thinking about the movie, and how much I really do enjoy it, considering I do own the DVD. There is such a deep psychological story going on underneath the whole "zombie" plot, that really says a lot about the characters, and even humanity as a whole. What would we do in a situation such as this? Where would we go to escape it all? Who would be in charge?

Throughout the movies these questions are answered, as we follow Barbara from the graveyard with her brother, to the small seemingly uninhabited farmhouse, a safe spot to hang out until everything blows over, or until she realizes her brother has become one of the things that killed him. She doesn't speak, she is confused and lost, and when she goes upstairs to find a corpse laying at the top of the stairs she reacts like anyone would react. When Ben finally shows up out of nowhere, he begins to talk to her, and she doesn't respond. Eventually she has an outburst and he slaps her around, and puts her on the couch. Ben is the strong-willed survival oriented leader, and it is up to him to make sure he and Barbara survive.

Harry Cooper is down in the basement with his wife and daughter, who has been stricken with an illness, which we later find out is attributed to a zombie attack. The thing about Harry Cooper is that he is right, no matter what anyone else says he is so lost in his own agenda that he can't be wrong. After finding out that there is life upstairs, he retreats back to the basement, telling his wife that they are going to stay there, because he doesn't like the people upstairs. When she finds out that they have a radio, she immediately reverses his decision, and they head upstairs, and send one of the other "house guests" down to watch their daughter. It is then that the TV is found and they find out more about the radiation, and the government cover-up. Mrs. Cooper tries to talk to Barbara, but she finds that there is no way to communicate to her, as Ben explains that it is because she watched her brother die. Mrs. Cooper is compassionate, and persists, despite the lack of response, and when she tells Harry what had happened, Harry just changes the subject, still wrapped up in himself.

Ben and Harry don't see eye to eye, perhaps because Harry is threatened, or perhaps there is some unmentioned racial tension, but the struggle for power goes from words to violence almost instantly. Both men are very hostile in their own defense, but it is obvious that Ben has the most stable mind when it comes to the situation. Harry is very prejudicial with a "don't trust 'em, kill 'em" kind of thought process, that comes into play later when they all decide to work together. Nonetheless, they are at each other's throats ready to explode at any moment.

Judy and Tom are a couple of young kids, who saw a light from the road, a beacon of hope. They are young, confused, lost, but they have each other. They depend on one another for survival, and thus they never leave each other's side. They are in love, but is it love that keeps them together, or is it the fear of their impending doom? At the a later point in the film, when the un-dead have surrounded the house, Tom takes it upon himself to be a hero, and offers to drive the truck, to fill it with gas, and do whatever is needed to help. He offers, but Judy won't let him go alone. They both go outside, and begin to fill the tank. When things get too out of hand, they drive away, letting the gas spill out all over the ground. Unfortunately, the gas takes flame, and so does the truck, thus providing a delectable bbq for the hoards of zombies. This is a tragedy that brings the concept of "Only the Good Die Young" to my mind. The maltov cocktail that started the blaze was thrown by none other than Harry Cooper himself.

Sure, it's gory, sure it's scary, but it doesn't end there. It was a segment of human life, just one night in the lives of a handful of people. It was like The Real World, only more scripted, yet more natural, and with zombies. When a group of strangers comes together, and the goal is survival, there is only room for one, even if it's not a competition.