''Night of the Living Dead'' is a

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...

horror media franchise created by

George A. Romero George Andrew Romero (; February 4, 1940 – July 16, 2017) was an American-Canadian filmmaker, writer, editor and actor. His ''Night of the Living Dead'' series of films about an imagined zombie apocalypse began with the 1968 film of the ...

beginning with the 1968 film, ''

Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, with a screenplay by John Russo and Romero, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven peop ...

'' directed by Romero and co-written with John A. Russo. The franchise predominantly centers on different groups of people attempting to survive during the outbreak and evolution of a

zombie apocalypse Zombie apocalypse is a genre of fiction in which society collapses due to overwhelming swarms of zombies. Typically only a few individuals or small bands of survivors are left living. In some versions, the reason the dead rise and attack hum ...

. The latest installment of the series, ''

Survival of the Dead ''Survival of the Dead'' is a 2009 horror film written and directed by George A. Romero and starring Alan van Sprang, Kenneth Welsh and Kathleen Munroe. It is the sixth entry in Romero's ''Night of the Living Dead'' series. The story follows a ...

'' was released in 2009 with a sequel, ''Twilight of the Dead'', in development. This would be the first film in the series not directed by George Romero, who died on July 16, 2017.

Background

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 domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

, each were able to do what they liked with the continuity of their projects. Romero went on to direct five additional ''Dead'' films, while Russo branched into literary territory, writing ''Return of the Living Dead'', which was later loosely adapted into a film of the same name and would have its own franchise, and ''

Escape of the Living Dead ''Escape of the Living Dead'' is a five-issue zombie comic book miniseries published by Avatar Press, published in 2005. It is written by John A. Russo with artwork by Dheeraj Verma.Land of the Dead ''Land of the Dead'' (also known as ''George A. Romero's Land of the Dead'') is a 2005 post-apocalyptic horror film written and directed by George A. Romero; the fourth of Romero's six '' Living Dead'' movies, it is preceded by ''Night of the Li ...

'', 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 theme of the epidemic of the living dead. This situation advances with each film, showing the world in a worsening state, but each film is independent of its predecessor. This is exemplified by the fact that each movie is set within the era it is filmed, with ''Land of the Dead'' being set in modern times with current (as of 2005) technology such as game consoles, flatscreen televisions, and cell phones. The fifth film does not continue the depiction of progress, but shows events at the very beginning of a zombie outbreak, similar to the first film. The films portray how different people react to the same phenomenon, ranging from citizens to police to army officials and to citizens again. Each takes place in a world worsened since its previous appearance, the number of zombies ever increasing and the living perpetually endangered, but with each entry being a standalone film that is not directly continuing global events from the previous. 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 two exceptions are

Tom Savini Thomas Vincent Savini (born November 3, 1946) is an American prosthetic makeup artist, actor, stunt performer and film director. He is known for his makeup and special effects work on many films directed by George A. Romero, including ''Martin'' ...

's character of Blades who becomes a zombie in ''Dawn of the Dead'' who would be seen again years later in ''Land of the Dead'' and the military officer ( Alan van Sprang) who robs the main characters in ''

Diary of the Dead ''Diary of the Dead'' (promoted as ''George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead'') is a 2007 American found footage horror film written and directed by George A. Romero. Although independently produced, it was distributed theatrically by The Weinst ...

'' and goes on to become a protagonist in ''Survival of the Dead''.

Films

''Night of the Living Dead'' (1968)

The plot of the film follows Ben (

Duane Jones Duane L. Jones (April 11, 1937July 22, 1988) was an American actor and theatre director, best known for his lead role as Ben in the 1968 horror film ''Night of the Living Dead''. He was later director of the Maguire Theater at the State Universi ...

), Barbra Cole (

Judith O'Dea Judith O'Dea (born April 20, 1945) is an American actress. She portrayed Barbra in the 1968 George Romero classic horror film ''Night of the Living Dead''. Career In addition to her signature role, O'Dea has appeared in the television movie '' ...

