* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
   

October 18

Fred Films | 7pm
Night of the Living Dead (USA/1968/dir. by George Romero) 96 minutes
Working in a debased genre with a tiny budget and a no-name cast, George Romero launched his career with Night of the Living Dead . Although ridiculed at the time of its release by Vincent Canby in the New York Times as "a grainy little movie acted by what appear to be nonprofessional actors, who are besieged in a farm house by some other nonprofessional actors who stagger around, stiff-legged, pretending to be flesh-eating ghouls," Night of the Living Dead is now understood by audiences and critics alike to be one of the most significant American horror films. Night of the Living Dead established the zombie film as a major horror subgenre. It also presented a powerful critique of American life in 1968.   But most of all it scared its viewers. In 1999, the National Film Preservation Board placed Night of the Living Dead on the American Film Registry, a select group of "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" movies chosen for preservation in the Library of Congress.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *