Guy was way ahead of his time. Seemed like an awesome dude too.
NOTLD is one of my all time favorites. If you haven't read how Romero lost millions on a botched copyright deal, it's worth the read. Guy made one of the most influential and copied films of all time and hardly made a dime on it.
yep - it was some kind of administrative error when they finished the movie or something?
They used 'open source' background music on that film that came from some even CHEAPER flick about aliens invading ....
NOTLD doesn't carry the horror to a modern audience like it did in 1968 but - you are 100% right - it's a classic horror film, cost nothing to make, and touched on more than a few nerves with the violence, mindless killers (Vietnam angle), black hero protecting the white woman (during civil rights era) and an ending that wasn't happy or hopeful at all
Romero claims he didn't write a 'black hero' into the plot but Duane Jones (I think that was his name) was easily the best actor that applied for the job....
The opening graveyard scene is still one of my favorite of all time
Finally, NOTLD is one of the few zombie flicks where they at least try to hint at a good explanation as to why this happened (space probe returning from Venus)
When "Dawn" came out in the late 70's he took a whole different turn .... that movie freaked me out as s kid but again --- just looks silly to most people now