), 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 corpses, known as

ghoul A ghoul ( ar, غول, ') is a demon-like being or monstrous humanoid. The concept originated in pre-Islamic Arabian religion, associated with graveyards and the consumption of human flesh. Modern fiction often uses the term to label a cert ...

s or

''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 as flesh-eating zombies. Despite efforts by the US Government and local civil authorities to control the situation, society has effectively collapsed and the remaining survivors seek refuge. Protagonists Roger (

Scott Reiniger Scott Hale Reiniger, ''Harlan Sahib Bahadur'', Prince of Ghor (born September 5, 1948) is an American actor. He is best known as one of the stars of the 1978 classic horror film '' Dawn of the Dead''. Biography Scott Hale Reiniger, Jr. was born ...

) and Peter (

Ken Foree Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in t ...

), two former SWAT members, join with Stephen (

David Emge David Emge (born September 9, 1946) is an American actor. He played Stephen in George A. Romero's horror film '' Dawn of the Dead''. Career One of Emge's classmates and acting partners while in college was Ron Glass, who later became famous as ...

) and Francine (

Gaylen Ross Gaylen Ross (born August 15, 1950) is an American director, writer, producer and actress, best known for playing Francine Parker in the 1978 horror film '' Dawn of the Dead'' and also noted for directing the 2008 documentary '' Killing Kasztne ...

), a helicopter pilot and his girlfriend planning on leaving the city, and take refuge in an enclosed shopping-mall.

''Day of the Dead'' (1985)

Some time after the events of ''Dawn of the Dead'', zombies have overrun the world, and an underground army missile bunker near the

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of tropical climate, tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orland ...

holds part of a military-supported scientific team assigned to study the zombie phenomenon in the hopes of finding a way of stopping or reversing the process. Dwindling supplies, loss of communication with other survivor enclaves, and an apparent lack of progress in the experiments have already caused loss of cohesion among the scientists and soldiers. Dr. Logan (

Richard Liberty Richard Liberty (born Riccardo Liberatoscioli; March 3, 1932 – October 2, 2000) was an American film and television actor. His film work included George A. Romero's '' The Crazies'' (1973), '' The Final Countdown'', '' Porky's II: The Next ...

), 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, many of the living have fled to

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, where a feudal-like government has taken hold. Paul Kaufman (

Dennis Hopper Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He attended the Actors Studio, made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after appeared in ''Giant'' (1956). In the next ten years ...

) rules the city with overwhelming firepower. "Big Daddy" ( Eugene Clark), an unusually intelligent zombie, directs his fellow zombies to use firearms against the human defenses, and later leads the zombies in an assault on the human city, with the result that the electric fence that kept the zombies out now keeps the humans trapped inside.

''Diary of the Dead'' (2007)

Taking place during the initial outbreak of a zombie pandemic, ''Diary of the Dead'' follows a band of film students making a horror movie who decide to record the events in documentary-style as they themselves are chased down by zombies.

''Survival of the Dead'' (2009)

Taking place shortly after the events of ''Diary of the Dead'', the film follows the actions of former Colonel and current Sergeant "Nicotine" Crockett (Alan van Sprang), who, after a failed raid, deserts his post with Kenny (Eric Woolfe), Francisco (Stefano Colacitti) and Tomboy (Athena Karkanis) and finds the existence of an island run by two families while fighting over the fact whether zombies should be kept alive or killed.

''Twilight of the Dead'' (TBA)

In the 2010s, Romero was dissatisfied with his series ending with ''Diary of the Dead'' and ''Survival of the Dead''. He penned a

film treatment A film treatment (or simply treatment) is a piece of prose, typically the step between scene cards (index cards) and the first draft of a screenplay for a motion picture, television program, or radio play. It is generally longer and more detailed ...

with co-writer Paolo Zelati depicting a conclusion to the series that explains the fate of the zombie protagonists from ''Land of the Dead'' and an ending where humanity has become virtually extinct. Romero had written the beginning of the script, but the project was stalled when Romero died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

in 2017. It was announced in April 2021 that the film had been put back into development under the supervision of Suzanne Romero, with Zelati finishing the script with screenwriters Joe Knetter and Robert L. Lucas. Suzanne told ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', "This is the film he wanted to make. And while someone else will carry the torch as the director, it is very much a George A. Romero film."

