Night of the Living Dead (film series)
Encyclopedia
Night of the Living Dead is a series of six zombie
horror
films written and directed by George A. Romero
beginning with the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead
written by Romero and John A. Russo
. The loosely connected franchise predominantly centers on different groups of people attempting to survive during the outbreak and evolution of a zombie apocalypse
. The latest installment of the series, Survival of the Dead, was released in 2010.
, each were able to do what they liked with the continuity of their projects. Romero went on to direct five additional Dead films focusing on society as the living dead begins to evolve, while Russo branched off into literary territory, writing Return of the Living Dead
, which was later loosely adapted into a film of the same name and have its own franchise, and Escape of the Living Dead
.
Labeled "Trilogy of the Dead" until Land of the Dead
, each film is laden with social commentary on topics ranging from racism to consumerism. The films are not produced as direct follow-ups from one another and their only continuation is the epidemic of the living dead. This situation advances with each film, but with different characters, and the time moves ahead to the time when they were filmed, making the world's progression the only interlocking aspect of the series. The fifth film does not continue the depiction of the progress of the world; instead it goes back to the beginning of events from the first film, but is nonetheless contemporary as the sequels are. The films deal with how different people react to the same phenomenon ranging from citizens to police to army officials and back again. There are no real happy endings to the films, as each takes place in a world that has gotten worse since the last time we saw it, the number of zombies ever increasing and the fate of the living remnant always in the balance.
Romero does not consider any of his Dead films sequels since none of the major characters or story continue from one film to the next. The one exception is that the military officer (Alan van Sprang
) who robs the main characters in Diary of the Dead
goes on to become a protagonist in Survival of the Dead.
), Barbra (Judith O'Dea
), and five others, who are trapped in a rural farmhouse in Pennsylvania and attempt to survive the night while the house is being attacked by mysteriously reanimated ghouls, otherwise known as zombies.
) and Peter (Ken Foree
), two former SWAT members, join up with Francine (Gaylen Ross
) and Stephen (David Emge
), a helicopter pilot and his girlfriend planning on leaving the city. The group comes across a shopping mall, which becomes their private sanctuary. To make the mall safe for habitation, they kill the mall's zombie population and block the large glass doors with trucks to keep the undead gathered outside from entering. Some time later a gang of bikers break into the mall, which also allows hundreds of the zombies inside and causing their utopia to finally collapse.
), the lead scientist on the project, has been secretly using the recently deceased soldiers in his experiments, trying to prove his theory that the zombies can eventually be domesticated.
) rules the city with overwhelming firepower. "Big Daddy" (Eugene Clark
), a zombie, is unusually aware and intelligent, directs his fellow zombies to use firearms and overcome the human defenses. The zombies learn, adapt, and even communicate with primitive moans and grunts. When Big Daddy realizes the river is no obstacle he leads the zombies in an assault on the human city. The electric fence that once kept the zombies out now keeps the humans trapped inside.
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
films written and directed by George A. Romero
George A. Romero
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...
beginning with the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent black-and-white zombie film and cult film directed by George A. Romero, starring Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Karl Hardman. It premiered on October 1, 1968, and was completed on a USD$114,000 budget. After decades of cinematic re-releases, it...
written by Romero and John A. Russo
John A. Russo
John A. Russo , sometimes credited as Jack Russo or John Russo, is an American screenwriter and film director most commonly associated with the 1968 horror classic Night of the Living Dead. As a screenwriter, his credits include Night of the Living Dead, The Majorettes, Midnight, and Santa Claws....
. The loosely connected franchise predominantly centers on different groups of people attempting to survive during the outbreak and evolution of a zombie apocalypse
Zombie apocalypse
A zombie apocalypse is a particular scenario of apocalyptic literature that customarily has a science fiction/horror rationale. In a zombie apocalypse, a widespread rise of zombies hostile to human life engages in a general assault on civilization....
. The latest installment of the series, Survival of the Dead, was released in 2010.
