They're coming for you
Director: George A. Romero
Screenwriter: John A. Russo and George A. Romero
Stars: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Bill Hinzman, Marilyn Eastman
Origin: USA
Runtime: 96 minutes
Sinopsis: The lives of these people changed as the 'ghouls' started to chase them
What I like about this movie is it's not a simple horror movie with screaming and running in every scene. There is something beyond that than presenting some zombies attacked human; and I think Romero did that on purpose. As the movie released in 1968, it's rather difficult time for a black actor to be a lead character in the movie But, there it is, we have 'Ben' who's basically lead everything and "control" the flow of the movie. Well, the first scene might have been opened by Barbara and Johnny, who portrayed by the white actor and actress; but Ben is the one who get the spotlight in the film. Okay, I'm gonna stop the discussion since my following statement in this part might lead me in discussing about Civil Right Movement
Okay, about the movie, albeit it's not the very first movie about zombie (the credits goes to Lugosi's White Zombie), this movie forms archetypal for the other zombie movies. Zombie eating flesh, chasing human, etc are being the roots for other zombie movies, even though the zombie seems a bit smarter than the zombie these days since the very first zombie knows how to attack the people (the very first zombie break the Barbara's car glass by using a rock, that's pretty smart idea for a zombie which these days seemed brainless as ever).
Few things about zombie in here, Romero proposed the idea about the fear of these zombies with fire. That's different. In here, t's like the very idea of zombie is almost similar with the wild animals which haunt human for their flesh, that these wild zombies have fears of fire. Or, then again, maybe these zombies are smarter to know that fire can be harmful for them, so they don't like it. You see, in here, more than attacking the zombies' head, I see that the fire is being used as the weapon to destroy the zombies for being come back. And the next, these zombies eat flesh. Yeah, their sole food is always human flesh, until now. But, it's amazing to see that Romero can reflect this image during that time. I can imagine the horror of the audience for seeing this-so-called creature can eat them.
It's the idea beyond of being killed, you're being eaten. And somehow, it's like a cannibalism since these creatures used to be human beings and some of them still looks like human. Even though, there are some of them have awful appearance, with their skin peeled from its place and their eyes nearly popped out or gone, either because of being attacked or eaten. Well, my praise goes to the Romero's imagination and his inspiration which formed the zombies in this movies. For a low-budget movie, it's truly a magnificient show and could be a nightmare for the people in that time. Also, the actors and actresses (including the extras) are doing a good job portraying the horror night of this 'living dead' phenomenon. Duane Jones, albeit his unknown name, can be the 'leader' of the pack of human who hide from the attack of these ghouls. And what I'd like about this movie, being a 'leader' does not mean that you have to be a good guy, like Ben in this movie. He can be mean or bad, but the important thing is to protect these people, including himself. Well, it's nearly portraying the real situation that might happened if you're into this situation. For some people, it's barely possible to keep being good guys and they're ended up into being selfish people who want to keep themselves alive and that's what Ben did in this movie. He's not a good protagonist, yet he's real protagonist who'll express how people usually dealt with this kind of situation. I might be biased, but that's what I felt about his character.
And the ending is just....tragic. For some time, I've been thinking about it, about Romero's thought for making such an ending for this movie. It's unusual and trigger into some speculation about how he ended this movie. I think that this movie is not your usual movie to be enjoyed, but there is something more about it and it's being released around 1968. If I'm not mistaken, the movie around that time is usually related with politics or else which makes me think there is something extraordinary about this movie. I'll say this is a movie that represent about the social and political condition in that era, which wrapped with zombie as a metaphor. But, it might be my own exaggerating thought. One another thing, if you're into zombies, then you surely don't miss this movie.
Few things about zombie in here, Romero proposed the idea about the fear of these zombies with fire. That's different. In here, t's like the very idea of zombie is almost similar with the wild animals which haunt human for their flesh, that these wild zombies have fears of fire. Or, then again, maybe these zombies are smarter to know that fire can be harmful for them, so they don't like it. You see, in here, more than attacking the zombies' head, I see that the fire is being used as the weapon to destroy the zombies for being come back. And the next, these zombies eat flesh. Yeah, their sole food is always human flesh, until now. But, it's amazing to see that Romero can reflect this image during that time. I can imagine the horror of the audience for seeing this-so-called creature can eat them.
It's the idea beyond of being killed, you're being eaten. And somehow, it's like a cannibalism since these creatures used to be human beings and some of them still looks like human. Even though, there are some of them have awful appearance, with their skin peeled from its place and their eyes nearly popped out or gone, either because of being attacked or eaten. Well, my praise goes to the Romero's imagination and his inspiration which formed the zombies in this movies. For a low-budget movie, it's truly a magnificient show and could be a nightmare for the people in that time. Also, the actors and actresses (including the extras) are doing a good job portraying the horror night of this 'living dead' phenomenon. Duane Jones, albeit his unknown name, can be the 'leader' of the pack of human who hide from the attack of these ghouls. And what I'd like about this movie, being a 'leader' does not mean that you have to be a good guy, like Ben in this movie. He can be mean or bad, but the important thing is to protect these people, including himself. Well, it's nearly portraying the real situation that might happened if you're into this situation. For some people, it's barely possible to keep being good guys and they're ended up into being selfish people who want to keep themselves alive and that's what Ben did in this movie. He's not a good protagonist, yet he's real protagonist who'll express how people usually dealt with this kind of situation. I might be biased, but that's what I felt about his character.
(almost forget to attach the trailer)
Credits:
RemberingTheClassics @ youtube