Official spin-offs

* ''

'', the 1990 remake of the original film penned by Romero and directed by ''Dawn of the Dead'' and ''Day of the Dead'' effects artist Tom Savini. * '' Dawn of the Dead'', the 2004 remake of the 1978 original, penned by

James Gunn James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker and executive. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with ''Tromeo and Juliet'' (1997). He then began working as a director ...

and directed by

Zack Snyder Zachary Edward Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer. He made his feature film debut in 2004 with '' Dawn of the Dead'', a remake of the 1978 horror film of the same name. Since t ...

. * ''Toe Tags Featuring George Romero'' (

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

), the 2004 comic book series by Romero about college workers investigating the cause of the zombie pandemic, adapted from one of his unused screenplays. * '' Empire of the Dead'' (

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

), the 2013 comic book series written by Romero featuring the living dead and

vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. * ''Road of the Dead: Highway to Hell'' (

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

), the 2019 comic book prequel to the film ''Road of the Dead'', written by

Jonathan Maberry Jonathan Maberry (born May 18, 1958) is an American suspense author, anthology editor, comic book writer, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. He was named one of the Today's Top Ten Horror Writers. ...

. * ''The Living Dead'' (

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...

), the 2020 epic novel co-written by Romero and finished posthumously by Daniel Kraus, spanning 15 years of the zombie outbreak. Kraus used various notes and manuscripts from Romero to finish the project, adding that "The movies came out in a completely random order as far as

timeline A timeline is a display of a list of events in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events. Timelines can use any suitable scale representi ...

. If you ignore the decade shifts, as he did...the timeline is, and I have this memorized now: ''Night of the Living Dead'', ''Diary of the Dead'', ''Survival of the Dead'', ''Dawn of the Dead'', ''Land of the Dead'', and ''Day of the Dead''. He'd only gone five years into the future. There's a lot of untrod ground that is not handled cinematically"; "When the book goes fifteen years into the future, the humans are down to a tiny little nub of survivors — the zombies start dying out, rotting and returning to the earth. It's grim, but a hopeful chance to rebuild society in a better way." * ''The Rise'' ('' Heavy Metal''), the prequel comic to ''Night of the Living Dead'' written by Romero's son G. Cameron Romero, depicting the

origin story In entertainment, an origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist, and it adds to the overall interest and complexity of a narrative, often giving reasons for their intent ...

of the zombie outbreak. The project was originally intended to be a film, which started as an Indiegogo funding campaign in 2014 for ''Night of the Living Dead: Origins'' and later renamed ''Rise of the Living Dead''. It is set at the height of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

era, depicting a military scientist searching for a way to sustain human life in the event of a

nuclear holocaust A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenar ...

. Romero eventually scrapped the project and converted it into a comic book titled ''The Rise'', to avoid potential studio interference and

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...

ing disputes. Chapters are published individually in issues of ''Heavy Metal'' magazine, and later collected into a single

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

. The first chapter was published in ''Heavy Metal'' #302 on November 20, 2020.

Cast and crew

Cast

List indicator(s): * A dark grey cell indicates that the character was not in the film or that the character's presence in the film has yet to be announced. * A indicates a role as a younger version of the character. * An indicates a role as an older version of the character. * A indicates an uncredited role. * A indicates a cameo role. * A indicates a voice-only role. * An indicates an appearance through archival footage or stills.

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Assistant Head Biker

Mechanic Zombie Shot Through Glass

Zombie Hit By Truck , style="background-color:#D3D3D3;" , ,

, style="background-color:#D3D3D3;" , , Tom Savini , colspan="2" style="background-color:#D3D3D3;" , , - ! Brubaker

Sarge "Nicotine" Crockett , colspan="3" style="background-color:#D3D3D3;" , , colspan="3" , Alan van Sprang , - ! rowspan="2" , Photo Booth Zombies
Newsreader , rowspan="2" colspan="3" style="background-color:#D3D3D3;" , ,

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. H ...

