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Product Description

The horror movie that all other horror movies size themselves up against. Radiation from a fallen satellite has caused the dead to walk, and the only way to stop them is a blow to the head. Simple enough that it's genius.

Product details

Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.33:1
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.44 x 6.88 x 5.5 inches; 2.56 ounces
Item model number ‏ : ‎ 5027626700447
Director ‏ : ‎ George A. Romero
Media Format ‏ : ‎ Import, Blu-ray, Multiple Formats, Black & White
Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 35 minutes
Release date ‏ : ‎ October 26, 2009
Actors ‏ : ‎ Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne
Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ German, English
Language ‏ : ‎ English (Dolby Digital 1.0), Unqualified (PCM)
Studio ‏ : ‎ Ais
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B002KAIW4E
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Best Sellers Rank: #114,512 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #33,560 in Blu-ray

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johnf

Like a Lightning Bolt Out of a Dark Sky.

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2017

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There are SPOILERS in this review. Seeing Night of the Living Dead with only four stars is a bit of a surprise to me because it is such an influential and important film in many ways. But it's also true that in terms of what has happened since its release long ago in 1968, that it seems tame and its relative cheapness shows through in a way that would leave viewers who did not experience its initial release wondering what all the fuss is about. But Night of the Living Dead was one of the most revolutionary films ever made and completely changed the horror genre and even influenced other types of films.

Every genre, whether of film, music or literature, has it's tropes, its cliches, the rules under which it operates. What Night of the Living Dead did was to overthrow and subvert almost all of the rules of the horror film as well as add new elements. Romero and Russo did not set out to make a revolutionary film; they were just bored with their Latent Image Company making local television ads and wanted to do something different. They just made the film by instinct, but by being apart from the film making world they were less aware of its rules and aware somehow that times had changed.

Horror in the 1960's was dominated by Hammer Films based in Britain and Roger Corman's American International. They both did about the same thing. Their films were made cheaply, often using the same sets in a number of films. They were filmed in lurid color and were basically Gothic dramas, thrillers and mysteries which often implied the supernatural but which usually turned out to be a front for a murderer or someone trying to drive someone else mad (for an inheritance). They did some pretty fun things this way and gave the world Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and the late career of Vincent Price. Some of their films were quite stylish, especially Corman's Poe dramas and some Hammer titles like The Wicker Man. But even when they included Frankenstein or Dracula they were never really scary. Of course there were a few independent masterpieces in the decade like Hitchcock's Psycho and The Birds and films like The Innocents, The Haunting and Rosemary's Baby but these were few and far between.

What you sat through was about 80 minutes of a semi-boring, often campy drama usually set in an isolated castle or manor somewhere, until the last ten minutes when the entire special effects budget would be used to show ghosts, magic, vampires or whatever. Night of the Living Dead turned all this on its head from the start. What was the last ten minutes in any other horror film started within the first ten minutes of this one, with Barbara being attacked and trying to flee, and it never let up for a minute after that. It completely blew up the old structure of horror films. The setting was an ordinary cemetery and a farmhouse - nothing special about that, but that was the point. Previous horror most often had been set in some exotic locale: a mansion, haunted house, castle, remote tropical island, etc. all "other" kinds of places where such things could happen. Here was horror set in your own backyard, implying it could happen to you. Hitchcock had done this with The Birds, and Spielberg would use the idea of setting the extraordinary in an everyday setting, but that was yet to come.

Already you were off balance. Then there are the monsters themselves; ghouls, later to be known as zombies, who were the reanimated dead and not only that but they wanted to eat your flesh. This was a whole new monster. It was like a blind force, unable to think but totally relentless and seemingly unstoppable in numbers. These were not mad scientists, elegant vampires or serial killers that you just might be able to reason with or trick; these just came at you. Then there was the gore. I know, it doesn't look like much now but in its day it was the extreme of gore. Snobbish critics called it junk. The editors of Variety were so upset they called it pornographic and called on the Supreme Court to set limits. (there was no MPAA rating system yet).

There were other unusual elements as well. The fact that the hero was a black man was highly unusual, though somehow I didn't notice that as much as the fact that he seemed to be the only sane, centered person there. Still, in many places that must have not gone down well, especially when he punches the cowardly Harry, who was white. Then there are Tom and Judy, two nice local kids, a jock and his attractive girlfriend. If anybody makes it out it will be them, right? That's the way any standard film would play. But when they die, that's the real turning point of the film. Now the world is turned upside down. Now you don't know what's going to happen. This film has no moral center, the fundament has opened up beneath your feet: anything can happen now. And it does. In the chaos that ensues only Ben is left, taking refuge in the very death trap basement he had (with good reason) scorned before. Then the film lulls you a bit with the sheriff and the locals acting almost comically until they see "something" moving in the farm house. They shoot Ben. The chaos is complete. In this disordered world even the hero of a thousand faces die. The universe is totally nihilistic.

