History Trivia / NightOfTheLivingDead1968

** Screenwriter John A. Russo is the zombie who Ben hits with a tire iron.

** None other than [[Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood Betty Aberlin]] was Romero's first choice for Barbra, but she was unavailable.[[note]]Allegedly Fred Rogers was concerned about her ContractualPurity and personally nixed her casting, but he otherwise was fully supportive of Romero and the film. (Romero had actually been a director and crew member who filmed a segment on Rogers' show). When Romero later screened the film to Rogers, the sweet, saintly Presbyterian minister was delighted with his protege's [[NightmareFetishist graphic, nihilistic horror film, and thought it was a lot of fun.]] Yay, Mister Rogers.[[/note]]

* FanNickname: The ''30th Anniversery Edition'' cut in new footage featuring a character named Reverend Hicks, played by producer/actor Scott Vladimir Licina. Not only were his scenes [[LargeHam overly enthusiastic]], his prominent incisors gained him the [[GratuitousFrench sobriquet]] "Reverend Bigteeth".

* SleeperHit: Something of a TropeCodifier. It debuted in Pittsburgh around Halloween 1968 and word-of-mouth turned it into a huge local hit, which attracted the attention of grindhouse theaters in other big cities, where the same word-of-mouth pattern repeated itself. It also benefited from NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity, when critical denunciations of the film (like Roger Ebert's[[note]]Though his ire was not directed toward the film itself, but rather it being treated as a typical schlocky horror picture of the time, and was being seen by children who were not the target audience at all, and were woefully unprepared for a truly terrifying film[[/note]]) attracted curious moviegoers. Then it started getting a strong reputation in scholarly film circles, including praise from ''Sight & Sound'' and ''Cahiers du Cinema'', and even a screening at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1970.

** Ben was written as an earthy, unrefined blue collar type. Duane Jones, who had a solid academic background and worked as an acting coach, didn't feel comfortable with that and changed him into a calmer, more well-spoken character. Also, he talked the producers out of changing the ending [[spoiler:to have Ben survive]], feeling the original ending would be more potent and that black viewers in particular would relate to it better.

* CastTheExpert: Bill Cardille, who played the news reporter, was an actual local TV host in Pittsburgh.

* ChannelHop: The film was released independently by the Walter Reade Organization, but because they accidentally forgot to put a copyright notice on the film prints (as per US copyright law at the time), the film immediately entered the public domain, and Romero refused to ever work with them again. It has been released to home video by a number of different studios, but "officially" from Anchor Bay, Elite Entertainment, 20th Century Fox (in a colorized edition), Dimension Films, and The Criterion Collection.

** American International Pictures considered releasing the film, but they wanted the ending to be more upbeat and for there to be a TokenRomance in there.

* AFIS100Years100Thrills: #93

* InspirationForTheWork: Romero was inspired by ''Literature/IAmLegend''.

* BigNameFan: [[Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood Fred Rogers]], [[https://blog.sfgate.com/parenting/2010/05/13/dead-and-fred-george-a-romeros-connection-to-mr-rogers/ believe it or not]].

** Besides his NewscasterCameo as the TV anchor, Charles Craig played a zombie as well.

** Kyra Schon (Karen) doubled as the body upstairs when Ben is moving it - feeling that a mannequin wouldn't look realistic.

* WordOfDante: The supposed racial undertones of the film and especially the DownerEnding are purely speculation on the part of critics and fans, as George A. Romero has repeatedly stated that the character of Ben was written as a white man and no social allegory was originally intended. Hasn't stopped fans from treating it as canon or stopped Romero himself from since taking credit for it.

** Ben was not written to be black and Romero claims he only cast Duane Jones because he gave the best audition, rather than to make a point or be controversial.

* SleeperHit: Something of a TropeCodifier. It debuted in Pittsburgh around Halloween 1968 and word-of-mouth turned it into a huge local hit, which attracted the attention of grindhouse theaters in other big cities, where the same word-of-mouth pattern repeated itself. It also benefited from NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity, when critical denunciations of the film (like Roger Ebert's) attracted curious moviegoers. Then it started getting a strong reputation in scholarly film circles, including praise from ''Sight & Sound'' and ''Cahiers du Cinema'', and even a screening at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1970.

* BeamMeUpScotty: Johnny only says "They're coming to get you, Barbra!" once, followed by "They're coming for you!" twice.

* CastTheRunnerUp: Judith Ridley reportedly also auditioned for Barbra before Judith O'Dea won the role. The crew still liked Ridley enough to add Judy to the script for her to play.

** Supposedly, Judith Ridley had also auditioned for Barbra before Judith O'Dea won the role. The crew still liked Ridley enough to write a role for her anyway.

* CreatorBacklash: To put it lightly, Creator/GeorgeARomero did ''not'' approve of the 30th Anniversary Edition, with Bill Hinzman also later admitting that they should have gotten Romero's approval before going ahead with making it. Averted, however, by John A. Russo, who gave a few DearNegativeReader interviews over the re-edit prior to his death.

** Screenwriter John A Russo is the zombie who Ben hits with a tire iron.

* {{Pittsburgh}}: Was filmed here and is regarded as the film that birthed the now active interest in using Pittsburgh as a filming location for movies and TV.

* TearsOfFear: Creator/RogerEbert described children in the first theatrical showing were sitting in their seats silently crying in horror.
** What's so special in this case is that thanks to movie gimmicks such as those created by Creator/WilliamCastle, 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]].
** Noted by Mr. Ebert, the MPAA system of rating movies had only just been agreed upon and wasn't in effect when the movie was screened. Had it been released a year later, it would likely have been given a PG rating.

* WorkingTitle: Was usually just called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "the monster flick"]] by the cast and crew during filming, with ''Night of Anubis'' and ''Night of the Flesh Eaters'' as early attempts at more formal titles. It was the distributor who came up with ''Night of the Living Dead''. While a better title, the distributor swapping the title card lead to the movie's loss of copyright.

** Creator/TomSavini was supposed to do the effects, but he had to go to work as combat photographer in Usefulnotes/TheVietnamWar. He later directed the 1990 remake.

** Duane Jones convinced the producers [[spoiler: ''not'' to spare his character at the end]], (correctly) believing it would be more shocking for white audiences and more impactful for black ones. Considering that there are still thinkpieces being written about that scene fifty years later, it's hard to argue he was wrong.

* BigNameFan: [[Series/MrRogersNeighborhood Fred Rogers]], [[https://blog.sfgate.com/parenting/2010/05/13/dead-and-fred-george-a-romeros-connection-to-mr-rogers/ believe it or not]].