, rowspan="2" , Simon Pegg , rowspan="2" style="background-color:#D3D3D3;" , , - ,

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a ...

, - ! Tony Ravello , colspan="4" style="background-color:#D3D3D3;" , ,

Shawn Roberts Shawn Roberts (born April 2, 1984) is a Canadian actor best known for his roles in list of zombie films, zombie films such as ''Land of the Dead'', ''Diary of the Dead'' and the ''Resident Evil (film series), Resident Evil'' franchise. Early lif ...

, Shawn Roberts , - ! Jason Creed , colspan="4" style="background-color:#D3D3D3;" , ,

Joshua Close Joshua Close (born 31 August 1981 in Oakville, Ontario) is a Canadian film and television actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of t ...

, Joshua Close , - ! Debra Moynihan , colspan="4" style="background-color:#D3D3D3;" , , Michelle Morgan , Michelle Morgan , - ! Andrew Maxwell , colspan="4" style="background-color:#D3D3D3;" , ,

Scott Wentworth Scott Wentworth (born 1955) is an American actor and director who immigrated to Canada in 1986. Early life Wentworth was born in Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, in 1955. Career After starting his career in New York City, he began a ...

, Scott Wentworth , - ! Tracy Thurman , colspan="4" style="background-color:#D3D3D3;" , , Amy LaLonde , Amy LaLonde

Crew

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The Goblins ''The Goblins'' is a Caroline-era stage play, a comedy written by Sir John Suckling. It was premiered on the stage in 1638 and first published in 1646. Performance and publication The play was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, ...

Dario Argento Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and film critic, critic. His influential work in the horror film, horror genre during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the subgenre known as ...

John Harrison John Harrison ( – 24 March 1776) was a self-educated English Carpentry, carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the History of longitude, problem of calculating longitude while at s ...

Reinhold Heil Reinhold Heil (born May 18, 1954) is a German-born musician and film and television composer based in Los Angeles. He initially achieved success in Germany as a member of the post-punk and Neue Deutsche Welle bands Nina Hagen Band and Spliff and ...

Johnny Klimek Johnny Klimek (born 18 August 1962) is an Australian musician, music producer, and composer, best known for his innovative work in the underground electronica music scene and for his film scores. Life and career Klimek was born in Melbourne, A ...

, Norman Orenstein , Robert Carli , - ! Cinematography , rowspan="2" , George A. Romero , colspan="2" , Michael Gornick ,

Mirosław Baszak Mirosław Baszak is a Poland, Polish-born Canadians, Canadian cinematographer. Baszak's work includes ''Pontypool (film), Pontypool'', ''Trailer Park Boys: The Movie'', ''Land of the Dead'' and ''The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day''. Baszak w ...

, colspan="2" , Adam Swica , - ! Editor , George A. Romero ,

Pasquale Buba Pasquale A. "Pat" Buba (April 16, 1946 – September 12, 2018) was an American film editor, noted for his longtime collaboration with George A. Romero. Biography Pasquale Buba was born in 1946 as the second child of Edward Buba (d. 1997) and A ...

, colspan="3" , Michael Doherty , - ! Production Companies , Image Ten , Laurel Group , Laurel Entertainment , Atmosphere Entertainment MM
Romero-Grunwald Productions , Artfire Films
Romero-Grunwald Productions , Artfire Films
Romero-Grunwald Productions
Devonshire Productions , - ! Distributor , Continental Releasing , United Film Distribution Company (US)

Titanus Titanus is an Italian film production company, founded in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo (1885–1951). The company's headquarters are located at 28 Via Sommacampagna, Rome and its studios on the Via Tiburtina, 13 km from the centre of Rome. Lom ...

(Italy) , United Film Distribution Company ,

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

The Weinstein Company The Weinstein Company (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in March 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America prior ...

Magnet Releasing Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films. Mag ...

(US)

Entertainment One Films Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...

(Canada)

Reception

Critical and public response

Accolades

References

External links

* *
Download Night of the Living Dead
' — both HD (Blu-ray) and standard version available legally for free as the film is in the public domain * * * * * {{Living Dead Film series introduced in 1968 Action film series Horror film series