History
After Night of the Living Dead's initial success, the two creators split in disagreement regarding where the series should head, and since the film was in the public domainPublic domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
, each were able to do what they liked with the continuity of their projects. Romero went on to direct five additional Dead films focusing on society as the living dead begins to evolve, while Russo branched off into literary territory, writing Return of the Living Dead
Return of the Living Dead (novel)
Return of the Living Dead is a 1977 direct sequel to George A. Romero's film, Night of the Living Dead, written by John Russo co-scripter of Night...
, which was later loosely adapted into a film of the same name and have its own franchise, and Escape of the Living Dead
Escape of the Living Dead
Escape of the Living Dead is a five-issue zombie comic book limited series published by Avatar Press, published in 2005. It is written by John A...
.
Labeled "Trilogy of the Dead" until Land of the Dead
Land of the Dead
For the disambiguation page on anything else on this topic, come here to Land of the Dead .Land of the Dead is a 2005 horror film written and directed by George A...
, each film is laden with social commentary on topics ranging from racism to consumerism. The films are not produced as direct follow-ups from one another and their only continuation is the epidemic of the living dead. This situation advances with each film, but with different characters, and the time moves ahead to the time when they were filmed, making the world's progression the only interlocking aspect of the series. The fifth film does not continue the depiction of the progress of the world; instead it goes back to the beginning of events from the first film, but is nonetheless contemporary as the sequels are. The films deal with how different people react to the same phenomenon ranging from citizens to police to army officials and back again. There are no real happy endings to the films, as each takes place in a world that has gotten worse since the last time we saw it, the number of zombies ever increasing and the fate of the living remnant always in the balance.
Romero does not consider any of his Dead films sequels since none of the major characters or story continue from one film to the next. The one exception is that the military officer (Alan van Sprang
Alan van Sprang
Alan van Sprang is Canadian actor best known for playing Sir Francis Bryan in the series The Tudors and for appearing in the Living Dead films of George A. Romero. He has many other television and film credits.-Filmography:...
) who robs the main characters in Diary of the Dead
Diary of the Dead
Diary of the Dead is a 2007 American/Canadian horror film by George A. Romero...
goes on to become a protagonist in Survival of the Dead.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
The plot of the film follows Ben Huss (Duane JonesDuane Jones
Duane L. Jones was an American actor, best known for his role as Ben in the 1968 horror film Night of the Living Dead. He was director of the Maguire Theater at the State University of New York at Old Westbury...
), Barbra (Judith O'Dea
Judith O'Dea
Judith O'Dea is an American actress known for her role as Barbra in the George A. Romero film Night of the Living Dead .-Career:...
), and five others, who are trapped in a rural farmhouse in Pennsylvania and attempt to survive the night while the house is being attacked by mysteriously reanimated ghouls, otherwise known as zombies.
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Following the scenario set up in Night of the Living Dead, the United States (and possibly the entire world) has been devastated by a phenomenon which reanimates recently deceased human beings and turns them into flesh-eating zombies. The cause of this phenomenon is unknown. Despite desperate efforts by the US Government and local civil authorities to control the situation, society has effectively collapsed and the remaining survivors seek refuge. Roger (Scott ReinigerScott Reiniger
Scott Hale Reiniger, Prince of Ghor is an American actor, one of the stars of the 1978 film Dawn of the Dead.-Early life and lineage:...
) and Peter (Ken Foree
Ken Foree
Kentotis Alvin "Ken" Foree is an American actor probably most famous as the hero Peter in Dawn of the Dead and Kenan & Kel as Roger, Kenan's dad.- Early life and career :Foree was born in Indianapolis, Indiana...
), two former SWAT members, join up with Francine (Gaylen Ross
Gaylen Ross
Gaylen Ross is an American actress, writer, producer and director.Ross starred in George A. Romero's 1978 horror film Dawn of the Dead and later in Creepshow – and in the 1982 horror film Madman under the pseudonym 'Alexis Dubin'...
) and Stephen (David Emge
David Emge
David Emge is an American actor. He is known for his role as Stephen in George A. Romero's classic film Dawn of the Dead.-Early life:Emge was born in Evansville, Indiana, United States...
), a helicopter pilot and his girlfriend planning on leaving the city. The group comes across a shopping mall, which becomes their private sanctuary. To make the mall safe for habitation, they kill the mall's zombie population and block the large glass doors with trucks to keep the undead gathered outside from entering. Some time later a gang of bikers break into the mall, which also allows hundreds of the zombies inside and causing their utopia to finally collapse.
