Black History Month: Night of the Living Dead.

Since it’s black history month, I wanted to share a horror film I think everyone should see. Night of the Living Dead.

I know what you’re thinking, George Romero is not Black. However, there aren’t many movies set in the 1960s that have a black man as the protagonist. Horror, or otherwise. It’s probably a strange thing to be proud about. But, I always liked the movie because of that. Horror movies are notorious for treating black people like second class citizens, mythical negros, or just straight up killing us off immediately..... I liked that Ben was a regular character that everyone could emphasize and root for. I feel like the only other mainstream black characters in horror films that are able to elicit that emotion are Chris and Rod from Get Out. Also, how awesome is it that a horror film has a very good chance of winning best picture again? I’m so excited!

Believe it or not, Night of the Living Dead is in the public domain! So it’s accessible to anyone that wants to watch it. This was also one of the first films added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, and obviously the first horror film. By today’s standards, it’s not very scary. But you have to appreciate what was done for horror in general. Also, so much was accomplished with very little, which never fails to amaze me. The sounds of the “zombies”(they’re actually not called zombies in the movie) eating flesh has forever been etched into my brain because it’s so gross! They were eating ham covered in chocolate sauce irl, which also sounds pretty gross. Not Nik Or Treat approved. God, there’s also not a lot of mainstream “smart” horror. I don’t know who’s fault it is (obviously not mine because I liked Mother!)And I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to think the movie can be seen as an allegory. This was filmed in the 1960s, after all. The same time as the civil rights movement, Cold War #antics, and when Loving V. Virginia was a hot topic. It’s also important to remember Ben’s fate...he was killed by “rural”whites even though he was trying to help. After he was shot, his body was burned with the other ghouls. Almost as if he was “integrating into a burning house”.

My favorite thing about this movie, outside of it’s obvious legacy, is how relevant it continues to feel. I remember watching the film sometime after the Trayvon Martin verdict and I was just like, wow. I cried at the ending. Not a lot of horror films make me cry, even though I’m super emotional. The social commentary was not intentional, Duane Jones was the best person for the part. Which is also super cool! Even if you watch it knowing that race don’t play a part, you feel like it’s still a W because of how African American thespians were generally looked over at the time. The lasting impact on Romero’s brand of horror and zombies in general is a very appreciated side effect. I just wanna say, Chris in Get Out (2017) should have been named Ben in tribute. This month, I want to focus on African American’s contributions to horror. It was only fitting that we starting with the man that started it all. Side note:I know were not necessarily talking about this....but you know I had to do it to ‘em!