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NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968). A little back story....
First saw this in early 1972 (?) on CREATURE FEATURES out of Oakland CA and there was a big thunderstorm which knocked out the power a couple of times, so missed a lot. Thought it was OK, but not much more.
By August of 1975, had read a detailed article in THE FILM JOURNAL as well as the "Fearbook" in FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND #109 when it finally arrived on Panama Canal Zone Monster Movies. Had a couple of friends over and we watched away, not knowing we would get the uncut version (A few months later, a little Phillipines nudity caused quite the stir). To be honest, we 13 year olds were amazed at how bleak the whole thing was and certain scenes (""The Last Supper" and Karen's playing with Garden implements) really scared the hell out of us. Not to mention the incredibly downbeat conclusion...
I had the disease and caught it everytime it was on TV and was able to find the paperback (reading it when I should have been reading DEATH OF A SALESMAN), the Soundtrack (pretty good) and naturally it was the first VHS I got when I knew I would get a VCR for Xmas. Twenty years or so after that Xmas (1985), wife and I started going to Conventions where we met a lot of the surviving cast and crew...Bill Hinzman, Russ Streiner, John Russo, Kyra Schon, "Chilly" Billy Cardille, George Kosana, George Romero, Judith O'Dea and Charles Craig. ALL of them were nice as could be, making me a bigger fan, if possible.
So, after watching it for probably the 55th time since that night when I was 10, still think, for the money and resources they did not have, this is one badass film and still my favorite film ever. *****
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