The small budget worked for the film. The black and white stock made it seem more, not less real, and gave it a kind of documentary feel. The local actors often improvised their lines giving it even more of a cinema verite sense. Even the cheap stock music from older films rented from Capitol Records (they couldn't afford a composer) gave it an appropriately gritty feeling. In the end, even the mistake that caused it to not be copyrighted worked in the film's favor. It's true it was a cult hit, as big in Europe as in the U.S. and Romero lost a lot of potential money. But falling into public domain gave it an afterlife it likely would never have had otherwise, much like It's a Wonderful Life. Being free, it got played on thousands of TV station's Saturday Horror Night shows, Halloween shows making it familiar to just about everyone. Videos were put out by every conceivable company, often terrible-looking, but again, it was everywhere. This is what made it a mass phenomenon for so long.

We can thank Romero for sticking to his guns. Columbia Pictures and American International were both open to distributing it as long as he cut the gory scenes and re-shot a happy ending. What kind of movie would that have been?

PERSONAL NOTE: I first saw Night of the Living Dead under almost ideal circumstances. Everyone was back in Ohio on summer break in 1969 and a friend from NYU said we had to see this film, he hadn't, but everybody had been talking about it there. (Remember, movies weren't released everywhere at once then). When I heard the title I laughed, "A zombie film? Those aren't scary, they just walk around like sleepwalkers." Another friend and I said Okay reluctantly, and we planned to make jokes and wisecrack throughout the film. The only place showing it was a drive-in way out in the country. It was surrounded by acres of corn fields as far as you could see. It was a lonely an almost spooky setting; it seemed like anything could walk out from the rows of corn. NOTLD was the second feature. I don't even remember the first. Once it came on and Barbara was attacked the car was total silence. Afterward we skipped the third feature and went home stunned.

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Vance

The One Time the Living Dead were truly Terrifying

Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2008

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In 1968 George A. Romero took the world by storm with an incredibly violent, low-budget, horror film that introduced what would grow to be the modern day interpretation of the living dead (referred to as zombies by most modern day moviegoers). These creatures are the reanimated corpses of the recently deceased, they shuffle, moan and eat the flesh of the living, and the only ways to kill them being incineration and a fatal blow to the head (via gunshot or clubbing). Naturally these aspects would lead these monsters into being the most common form of canon-fodder in today's video games.

In recent years the zombies, due to their stupidity, and the fact that they are easy to kill, have made them nothing more than things for the heroes of a film to blow apart in increasingly gruesome manners (so long as they're zombies the MPAA does not care how the characters go about killing them). So what is it about Romero's first Dead film that makes these creatures so darn scary? Two out of the three sequels to this cult classic (the classic Dawn of the Dead, and the more resent Land of the Dead) have used these creatures to create socially satirical environments exploiting human nature, while never bringing real spine tingling moments, the concepts (at least in Dawn) were equally frightening to the horror of Night of the Living Dead, just in a more psychological aspect.

How do these pitiful excuses for monsters bring in the scares within this low-budget exploitation film? I'd have to place my bet on the claustrophobic atmosphere Romero creates within the farmhouse, where ninety-five percent of the film takes place. In films such as Dawn, and Day of the Dead the characters had a lot more maneuverability. They could run, they could hide, and easily out maneuver these slow, clumsy creatures. Here, there is no room to move about, and you can feel that there truly is no way out, and no place to hide.

The film starts as a brother and sister drive to apply the annual decoration to their father's grave. The two individuals are Barbra and Johnny, and as the two leave they are assaulted by a man. Barbra flees to a nearby farmhouse, and the story begins. Soon after she arrives she encounters a strong willed man by the name of Ben, who quickly establishes that Barbra is hysterical and must be taken care of. Taking responsibility for both their survival Ben soon boards up the doors and windows, preparing to sit the infestation out until help arrives.

During the stay they discover some more survivors living in the house's cellar. There's the eager to help young man by the name of Tom, and his loyal girlfriend Judy, and then the paranoid Harry Cooper, his wife Helen, and their ill daughter Karen. Mister Cooper instantly protests against the command of Ben, saying that they all should retreat to the cellar, because there's only one way in and out of the cellar, as opposed to the house with its many doors and windows. Ben denies this, not wanting to be enclosed in a death trap without any means of escape if things were to go badly (which you know they will). In the end it seems only ironic as to how each character meets his or her fate.

