Oh, “Night Of The Living Dead”, this little promo was my first introduction to what would become my all-time favorite movie ever. Ours was a slow-building romance, “Night Of The Living Dead”. The first time I heard this promo, it sounded so over-the-top and silly, that whole “They’re coming to get you, Barbra! They’re coming for you!” I would never have believed at the time that it came from a real honest-to-god movie. And then, finally, my freshman year of college, my roommates and I rented it, and that’s when I first realized that that little snippet of dialogue was from you, “Night Of The Living Dead”. I won’t lie to you. The first time I watched you, I was a little underwhelmed. I’d heard so much about you, that I was expecting something scarier. Forgive me, “Night Of The Living Dead”. I was young.
I’m not sure when I watched you again, but whenever it was, it was then that something clicked. I realized that you were actually brilliant, that you were a moody, atmospheric zombie movie made on the cheap with an awesome score and that was less about zombies and more about racism in the 1960’s. And then I discovered your sequels, “Dawn Of The Dead” and “Day Of The Dead” and fell more deeply in love with you and your daddy, George Romero. I was so enthralled with you, “Night Of The Living Dead”, that in college I wrote a full-length screenplay called “Night Of The Living Beer” and me and some pals even filmed some scenes from said screenplay.
You can imagine how happy I am now, “Night Of The Living Dead”, where I live in a world where a TV show about zombies is one of the top-rated shows in the country and you can buy zombie T-shirts and being a fan of zombie movies doesn’t make you seem a little weird (most of the time). And we owe it all to you, “Night Of The Living Dead”. May you never rest in peace.
