But is it the best zombie movie of all time?ĭespite its classic, definitive imagery, and despite everything it contributed to the history of horror cinema, it’s not as if Night of the Living Dead is a flawless film. Few films in any genre can claim to be so influential.
It codified an entirely new meaning for the term, which is ironic, given that the word “zombie” never actually appears in the movie, where the creatures are typically referred to as “ghouls.” But regardless, NOTLD catapulted the Americanized idea of “zombies” past their Haitian voodoo origins and into the cultural consciousness as dead bodies come back to life or otherwise reanimated, who fed upon the living. Here’s a film truism that everyone can agree upon: George Romero’s 1968 Night of the Living Dead is probably the most influential and important “zombie film” of all time.
