Halloween Horror Countdown: Night of the Living Dead

If you tease your sister in a
horror movie, you will probably die.

George A. Romero's 1968 independent film Night of the Living Dead is the zombie flick that started it all. When Barbara and Johnny visit their father's grave, Barbara is visibly uncomfortable in the cemetery. Johnny does what brothers do: he teases her with the famous line, "They're coming to get you, Barbara!" Barbara is then attacked by a man she could have easily escaped from by walking briskly. Johnny tries to save her but he falls down and Barbara runs to the car. She quickly crashes into a tree (because stereotypes) and seeks refuge in a farm house where she finds a dead woman and a non-threatening black man. The two then discover others trying to survive, including a married couple and their "sick" daughter. They band together to protect themselves and work to board up the house. An emergency broadcast informs the group that there is speculation that radioactive contamination from a space probe returning from Venus might be the cause.

The film has been attributed to creating much of the lore that surrounds zombies, including the concept that the zombie's brain must be destroyed in order for it to truly die. This comes from the line, "Kill the brain and you kill the ghoul." In 1999, Night of the Living Dead was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry as a film deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." Due to an error by the film's distributor, Night of the Living Dead is in the public domain. It is also streaming on Netflix, so you basically have no excuse for not watching it.