Night of the Living Dead (1968)

"It has been established that persons who have recently died have been returning to life and committing acts of murder.", 20 July 2006

As a horror fan, I'm often asked my opinion on what the scariest movie of all time is. I always give the same answer – Night of the Living Dead. There is no movie that fills me with more of a sense of unease, literally has the hair on the back of my neck standing on end, and causes me to actually look in the dark corners of a room like George Romero's masterpiece. Fear is so subjective that I am fully aware that what frightens me might not automatically frighten you. But in the case of Night of the Living Dead, I have trouble understanding how anyone isn't affected the same way I am. It's that powerful to me.

I'm not the biggest Romero fan in the world, but I am of Night of the Living Dead. What he was able to accomplish with an obviously limited budget is nothing short of amazing. Romero created more atmosphere in the opening ten minutes of Night of the Living Dead than most directors with unlimited budgets ever could. Some of the acting may not be the best you'll run across, but for me that only adds to the film's authentic feel. They seem like real people trapped in that house. The special effects may not be as realistic as those in other zombie movies, but I've never seen what someone eating a kidney really looks like. It works very well with me. Finally, the ending is as bleak and powerful as any horror movie I've seen. Most directors would have been tempted (or forced) to give it a happy ending. Thankfully, Romero isn't most directors.

In short, Night of the Living Dead is the stuff of real nightmares.

9/10