N Is For...Night of the Living Dead
I love, love me the zombie films and this is the big granddaddy of them all. There's been so much written about it that I could not possibly add anything new, but here are some choice tidbits that I find interesting.
1. It was made for for approximately $114,000
2. The blood is Bosco Chocolate syrup
3. The flesh is roasted ham and entrails donated by a cast member who owned a chain of butcher shops.
4. The costumes were second hand clothes donated by the cast and purchases from Goodwill.
5. The Cooper family hiding the basement was played by real-life father and daughter Karl Hardman and Kyra Schon.
6. One publicity stunt for the film included an offer of a $50,000 insurance policy against anyone dying of a heart attack while watching.
7. The music used is stock music from the film Teenagers from Outer Space.
8. F/X master Tom Savini was hired to the do the makeup effects but was called up to Vietnam. Karl Hardman (Harry Cooper) and Marilyn Eastman (Helen Cooper)did the make up instead.
9. When this was released, there was was no MPAA rating system in place, so many a little kid got the shock of their young lives.
My favorite zombie movie is the spoof "Shaun of the Dead"
ReplyDeleteThose are some fun facts about Night of the Living Dead though.
Glad to see this one of the classic and pioneer of zombie movies made into your A-Z challenge :)
ReplyDeleteThose are really nice trivia which includes some that I've never known before.
I also want to add this funny one, if you don't mind of course.
Barbra (Judith O'Dea) goes barefoot quickly in the movie because the crew lost one of the shoes. To this day the actress believes it was stolen by a crew member with a foot fetish :)
I haven't seen this movie. Probably the only on on earth who hasn't. Its now on my Netflix que.
ReplyDeleteHi Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI'm stopping by on the A-Z Challenge.
Hey, Neville was my brother's middle name! He hated it...
I agree with Jaccstev! I absolutely adore this film. It's always good to see a classic get its due treatment. And this is indeed, "the Granddaddy" of Zombie films.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Oh my goodness I LOVE zombie movies especially the classic ones!! This film is even more amazing now learning the low budget, source of props and some of the special effects makeup. Awesome. I used to be heavily into special effects makeup so this is right up my alley. Tom Savini is AMAZING! It would have been awesome if he could have pursued this film.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid to ask what's ennui :(
ReplyDeleteI think I haven't seen this film, but speaking of zombies, I've just saw a trailer for the first Russian zombie film, called WINTER OF THE DEAD and it looks amazing. Zombies can be charming sometimes :)
@M.J. Oh yes! I so love Shaun of the Dead. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost rocked it.
ReplyDelete@Jaccstev I love that little anecdote. Thank you so much for sharing.
@Stephen You are going to love it. For 1968, this film was really groundbreaking in a lot of ways.
@Bob Hi! Thank you so much for stopping by on the Challenge. Neville is a hard middle name to cope with. I have Mae and don't like it much, either.
ReplyDelete@Matt I couldn't not include this film as it is one that helped get me started in horror. I've re-watched countless times.
@Nicole The classics are always great and this is certainly one of the best. It is amazing how Romero and crew did so much with so little. And I so love Savini, too. I can only imagine what he could have done with this.
ReplyDelete@Dez Ennui is extreme boredom so I guess Neville got off pretty easy. Thanks for the info on Winter of the Dead. It sounds right up my alley.
Fun to know, chocolate syrup n' ham...lol Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete@Ella Isn't that just a tasty combination? I'm glad you enjoyed these little tidbits. Thanks for commenting. :)
ReplyDeleteI think Savini managed to make a name for himself anyway.
ReplyDeleteAnd Zombieland rocks!
@Alex. Yep, Savini did alright for himself. Zombieland totally rocked and I can't wait for the sequel.
ReplyDelete