The End Is Not Always The End: Night Of The Living Dead (1968)

One can't help but see that George A Romero took the classic idea of the "I Am Legend" book... But put his own unique stamp on the concept when he took the Dracula aspect's away from the plot, hence making the zombies have the ability to roam the world in the day light & in the dark. Taking away from us all that safety of daytime travel which increased the horror aspect of no time is safe. He also removed the Garlic & Mirrors safety away from us to, Swapping that for the more aggressive A Shot To the Head, to kill them for good.

The entranced hypnotic state of the undead, is similar to Dracula's female followers, that besotted & entranced gaze and slowly moving along, almost like sleep walking with an unquenchable hunger.

UPC: 5035760500182

We all know that this movie set the standard for all the zombie movies that followed it, but you may not all know that their are a few versions of this actual movie. There was a re-cut of sorts with extra scenes shot (brand new footage filmed years later) and added to the movie to extend it, Including a scene with the grave diggers who open a coffin when they hear the person inside appears to be alive (a killer who got executed) and also features a priest who is bitten yet doesn't die... the zombie actor also wore a mask and looked like the Zombie that kills Johnny in the cemetery, giving the scene a lot of relevance in the film. You can read about all the differences and see screen shots from it Here

This version also had the whole music score replaced

They also colourized the Black & White original a few times using different techniques

Stax Entertainment Released The Original B/W & Colour On One DVD

UPC: 5055019500268

Making the film into a colour version upset a lot of the fans because it took away that classic old horror look and feel to the movie. However, fans should remember that the colour version added to the fan base just because of its re-release and the fact it was colour. This in turn has inspired many other people to make zombie movies and captivated them and prompted them to watch other zombie movies.

Hal Roach Studios released a colorized version in 1986 that featured ghouls with pale green skin
Anchor Bay Entertainment released a colorized version in 1997 with grey-skinned zombies

Legend Films produced a new colorized version in 2004

UPC: 844503000439

Legend Films also co-produced a colorized 3-D version of the film with PassmoreLab in 2009

Sadly we don't have shots for every version of the "1968" movie or the UPC codes & it would take to long to try and gather all that information, even wiki doesn't cover it all. Feel free to add your UPC codes (box bar codes, to the comments section) but PLEASE don't add UPC's for things like the actual 1990 Re-Make, as that's a remake (a re-edit or a re-release is not the same as a re-make)
a remake stars a completely different cast & is a completely different movie.

There has been a few box sets released to including the 1968 movie, such as a..
Triple Disc Set featuring, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn Of The Dead, Day of the Dead.
Also Flesh Creepers VOL 1 featuring, The Night Of The Living Dead & Revenge Of The Zombies
(using one great movie to sell a bad one lol) and a few other box compilation sets.

So as you can gather, there's the main 1968 original B/W Cut
There is the Re-Cut with 15 minuets replaced with new footage (that's also) a B/W Cut
There are a few Colour Cuts & a 3D Cut
(all of them essentially star the same cast and are the same movie, just manipulated)
It was also Re-made in 1990 by Tom Savini (the biker with the sword in dawn of the dead)

Their Going To Get You Barbara

So lets profile the Original Tale....

Barbara and her brother Johnny are going to visit their mothers grave, she chose to be buried in the middle of no were, just to make sure her off springs had hell to get their. Johnny is teasing Barbra about "their coming to get you" and points to a man in the distance staggering towards them. Unbeknown to them at the time the man is running from one of the walking dead, who soon appears and a struggle ensues between Johnny and the zombie, Johnny falls hitting his head on a grave stone & barb screams and hops in the car.

Zombie Uses A Brick To Enter Car

The Zombie Wants More

Fueled With Rage

Car Out Of Action Time To Run!

Thing is... Johnny's got the keys, releasing the hand break the car rolls down the hill, but with no key in the ignition the steering lock some comes on, unable to control the car it rolls into a tree, so she flees the car and makes a run for it.

The zombies still chasing her..

that's right.. chasing...

Many fans insist zombies shouldn't run, yet the first zombie Romero ever showed us could run....

He Just Keeps On Coming

Barbara manages to reach a house, but no ones home (no one alive anyway) its getting dark now and with another zombie in the house she heads outside where she sees the zombie from the cemetery is approaching her.

Just why are the dead walking the earth?

And just why are they so intent on eating her?

Are their any survivors left?

Has humanity fallen to the Walking Dead?

Heading outside the house Barbara is startled by the headlights on Ben's pick-up truck. Finally she knows shes not alone.. but its just one man, and his pick-up is out of gas. So their going no where at the moment... and it's pretty clear that other zombies will be on their way to the smell of Fresh Live BRAINS!!!!

The house also holds a secret deep within the cellar, a secret that will stay hidden until all the hard works been done.....

Ben uses all the wood he can find to board up the house, covering the windows & nailing up the doors. It should hold the zombies off for a while, but you can bet the more that gather, the more force will be up against the boards...

Not long after, the cellar door opens and it appears that people have been hiding down their all this time, to scared to come up and help, and sadly this is where we meet Mr Cooper, an Ahole of the first degree...

Mr Cooper At The Radio

Mr Coopers Wife & Daughter

Tension rises in the house while they all hunt for a set of keys to the gas pump, so they can refuel the pick-up and drive away from their. Heading to the pump ends in disaster when the keys don't fit and the fool fires the shotgun at the padlock on the pump

Causing the pump to explode, the survivors rush back to the house and fight with cooper to get back in to the safety of the house.

This is well worth a watch as it's the first in a line of amazing zombie movies & this is the beginning were it all starts. It wasn't until 1978 that the writer & director brought us his follow up movie "Dawn of The Dead" which again was later followed by "Day of The Dead" ; "Land of the Dead" ; "Diary of the Dead" ; "Survival of the Dead"

The film has entered the public domain due to an error by the distributor, which means anyone may host, share, upload the movie & it is legal to do so..... Oooops...

Look out for many more Zombie reviews soon :D