‘Night Of The Living Dead’ Is Free To Watch - But Its Ending Will Cost You
Horror has always been a foundation of cinema, with a select few films setting standards for what would define the genre for years to come. A great example of this is George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968), the most important zombie film ever made, and one streaming on JustWatch TV for free right now.
Night of the Living Dead is a classic tale of survival that set the tone for Romero’s films, where the zombies were just a tool to convey a larger message. But no matter how many times you see the film, it will be hard to avoid the impression its ending will leave you with.
‘Night of the Living Dead’ Introduced Classic Zombie Tropes
Night of the Living Dead is a classic story about a group of people trapped in an abandoned house as hordes of the undead rise from the grave, hungry for human flesh. What seems almost too simple now was incredibly shocking at the time of release and created many tropes we take for granted in the genre now.
Before Night of the Living Dead, zombie movies were more connected with voodoo in film or featured one character akin to Lurch from The Addams Family (1964-1966) or Frankenstein’s Monster. But with Romero’s film, we were shown corpses rising up, and the only way to stop them was a gunshot to the head.
The movie also showed audiences that this zombie plague could spread to those who were bitten, with a little girl slowly dying from her bite and then turning into a zombie, killing her mother and father in the process. In every sense, what we love about zombie movies now wouldn’t be here without Night of the Living Dead.
‘Night of the Living Dead’ Has a Powerful and Sad Ending
What makes Night of the Living Dead so much fun is its hero, Ben (Duane Jones), who shows up after the film’s opening scenes and immediately takes control of the situation. He’s a character who isn’t trying to be a hero; he’s trying to survive, and those who trusted him were rewarded for it by living a little longer.
Unfortunately, the paranoia of those in the house often moved against Ben’s actions, and this led to many violent character deaths. Meanwhile, the rest of the world figured out how to kill and dispose of the zombie corpses and began to sweep the area. In the end, Ben was the only one who survived. But while staring out the window, he was shot in the head as they thought he was a zombie too.
It was a painful conclusion for anyone who got attached to Ben and his fight to live while still being a good person. Romero was also no stranger to tying in real-world themes, in this case, themes of racism.
At the time, it was a shock to see a Black man in a lead role and taking charge, but it was very ahead of its time. In the end, seeing him die like one of the undead was tragic and forces you to think more about the world at that time and the brutality that came with race in the era.
Why Should You Watch ‘Night of the Living Dead’?
Night of the Living Dead is one of the most important films in cinema and easily a standout zombie movie. But aside from that and the fact that it’s streaming for free on JustWatch TV, why should you care enough to watch it now?
Night of the Living Dead is a perfect horror movie. It’s a story about survival, and it can be unsettling even now, as scenes of zombies eating humans with an eerie calmness make you wonder about how dead these corpses really are. There’s also an iconography with the young girl, and seeing the scene unfold in real-time. It’s hard to beat seeing the source of so many iconic stickers and T-shirts.
Zombie movies have evolved heavily since Night of the Living Dead, with them running and forming hordes, but all of the main ideas that this film showcased still stand out and are hard to beat. You could watch every great zombie movie ever made, but if you haven’t seen Night of the Living Dead, you’re missing out. From its exciting moments of horror to its poignant conclusion, this is one horror movie you have to watch.