I must point out the Ben character played by Duane Jones because he is obviously the star of this film, and for good reason. Considering this was the 1960s, and racism was still a huge factor throughout the country it feels remarkable to see such a well done performance by an African American actor, with such great intensity, especially with such a low-budget. He is strong willed, and won't let people change his mind, even to the point of ignorance, but he does so with such passion we, the audience, can't help but side with him as the character, even when he is clearly wrong at times with his decisions. His survival techniques are not perfect, but with his strong attitude he is able to make the survivors inside the house side with him, over the over-cautious (yet, in all fairness, intelligent) Harry Cooper.

This film has rightfully earned its reputation as one of the best horror movies to date, and still beats out all of today's zombie films by a mile. Here the zombies really are scary, without resorting to being anything more than slow moving, clumsy beings (unlike the remake of Dawn of the Dead where they felt inclined to super power the creatures). Also, the setting is so normal it further increases the scare factor. How many people haven't been in houses like the one in this film? Imagine being trapped in one of these houses, surrounded by vicious flesh-eaters in the late hours of the night. This is where Night of the Living Dead succeeds where others of the genre have miserably fallen. If it wasn't for the original Night of the Living Dead, and Dawn of the Dead (both of which have been remade with a less positive response from critics and audiences alike) zombies would be some of the worst movie monsters ever conceived. This film innovated and created the concept of the living dead which have been embraced by mainstream audiences, and it is fitting that it is perhaps the ONLY film involving the creatures that has legitimately frightened me. Maybe it was watching it at night with the lights turned off, but I can say that few films have actually scared me when I watched it. Let me put it this way, most classic horror films that truly deserve their status don't scare me when I'm watching them, but end up poking my mind later on in the day (Examples are The Shining and the original Nightmare on Elm Street). With this film I was constantly holding my breath, and looking about the room nervously.

The reason I was frightened (and surprised) by this film was due to its incredibly fast pacing, which is very similar to the way films are made today. This film just never has its dull moments (not to say I like all action, I was just surprised how quick it was). The plot is extraordinarily simple, and could've easily been covered in thirty minutes, but Romero was careful to grab the audience in the first attack scene, and keep their attention through means of suspense and violence.

Now that brings us to the violence, and there is nothing that the undead are more associated with then excessive amounts of blood and gore. For the 1960s this film is incredibly violent, especially when it shows the undead feeding on the flesh of their victims. Being low-budget the victims are not seen being torn apart like they are in the sequels, but you still are given some disgusting shots of flesh from the bones, or fighting over intestines, which in some perverse way reminded me of people fighting over a chicken wing at a local KFC buffet. The images are just truly grotesque, maybe not to the avid, modern day gore lover, but to the common moviegoer it still holds up as being disturbing.

This is the best film of the living dead subgenre, followed closely by its sequel, Dawn of the Dead, and certainly holds up in all regards to the modern, brainless horror film. The film goes out to scare, and manages to pull it off, even to this day. Though the zombies are most associated with gore, and for the 60s this film surely had it, this is a film with more brain than blood, and that's why it has terrified people for so long, and will continue to do so, even as the creatures continue to become even less threatening through video games and modern interpretations (which happen to be video game based, for the most part). With their decline as an actual icon of terror, at least we can still return to the gut wrenching human struggle, and terror of George A. Romero's definitive horror picture.

5/5 stars; a classic that has endured the test of time with more strength, emotionally, and in the form of pure terror, than many films of the same era which possessed a larger budgets, certainly being on par with some of Hitchcock's greats.

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Fabio78

Stupenda edizione Criterion del capolavoro di George Romero

Reviewed in Italy on November 19, 2020

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Capolavoro in bianco e nero presentato in un nuovo master 4k supervisionato da Romero, John Russo e dai tecnici che girarono il film. La Criterion offre il film nella sua versione originale in 4:3 (aspect ratio 1.37:1) in bianco e nero a cui si va ad aggiungere una finora inedita versione workprint del film, dal titolo The Night of Anubis. Questa versione presenta alcune scene aggiuntive e/o alternative rispetto al film rilasciato nei cinema. Oltre al film sono poi presenti una ricca collezione di contenuti speciali.
AUDIO E SOTTOTITOLI SOLO IN INGLESE per la versione cinematografica e SOLO INGLESE E NESSUN SOTTOTITOLO per la versione workprint

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Julio

Night of the Living Dead - The Criterion Collection

Reviewed in Spain on September 17, 2018

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Esta opinión es para la edición de Criterion. Posiblemente sea la mejor edición que existe de este clásico. Dos blurays, uno con la película restaurada en 4K y el workprint conocido como “Night of Anubis” y otro bluray de extras. Por desgracia sólo la película lleva subtítulos en inglés, lo demás nada. También incluye un póster. Imprescindible edición para los fans.