Day of the Dead (1985)
Some time after the events of Dawn of the Dead, zombies have overrun the world. An underground army missile bunker near the Everglades is the base for a group which is part of a military-supported scientific team assigned by the remnants of the government to study the zombie phenomenon in the hopes of finding a way of stopping or reversing the zombification process. Dwindling supplies, loss of communication with other survivor enclaves, and an apparent lack of progress in the experiments have already caused tension and loss of cohesion among the scientists and soldiers. Dr. Logan (Richard LibertyRichard Liberty
Richard Liberty was an American film and television actor. His film work included George A. Romero's The Crazies , the Kirk Douglas vehicle The Final Countdown, Porky's II: The Next Day, and Flight of the Navigator. Television appearances included roles on Miami Vice and Key West...
), the lead scientist on the project, has been secretly using the recently deceased soldiers in his experiments, trying to prove his theory that the zombies can eventually be domesticated.
Land of the Dead (2005)
Years after the events of the previous film, there are very few living humans left. Many have fled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where a feudal-like government has taken hold. Bordered on three sides by rivers and on the fourth by an electric fence, the city has become a sanctuary. Fiddler's Green is where the rich and powerful live in luxury, while the rest of the population subsists. Paul Kaufman (Dennis HopperDennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
) rules the city with overwhelming firepower. "Big Daddy" (Eugene Clark
Eugene Clark
Commander Eugene F. Clark, USN, was deployed to the Flying Fish Channel, leading into Inchon. Quickly surveying the area, he and two accompanying South Korean officers Lieutenant Youn Joung and Colonel Ke In-Ju landed Yonghung-do Island in Incheon Harbor in advance of the US forces led invasion...
), a zombie, is unusually aware and intelligent, directs his fellow zombies to use firearms and overcome the human defenses. The zombies learn, adapt, and even communicate with primitive moans and grunts. When Big Daddy realizes the river is no obstacle he leads the zombies in an assault on the human city. The electric fence that once kept the zombies out now keeps the humans trapped inside.
Diary of the Dead (2007)
Taking place during the initial outbreak of the zombie pandemic, Diary of the Dead follows a band of students, making a horror film, who decide to record the events in a documentary-style while trying to get back home and end up themselves being chased down by zombies.Survival of the Dead (2010)
The first part of the film follows the actions of former Colonel and current Sergeant "Nicotine" Crockett (Alan van Sprang), who, after a failed raid of sorts that ends in the deaths and reanimation of several fellow National Guardsmen and his getting demoted to Sergeant, deserts his post with Kenny (Eric Woolfe), Francisco (Stefano Colacitti) and Tomboy (Athena Karkanis). The four go on to rob the protagonists of the previous film.Review aggregate results
| Motion Picture | Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance... |
Metacritic Metacritic Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,... |
BFCA Broadcast Film Critics Association The Broadcast Film Critics Association is the largest film critics organization in the United States and Canada , representing approximately 250 television, radio and online critics.... |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Top Critics | |||
| Night of the Living Dead | 96% (47 reviews) | 75% (40 reviews) | N/A | N/A |
| Dawn of the Dead | 94% (36 reviews) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Day of the Dead | 79% (29 reviews) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Land of the Dead | 74% (170 reviews) | 66% (32 reviews) | 71 (30 reviews) | 63 |
| Diary of the Dead | 61% (126 reviews) | 65% (26 reviews) | 66 (29 reviews) | 70 |
| Survival of the Dead | 29% (82 reviews) | 6% (18 reviews) | 43 (22 reviews) | 61 |
| Average Ratings | 72% | 53% | 60 | 64 |
Accolades
| Awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motion Picture | Organization/Guild | Ceremony | Category | Name | Outcome |
National Film Preservation Board The United States National Film Preservation Board is the board selecting films for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. It was established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988... (1999) |
National Film Registry The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008... |
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| Best Make-Up Saturn Award for Best Make-up The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Make-up:... |
Tom Savini Tom Savini Thomas Vincent "Tom" Savini is an American actor, stuntman, director, award-winning special effects and makeup artist. He is known for his work on the Living Dead films directed by George A. Romero, as well as Creepshow, The Burning, Friday the 13th, The Prowler, and Maniac. He directed the 1990... |
