History Main / NightOfTheLivingDead

Because of the public domain status, the film is sold on home video by several distributors. As of 2006, the Internet Movie Database lists 23 copies of Night of the Living Dead retailing on DVD and nineteen on VHS. The original film is available to view or download free on Internet sites such as [[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2956447426428748010 Google Video,]] [[http://www.archive.org/details/night_of_the_living_dead Internet Archive]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfShkumjeq8 YouTube.]] As of October 2, 2008, it was the Internet Archive's second most downloaded film, with 515,561 downloads.

** What's so special in this case is that thanks to movie gimmicks such as those created by William Castle, many horror movies of the 50s and 60s had become the equivalent to carnival fun-houses, good for a harmless thrill and very popular with kids. As a result children growing up at that time went to see ''Night of the Living Dead'' expecting spooky fun and instead were genuinely terrified by what they saw, a fact not lost upon [[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19670105/REVIEWS/701050301/1023 Mr. Ebert.]]

* WhoIsThisGuyAgain?: Pretty much everyone but Barbra. People watching usually can only remember the characters as Black Guy, Bald Jackass, Mrs. Jackass, Kid, and almost everyone forgets there even ''were'' two teenagers in the movie.

* AdaptationDecay: The 2006 remake, where the rag tag group of scared but relatively innocent strangers are instead a house full of pot farmers. And the zombies are created by the town mortician piling up bodies instead of cremating them and then exposing them to medical waste.

* AdaptationDecay: The 2006 remake, where the rag tag group of scared but relatively innocent strangers are instead a house full of pot farmers. And it implies that the start of the zombies was caused somehow by the town mortician piled up bodies outside instead of cremated them... somehow.

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: The houseful of strangers are forced to work together until conflict ultimately [[AHouseDivided breaks them apart]]. This became a defining point of zombie movies, as the living's lack of ability to work together ultimately proves their downfall.

''Night of the Living Dead'' lapsed into the public domain because the original theatrical distributor, the Walter Reade Organization, neglected to place a copyright indication on the prints. In 1968, United States copyright law required a proper notice for a work to maintain a copyright. Image Ten displayed such a notice on the title frames of the film beneath the original title, ''Night of the Flesh Eaters''. The distributor removed the statement when it changed the title. According to George Romero, Walter Reade "ripped us off".

*** Also, in the original, Ben's plan with the gas pump would have worked had the cast not been too stupid to live.

* KillEmAll

** That nothing compared to Ben ''leaving a torch right next to the car where gas can easily be spilled on it'' rather then, I don't know, placing it further ahead of them in front of the zombies!

->''"They're coming to get you, Barbra!"''

* ThoseTwoGuys: Tom and Judy are pretty separated from the other characters and the story at large. They hardly interact with anyone else but eachother, and the only thing very memorable about them is [[spoiler: their fiery explosive death, and the sloppy zombie clean-up crew]]

** Well she was just coasting after taking the emergency brake off. After all, Johnny has the key...

''Night of the Living Dead'' lapsed into the public domain because the original theatrical distributor, the Walter Reade Organization, neglected to place a copyright indication on the prints. In 1968, United States copyright law required a proper notice for a work to maintain a copyright. Image Ten displayed such a notice on the title frames of the film beneath the original title, Night of the Flesh Eaters. The distributor removed the statement when it changed the title. According to George Romero, Walter Reade "ripped us off".

There have been two [[TheRemake remake]]s. The first, made in 1990 and directed by Tom Savini, follows the events of the original fairly closely (with the notable exception of turning Barbra into an ActionGirl); the second, made in 2006 and shot in [[{{ptitle49fktc1oipjq}} 3D]], departs from it fairly radically.

There have been two [[TheRemake remake]]s. The first, made in 1990 and directed by makeup whiz and frequent Romero collaborator Tom Savini, follows the events of the original fairly closely (with the notable exception of turning Barbra into an ActionGirl); the second, made in 2006 and shot in [[{{ptitle49fktc1oipjq}} 3D]], departs from it fairly radically.

There have been two [[TheRemake remake]]s. The first, made in 1990 and directed by Tom Savini, follows the events of the original fairly closely (with the notable exception of turning Barbra into an ActionGirl); the second, made in 2006 and shot in [[{{ptitle49fktc1oipjq}} 3D]], departs from it fairly radically.

* OneHundredScariestMovieMoments: Number 9