About

On October 1st 1968, George Romero premiered Night of the Living Dead at the Fulton Theatre in Pittsburgh. It was a film that would change modern cinema. The zombie, as a cultural artefact had appeared in the popular global psyche during the late 1920s following the publication of William Seabrook’s 'The Magic Island'. In this text he outlined his encounter with three zombies presented to him by a Haitian friend Polynice. Other critical texts such as Richard Matheson’s 'I Am Legend' cemented the zombie as a ever-present spectre of the modern human civilisation. It was Romero’s zombie however that came to typify the their role as undead agents of fear and terror. Framed as a critical analysis of modern American society, Romero’s film became a benchmark of subversive film making, anchored by the casting of an African-American lead; "Perhaps Night of the Living Dead is the first film to have a black man playing the lead role regardless of, rather than because of, his race,” Romero noted. The film has subsequently been awarded preservation status by the Library Of Congress for its cultural impact.

Night of the Living Dead will screen from the new 4K digital restoration undertaken by the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Foundation.

M | Violence, horror themes and coarse language