MONSTERZERO NJ’S HORROR FLICKS FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH!
February is the month where we mark the achievements of the black community and there have been some wonderful contributions to the world of horror films by some amazing talents. Whether it be black filmmakers like William Crain and Jordan Peele, or actors such as William Marshall, Pam Grier, Lupita Nyong’o, Kiana Madeira and Duane Jones, there is much to celebrate! Here are fifteen films that illustrate the sometimes groundbreaking and always entertaining achievements in the horror genre that this month so proudly commemorates!
To all these talented men and women in front of and behind the camera…CHEERS!
MONSTERZERO NJ’S 15 HORROR FLICKS FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH!
February is the month where we mark the achievements of the black community and there have been some wonderful contributions to the world of horror films by some amazing talents. Whether it be black filmmakers like William Crain and Jordan Peele, or actors such as William Marshall, Pam Grier, Lupita Nyong’o, Kiana Madeira and Duane Jones, there is much to celebrate! Here are fifteen films that illustrate the sometimes groundbreaking and always entertaining achievements in the horror genre that this month so proudly commemorates!
REVIEW LINKS: click to read the corresponding review!
MONSTERZERO NJ’S 12 HORROR FLICKS FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH!
February is the month where we mark the achievements of the black community and there have been some wonderful contributions to the world of horror films by some amazing talents. Whether it be black filmmakers like William Crain and Jordan Peele, or actors such as William Marshall, Pam Grier, Lupita Nyong’o and Duane Jones, there is much to celebrate! Here are twelve films that illustrate the sometimes groundbreaking and always entertaining achievements in the horror genre that this month so proudly commemorates!
REVIEW LINKS: click to read the corresponding review!
MONSTERZERO NJ’S 10 HORROR FLICKS FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH!
February is the month where we mark the achievements of the black community and there have been some wonderful contributions to the world of horror films by some amazing talents. Whether it be black filmmakers like William Crain and Jordan Peele, or actors such as William Marshall, Pam Grier and Duane Jones, there is much to celebrate! Here are ten films that illustrate the sometimes groundbreaking and always entertaining achievements in the horror genre that this month so proudly commemorates!
REVIEW LINKS: click to read the corresponding review!
What can be said about George Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead at this point that hasn’t already been said, it’s one of the greatest horror films ever made and has lost none of it potency even today. Romero may not have invented zombies, but he turned them into their own genre and is responsible for inspiring almost every zombie flick or TV show we see today and created the template for the flesh-eating, shoot-em in the head characteristics that almost every zombie media follows.
Night starts out with siblings Barbara (Judith O’Dea) and Johnny (Russell Steiner who also produced) driving from Pittsburgh into the country to place a wreath on their father’s grave. In the graveyard they are attacked by a seemingly deranged man (Bill Hinzman) who kills Johnny and then chases the terrified Barbara, who finds shelter in an abandoned farm house. A man named Ben (Duane Jones), who is also fleeing a similar attack, then arrives as do more of these apparently deranged people. Soon we find that not only are the dead returning to life and eating the living, but a group of terrified people, including the Coopers, Harry (Karl Hardman), wife Helen (Marilyn Eastman), daughter Karen (Kyra Schon) and local boyfriend and girlfriend Tom (Keith Wayne) and Judy (Judith Ridley), have been hiding in the cellar right beneath their feet. Now the group must somehow fight off what seems like an army of the undead and each other, as the arrogant Harry clashes with the strong-willed Ben over who runs the house and gives the orders.
George Romero has created a horror masterpiece that is filled with dread in every shot thanks to some incredibly moody black and white photography. The film is shot much like one of the classic Universal horrors from the 30s and 40s or the silent Nosferatu with it’s stark and ominous shadows creeping into the frame or creating dark patches where any horror could inhabit. Romero also creates thick tension not only from the terror that lurks outside the house waiting to get in, but the conflict between those who fight for control inside the besieged home, because they can’t control what’s going on outside it. We share the occupants dread as the dead multiply and every chance to escape is dashed and hope dwindles while their fear grows. It tears them apart and soon the danger inside the house is no lesser then what awaits outside. Romero increases the horror when we see an escape plan go awry and it costs the lives of a few of the survivors. The rest get to finally witness what they’ve only heard about on TV as their housemates are devoured in graphic detail by the army of carnivorous corpses. The FX in this low budget film are good with the zombie’s looking quite nightmarish and the entrails they devour very effective…maybe more so…in shadow drenched black and white.
Romero also gets very effective performances out of all his cast, especially Jones as the tough and resourceful Ben and Hardman as the slimy and devious Harry Cooper. These are now considered classic characters in horror film history and Jones’ Ben is also boundary breaking, being the first black man to be cast as a horror film lead especially in the middle of the civil rights movement of the time. There are so many classic scenes as well, that still frighten even today with a proliferation of graphic zombie flicks, zombie themed video games and a weekly TV show. And Night also remains one of the most quotable horrors of it’s kind as well…“they’re dead, they’re all messed up!”…for delightful example. It’s controversial ending still has power even after all these years and multiple viewings.