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Deckard

Not just the best NOTLD but one of the finest Blu-ray releases ever

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 27, 2018

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We'll here we are then. Not just unquestionably the greatest version of Night of the Living Dead ever produced for the home video market, but for my money one of the finest and most comprehensive Blu-ray releases ever. This delivers astonishing video and audio and a wealth of extras to keep even the most ardent Romero fan busy for a month. And of course the massive bonus here is we have an official UK criterion release to boot.

The film itself is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and the included leaflet states: "This restoration by the Museum of Modern Art and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation and the Celeste Bartos Fund for Film Preservation, was undertaken from a new digital transfer created in 4K resolution on Cineric's wet-gate film scanner, primarily from the original 35mm camera negative. For the few seconds that proved impossible to scan from this element -- approximately 1 percent of the feature film -- a 35mm fine-grain from 1968 was used. The transfer was supervised by director George A. Romero, coscreenwriter John A. Russo, sound engineer Gary R. Streiner, and producer Russell W. Streiner. After the evaluation of eighteen separate source elements, the original monaural soundtrack was remastered under the supervision of Romero and Gary Streiner from the original quarter-inch mix masters, quarter-inch premix audio tape, a final composite 16mm magnetic track, and the 16mm magnetic mix units. The restoration was performed at Audio Mechanics, led by John Polito. Transfer supervisors: Eric Nyari/Cineric, New York; George A. Romero; John A. Russo; Gary R. Streiner; Russell W. Streiner; Katie Trainor/Museum of Modern Art, New York. Colorist: Daniel DeVincent/Cineric."

Yes something after 1984 to actually thank George Lucas for! The film looks simply stunning. Both darker indoor and daylight outdoor footage look superb without sacrificing the authentic natural of the original print. No dNR sharpening here! Just nice clean up and remastering. Sound is the original high Def mono which is an absolutely perfect replication of the original design. It all comes packaged in a really nice compact black digipak with some terrific art emblazoned across the front and back.

As for extras, this is about as definitive as it gets. Included are:

Night of Anubis -
An uncorrected 16mm work print of Night of the Living Dead which features the initial working title for it, Night of Anubis. Also included is a filmed introduction by Russell Streiner.

1. Introduction. In English, not subtitled. (8 min).
2. Work print. In English, not subtitled. 1080p/Dolby Digital 1.0.(86 min).

Commentary One -
Archival audio commentary features George Romero, producer/actor Karl Hardman, actor Marilyn Eastman, and cowriter John Russo. It was recorded in 1994 and it has appeared on other home video releases.

Commentary Two -
Archival audio commentary features producer/actor Russell Streiner, production manager Vincent Survinski, and actors Judith O'Dea, S.William Hinzman, Kyra Schon, and Keith Wayne. The commentary was recorded in 1994 and has appeared on other home video releases also.

BLU-RAY DISC TWO
Light in the Darkness -
New featurette where directors Guillermo del Toro (The Devil's Backbone), Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn), and Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) explain what makes Night of the Living Dead a very special film and discuss its lasting impact on the horror genre. The featurette was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (24 min)

Dailies -
presented here is a silent 16mm reel with never-before-seen footage and alternate takes that were not used in the final cut of Night of the Living Dead. Also included is a video introduction by Gary Streiner.
1. Introduction. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).
2. Silent reel. (19 min)

Learning From Scratch -
in this brand new video interview, cowriter John Russo recalls how he was invited by John Romero to be part of the production unit behind Night of the Living Dead and discusses some unique obstacles that had to be resolved before and during the shoot. There are also some very interesting observations (with original video content) about the smaller commercial projects that eventually helped make the cult film a reality. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (12 min)

TV Newsreel -
Presented here is a VHS recording of silent, B-roll 16mm film shot for Pittsburgh broadcast news, which has the only surviving raw footage from the shooting of Night of the Living Dead. Original ambient music by Jeff Carney is included with it. (3 min).

