Saturday, April 9, 2011

Night of the Living Dead

"Night of the Living Dead" was hands down- a fantastic, overly dramatic movie that I really enjoyed. The fact that it was black and white and made in 1968 (not 1998, sorry- i wrote it wrong the first time I posted it since I did it at 2am at night yesterday) made it really seem like one of those typical 1950's movies. And I liked the fact that it was overly dramatic because it made it funny to laugh it. I felt like the people could have had a better chance at fighting off the zombies though since they seemed a little bit pathetic at hobbling around- just take a giant plank of wood, wack them on the head, and they should be good. I don't understand how dead/zombie people could be so strong and break through the house so well either, but such is Hollywood. Zombie films aren't exactly my favorite because I haven't found any that are particularly "realistic" (besides the film "The Crazies"- who weren't exactly zombies, but acted like them almost. I am however, a fan of "Zombieland"- not the real deal zombies, but it was great too.

Vampire movies are another one that I can't exactly get into as far as horror goes. They haven't really freaked me out because I guess I know they're not real. I think "Van Halen" was good for special effects and such, but not as far as creeping me out is concerned. And "Twilight" has pretty much destroyed any hope for making vampires scary anytime soon, since they sparkle and stuff.

1 comment:

  1. Jessica-

    I agree that the movie "Night of the Living Dead" can be very funny and overly dramatic in parts- but please understand that it seems that way to us not because it was MEANT to portray the 1950s/1960s, but because it DID in fact portray the 1960s. The movie was produced in 1968, not 1998. The movie has been rereleased on multiple occasions. A lot of people in class seem to be getting confused because the dvd menu says 1998- this was the year it was remastered/put on DVD. The movie cannot help but tend towards pathetic, sexist female stereotypes- demonstrating society's expectation of women/attitude towards women. Perhaps we'll get a different perspective if we see the movie not from the lens of the 2000s, but from the lens of the 60s. If you do a little research online, even wikipedia
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Living_Dead ,
    you'll find that this movie scared a lot of people at the time and was considered incredibly gory and violent. It was one of those that parents forbid their children to see. Also, come to think of it, I probably would have fit in back then since I scream at every part. Think how far horror and violence has come in movies since then!

    "Night of the Living Dead" remains a classic for breaking threw the mold-setting a precedent for horror films to come. Think about how many horror films throw together complete strangers and force them to make decisions in order to survive or kill the monster- just about all of them. So in 2011, we may laugh and poke fun at the film for its silliness, but 40 years ago we would've probably hid our faces on Bobby Letter-Jacket's shoulder. :)

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