A true horror masterpiece that is one of the greatest horror flicks of all time and a must watch during the Halloween season. It inspired countless other like films and made a horror legend out of Romero, who added to the zombie pantheon with five more films in the series to date. I was fortunate enough to see NOTLD in a theater during the early 80s at a revival screening at my beloved Oritani theater in Hackensack, N.J.
(Clicking the highlighted links brings you to corresponding reviews and articles here at The Movie Madhouse!)
Birth is a fun and informative documentary on the making of one of the greatest horror films of all time. The flick chronicles how George Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead came to be, through not only interviews with the legendary filmmaker himself but, reflections and observations from others such as indie filmmaking fixture Larry Fessenden (who also produced), Walking Dead producer Gale Anne Heard, NOTLD star Bill Hinzman (earlier interview footage from before his death in 2012) and a host of others. They takes us through Romero’s interest in being a filmmaker, to his early commercial days, to the financing and filming and then to the struggle to get it released and it’s eventual impact. They also compare events going on in the world, at the time, such as the Viet Nam War and how it effected the way people viewed Romero’s classic, to how Romero’s trend-setting zombie epic unintentionally reflected a lot of what was going on in the world, as well. It’s very entertaining and takes one inside the making of a little movie that has become a bonifide classic. We find out how some of the film’s most effective elements were sometimes by mistake or simply out of budgetary necessity and how some of the most quotable lines were ad-libbed on the spot. We also get the sad story of how a simple mistake robbed Romero and company of any rights and profits from the movie to this day. And we discover that the groundbreaking casting of a black hero at a time when that was still not a popular notion in Hollywood, was simply a case of hiring the right actor to play the part and no one saw the racial impact the casting of Duane Jones would have. The part wasn’t even written race specific. All in all, it’s a charming and very affectionate look at the making of one of horrors all time greatest flicks from one of it’s most celebrated filmmakers. A must for Romero and zombie film fans alike.
What can be said about George Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead at this point that hasn’t already been said, it’s one of the greatest horror films ever made and has lost none of it potency even today. Romero may not have invented zombies, but he turned them into their own genre and is responsible for inspiring almost every zombie flick or TV show we see today and created the template for the flesh-eating, shoot-em in the head characteristics that almost every zombie media follows.
Night starts out with siblings Barbara (Judith O’Dea) and Johnny (Russell Steiner who also produced) driving from Pittsburgh into the country to place a wreath on their father’s grave. In the graveyard they are attacked by a seemingly deranged man (Bill Hinzman) who kills Johnny and then chases the terrified Barbara, who finds shelter in an abandoned farm house. A man named Ben (Duane Jones), who is also fleeing a similar attack, then arrives as do more of these apparently deranged people. Soon we find that not only are the dead returning to life and eating the living, but a group of terrified people, including the Coopers, Harry (Karl Hardman), wife Helen (Marilyn Eastman), daughter Karen (Kyra Schon) and local boyfriend and girlfriend Tom (Keith Wayne) and Judy (Judith Ridley), have been hiding in the cellar right beneath their feet. Now the group must somehow fight off what seems like an army of the undead and each other, as the arrogant Harry clashes with the strong-willed Ben over who runs the house and gives the orders.
George Romero has created a horror masterpiece that is filled with dread in every shot thanks to some incredibly moody black and white photography. The film is shot much like one of the classic Universal horrors from the 30s and 40s or the silent Nosferatu with it’s stark and ominous shadows creeping into the frame or creating dark patches where any horror could inhabit. Romero also creates thick tension not only from the terror that lurks outside the house waiting to get in, but the conflict between those who fight for control inside the besieged home, because they can’t control what’s going on outside it. We share the occupants dread as the dead multiply and every chance to escape is dashed and hope dwindles while their fear grows. It tears them apart and soon the danger inside the house is no lesser then what awaits outside. Romero increases the horror when we see an escape plan go awry and it costs the lives of a few of the survivors. The rest get to finally witness what they’ve only heard about on TV as their housemates are devoured in graphic detail by the army of carnivorous corpses. The FX in this low budget film are good with the zombie’s looking quite nightmarish and the entrails they devour very effective…maybe more so…in shadow drenched black and white.
Romero also gets very effective performances out of all his cast, especially Jones as the tough and resourceful Ben and Hardman as the slimy and devious Harry Cooper. These are now considered classic characters in horror film history and Jones’ Ben is also boundary breaking, being the first black man to be cast as a horror film lead especially in the middle of the civil rights movement of the time. There are so many classic scenes as well, that still frighten even today with a proliferation of graphic zombie flicks, zombie themed video games and a weekly TV show. And Night also remains one of the most quotable horrors of it’s kind as well…“they’re dead, they’re all messed up!”…for delightful example. It’s controversial ending still has power even after all these years and multiple viewings.
A true horror masterpiece that is one of the greatest horror flicks of all time and a must watch during the Halloween season. It inspired countless other like films and made a horror legend out of Romero, who added to the zombie pantheon with five more films in the series to date. I was fortunate enough to see NOTLD in a theater during the early 80s at a revival screening at my beloved Oritani theater in Hackensack, N.J.
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