Walking Like the Dead -
this brand new program contains clips from archival interviews with ten actors who recall what it was like to play the zombies in Night of the Living Dead. The interviews were conducted in 2009. The program was produced by Jim Cirronella for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (14 min).

Tones of Terror -
in this brand new program, producer Jim Cirronella discusses the stock music that was used to enhance the claustrophobic ambience in Night of the Living Dead. The program was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

Limitations Into Virtues -
in this new visual essay, filmmakers Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos (Every Frame a Painting) address some of the technical obstacles that the creators of Night of the Living Dead faced during the shooting process and discuss the film's unique visual style. The essay was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

Tomorrow -
Presented here are edited excerpts from an archival episode of NBC's Tomorrow show in which George Romero and Don Coscarelli (Phantasm) discuss the evolution of the horror genre and the creative enthronement in which horror films were made during the 1970s, as well as the expectations that most people have when they go to their local theater to see a horror film. The episode was broadcast on July 3, 1979. In English, not subtitled. (19 min).

Higher Learning -
presented here is an archival interview with director George Romero which was recorded at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012. The late director discusses the unusual production and distribution history of Night of the Living Dead. There are also some very interesting comments addressing the popular myth that the film supposedly carries important social/racial overtones. In English, not subtitled. (46 min).

Duane Jones -
in this archival audio interview, Duane Jones discusses his involvement with Night of the Living Dead and explains why he decided to distance himself from the film despite being grateful that George Romero gave him the opportunity to be part of it. The actor also addresses the film's enormous popularity during the drive-in era. The interview, which is illustrated with stills and clips, was conducted and edited by journalist Tim Ferrante on December 13, 1987. In English, not subtitled. (22 min).

Judith Ridley -
in this archival interview, Judith Ridley recalls how she became involved in the production of Night of the Living Dead and shares a few funny stories from the actual shoot. The interview was produced by Elite Entertainment in 1994. In English, not subtitled. (11 min).

Venus Probe -
this 1967 newsreel details the real-life findings of the Mariner 5 space craft in Venus' atmosphere that precede the crash that unleashes the zombie plague in Night of the Leaving Dead. In English, not subtitled. (1 min). In English, not subtitled. (11 min).

Trailers -
1. Trailer One (1968). Vintage trailer. (2 min).
2. Trailer Two (2017). New trailer for the 4K restoration of the film. (2 min).
TV Spots - in English, not subtitled.

Radio Spots - collection of vintage radio spots. In English, not subtitled.

1. Thirty Seconds (1968).
2. Sixty Seconds. (1968).
3. Re-release One (1970).
4. Re-release Two (1970).
5. Re-release Three (1970).

Leaflet/Poster - an illustrated leaflet/poster featuring critic Stuart Klawans' essay "Mere Anarchy is Loosed" and technical credits.

In short, this is the greatest release of Romero's classic hands down. If you own any other version, this won't just be a 'double dip' it's a whole new ball game. Criterion have outdone themselves here. Just phenomenal!

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K. D.

The Classic film that started the zombie genre

Reviewed in Canada on October 31, 2014

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One of the greatest horror films ever made. Roger Ebert, said that audiences didn't know what they were in for when this film was released to the unsuspecting movie goers back in 1968. He wrote that the film went from pleasantly scary to absolutely terrifying. He noted some in attendance were so scared they were crying. What do you expect no one had ever seen a movie like this up until then. It was an original, the original. Now there a whole very successful zombie genre that has grown from the very strong roots planted by this powerful film back in 68. A classic. Success's like the walking dead owes everything to this film.
If you are looking to buy. Then the best versions are the millennium version released on lazer disc in the mid 90s & then on DVD around 2000 it's loaded with special features & then there's the even better 2008 remastered version supervised by George Romero distributed by dimension home entertainment. This one also comes with special features including a very indepht 90 minute documentary tiled "One for the fire"

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Bebershow

quelles options langues disponibles dans le DVD ???

Reviewed in France on October 21, 2010

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domage, cette édition du DVD ne propose pas de VF sous titrée (cela aurait put être indiqué dans la description du produit) mais je suis n"anmoins satisfait .

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Genre	Horror/Things That Go Bump/Monsters
Format	Import, Blu-ray, Multiple Formats, Black & White
Contributor	Charles Craig, George A. Romero, Judith Ridley, Judith O'Dea, S. William Hinzman, Karl Hardman, Keith Wayne, Duane Jones, George Kosana, Kyra Schon, Marilyn Eastman See more
Language	English
Runtime	1 hour and 35 minutes