Night of the Living Dead story

movie: Night of the Living Dead (1968) · 1968-10-01

Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent horror film written, directed, photographed and edited by George A. Romero, co-written by John Russo, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven people who are trapped in a rural farmhouse in western Pennsylvania, which is besieged by a large and growing group of "living dead" monsters.

17 total · 2 choice · 5 major · 10 minor

ThemeLevelMotivation
human vs. monster choice The story is about a group of people who did their best to survive when the dead started to walk.
zombie choice recently deceased people came back to life as some sort of zombies called ghouls
courage in the face of death major Ben was remarkably courageous by contrast to Harry
cowardice major Harry was remarkably spineless by contrast to Ben
hysterical woman stereotype major Barbara was mostly frozen while Ben did all the work, then she went classical hysterical on remembering her brother, then she fainted, then she was mostly catatonic
ironic twist of fate major Ben ironically survived alone in the very cellar he had stopped everyone from taking shelter in; then ironically he was shot in the head by his would-be rescuers
the dangers of radioactivity major it was theorized that a nuclear satellite was the cause of the mass zombieism
brother and sister minor Johnny and Barbara
clash of wills minor Ben vs. Cooper
cooperation minor a big deal was made about Harry's stubborn refusal to cooperate