Night of the Living Dead 1968

Vincent Canby, New York Times: The dialogue and background music sound hollow, as if they had been recorded in an empty swimming pool, and the wobbly camera seems to have a fetishist's interest in hands. Read more

Amos Barshad, New York Magazine/Vulture: If [Romero's] original vision of the undead looks dulled by today's standards, his embedded political commentary on racism feels just as sharp. Read more

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader: Over its short, furious course, the picture violates so many strong taboos -- cannibalism, incest, necrophilia -- that it leaves audiences giddy and hysterical. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: I felt real terror in that neighborhood theater last Saturday afternoon. I saw kids who had no resources they could draw upon to protect themselves from the dread and fear they felt. Read more

Nigel Floyd, Time Out: Chuckle, if you can, during the first few minutes; because after that laughter catches in the throat as the clammy hand of terror tightens its grip. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: Although pic's basic premise is repellent -- recently dead bodies are resurrected and begin killing human beings in order to eat their flesh -- it is in execution that the film distastefully excels. Read more

Elliott Stein, Village Voice: George Romero's remarkably assured debut, made on a shoestring, about a group of people barricaded inside a farmhouse while an army of flesh-eating zombies roams the countryside, deflates all genre cliches. Read more