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31st Saturn Awards The 31st Saturn Awards, honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy and horror film and television in 2004, were held on May 3, 2005 at the Universal City Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, California, USA.Below is a complete list of nominees and winners... |
Best DVD Classic Film Release Saturn Award for Best Classic Film DVD Release The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best DVD Classic Film Release.... |
Ultimate Edition | |||
International Press Academy The International Press Academy is a large and diverse association of professional entertainment journalists, representing both domestic and foreign markets in print, television, radio, cable and new media outlets. The academy was founded in 1996 by Mirjana Van Blaricom... |
Satellite Awards 2005 The 10th Satellite Awards, honoring the best in film- and television making in 2005, were given on 17 December 2005.-Best Actor - Drama: Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote*Jake Gyllenhaal - Jarhead... |
Best Overall DVD | Anchor Bay | ||
| Best Make-Up Saturn Award for Best Make-up The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Make-up:... |
Tom Savini Tom Savini Thomas Vincent "Tom" Savini is an American actor, stuntman, director, award-winning special effects and makeup artist. He is known for his work on the Living Dead films directed by George A. Romero, as well as Creepshow, The Burning, Friday the 13th, The Prowler, and Maniac. He directed the 1990... |
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| Best Actress | Lori Cardille Lori Cardille Lori Cardille is an American actress, best known for her lead role in George A. Romero's Day of the Dead . Her father, Bill "Chilly Billy" Cardille, appeared as a reporter in the original Night of the Living Dead .... |
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| Best Horror Film Saturn Award for Best Horror Film The following are a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Horror Film:-References:... |
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| Best Make-Up Saturn Award for Best Make-up The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Make-up:... |
Howard Berger, Gregory Nicotero Gregory Nicotero Gregory Nicotero is an American special effects creator and actor. In 1988, along with Robert Kurtzman and Howard Berger, he formed KNB Efx Group, a special effects studio which has gone on to work on over 400 film and television projects... |
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Directors Guild of Canada The Directors Guild of Canada is a Canadian labour union, founded in 1962, which represents more than 3,700 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. The DGC represents directors, assistant directors, location managers, production assistants and... (2006) |
Outstanding Achievement In Picture Editing - Feature Film | Michael Doherty | |||
| Outstanding Achievement In Production Design - Feature Film | Arvinder Grewal | ||||
| Outstanding Achievement In Sound Editing - Feature Film | Kevin Banks, Nelson Ferreira, Lee de Lang, Craig Henighan, Jill Purdy, Nathan Robitaille |
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Empire Awards An Empire Award is an accolade bestowed by Empire, Britain's biggest selling film magazine, to recognize excellence of professionals in the locale and global film industry. The awards are voted for by readers of the magazine and in an annual ceremony, the Empire Awards, the winners are presented... |
Best Horror Empire Award for Best Horror The Empire Award for Best Horror is one of the Empire Awards presented annually by Empire magazine to the best horror film of the previous year. The Empire Award for Best Horror was one of four new Best Film ongoing awards first introduced at the 11th Empire Awards in 2006... |
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Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards, are an annual awards show that air on the Fox cable channel, that honor the year's biggest biggest achievements in music, movies, sports, television, fashion and more, voted by teen viewers aged 14 through 17. Winners receive an authentic full size surfboard designed with... (2005) |
Choice Summer Movie | ||||
Fantastic'Arts The Festival international du film fantastique de Gérardmer is an international festival of horror and science fiction films which has been held each year since 1994 in Gérardmer in the Vosges, France towards the end of January... (2008) |
Critics Award | George A. Romero George A. Romero George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:... |
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Venice Film Festival The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the... |
66th Venice International Film Festival The 66th annual Venice Film Festival held in Venice, Italy, was opened on September 2, 2009 by Baarìa - La porta del vento. International competition jury, led by Ang Lee, awarded Leone d'Oro to Lebanon... |
Golden Lion Golden Lion Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes... |
George A. Romero George A. Romero George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:... |
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