







1968. A post-civil rights America, still fractured by decades of inherent racial disparity, engaged in a controversial war in Southeast Asia. The annals of American history are dappled with blood, be it from the patriotic revolutionaries who cut a fledgling nation from the fat of an empire, the thousands of slaves whose deaths formed the foundation of an entire culture, or the souls of children who were unlucky enough to attend school on a fateful day. It seems that division is unfortunately one of the strongest qualities of America's citizens and George A. Romero's masterpiece is perhaps one of the most important explorations of this truth. Night of the Living Dead is not only a landmark achievement in the horror genre, it is a cultural institution that revolutionized American cinema and excised the festering malcontent of a nation in distress.





The casting of Duane Jones as Ben, the film’s protagonist, has been hailed as a game changing decision, despite Romero adamantly stating that Jones was chosen due to his stellar audition and not his race. However, Romero also stated that the Vietnam War was on everyone's mind and that making a statement was part of the dynamic.





Jones' performance is the centerpiece of the film. The role was originally written for a truck driver and Jones refused to portray his character as written, wanting his character to be more than a stereotype. The bulk of the dialogue was ad libbed during production and it is Jones' impeccable embrace of the role that is so resounding. Ben is smart, charismatic, and good natured - the antithesis of what the white robed forces of fear would have had you think about a black man in 1968. His early scenes with Judith O'Dea's traumatized Barbara are masterful, playing upon the fear of interracial comingling just through appearance.





This is the first of the film's many subversive tactics. Ben views Barbara as a human, as life, and ultimately as something to be protected. There is no nascent chemistry or supposition, as if Romero is pointing to the viewer's predispositions with devious accusation.