Night of the Living Dead

Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 black-and-white horror film about a group of people hiding from bloodthirsty zombies in a farmhouse.
 * Directed by George A. Romero. Written by John A. Russo and George A. Romero.

They keep coming back in a bloodthirsty lust for HUMAN FLESH!taglines

Ben

 * Now get the hell down in the cellar. You can be the boss down there, I'm boss up here!
 * Don't you know what's goin' on out there? This is no Sunday School picnic!
 * We've heard all we need to know. We have to try to get out of here.
 * I oughta drag you out there and feed you to those things!
 * You know a place back down the road called Beekman's? Beekman's Diner? Anyhow, that's where I found that truck I have out there. There's a radio in the truck. I jumped in to listen, when a big gasoline truck came screaming right across the road! There must've been ten, fifteen of those things chasing after it, grabbing and holding on. Now, I didn't see them at first. I could just see that the truck was moving in a funny way. Those things were catching up to it. Truck went right across the road. I slammed on my brakes to keep from hitting it myself. It went right through the guard rail! I guess - guess the driver must've cut off the road into that gas station by Beekman's Diner. It went right through the billboard, ripped over a gas pump, and never stopped moving! By now it was like a moving bonfire! Didn't know if the truck was going to explode or what. I still hear the man... screaming. These things, just backing away from it! I looked back at the diner to see if - if there was anyone there who could help me. That's when I noticed that the entire place had been encircled. There wasn't a sign of life left, except... by now, there were no more screams. I realized that I was alone, with fifty or sixty of those things just... standing there, staring at me! I started to drive, I - I just plowed right through them! They didn't move! They didn't run, or... they just stood there, staring at me! I just wanted to crush them! And they scattered through the air, like bugs.

Helen Cooper

 * We may not enjoy living together, but dying together isn't going to solve anything. Those people aren't our enemies.
 * He said the rescue stations have doctors and medical supplies. If we can get Karen there, we can get help for her.

Radio Newscaster

 * Because of the obvious threat to untold numbers of citizens, and because of the crisis which is even now developing, this radio station will remain on the air, day and night. This station and hundreds of other radio and TV stations throughout this part of the country are pooling their resources through an emergency network hookup to keep you informed of all developments. At this hour, we repeat, these are the facts as we know them. There is an epidemic of mass murder being committed by a virtual army of unidentified assassins. The murders are taking place in villages, cities, rural homes and suburbs with no apparent pattern or reason for the slayings. It seems to be a sudden, general explosion of mass homicide. We have some descriptions of the assassins. Eyewitnesses say they are ordinary looking people. Some say they appear to be in a kind of trance.
 * So, at this point there is no really authentic way for us to say who or what to look for and guard yourself against.

TV Newscaster

 * In all parts of the country, the wave of murder which is sweeping the eastern third of the nation is being committed by creatures who feast upon the flesh of their victims. First eyewitness accounts of this grisly development came from people who were understandably frightened and almost incoherent. Officials and newsmen at first discounted those eyewitness descriptions as being beyond belief. However, the reports persisted. Medical examinations of some of the victims bore out the fact that they had been partially devoured.
 * I think we have some late word just arriving and we interrupt to bring this to you. This is the latest disclosure in a report from National civil defense headquarters in Washington. It has been established that persons who have recently died have been returning to life and committing acts of murder. A widespread investigation of reports from funeral homes, morgues & hospitals has concluded that the unburied dead are coming back to life and seeking human victims. It's hard for us here to believe what we're reporting to you, but it does seem to be a fact.
 * All law enforcement agencies and the military have been organized to search out and destroy the marauding ghouls. The survival command center at the Pentagon has disclosed that a ghoul can be killed by a shot in the head or a heavy blow to the skull. Officials are quoted as explaining that since the brain of a ghoul has been activated by the radiation, the plan is, kill the brain and you kill the ghoul.

Dialogue



 * Johnny: Do you remember one time when we were small, we were out here? It was from right over there, I jumped out at you from behind the tree, and Grandpa got all excited, shook his fist at me and said "Boy, you'll be damned to hell!" [laughs] Remember that? Right over there. Boy, you used to really be scared here.
 * Barbara: Johnny!
 * Johnny: Hey, you're still afraid, aren't ya?
 * Barbara: Stop it, now! I mean it!
 * Johnny: [in a creepy voice] They're coming to get you, Barbara!
 * Barbara: Stop it! You're ignorant!
 * Johnny: They're coming for you, Barbara!
 * Barbara: Stop it! You're acting like a child!
 * Johnny: They're coming for you!
 * [points to the cemetery zombie]
 * Johnny: Look, there comes one of them now!
 * Barbara: He'll hear you!
 * Johnny: Here he comes now! I'm getting out of here!


 * Ben: How long have guys you been down there? I could have used some help up here!
 * Harry: That's the cellar. It's the safest place.
 * Ben: You mean you didn't hear the racket I was making up here?
 * Harry: How were we supposed to know what was going on? Could have been those things for all we knew!
 * Ben: That girl was screaming. Surely you know what a girl screaming sounds like. Those things don't make any noise. Anybody would know somebody needed help!
 * Tom: Look, it's kind of hard to know what's going on from down there.
 * Harry: We thought we could hear screams, but for all we knew, that have meant those things were in the house after her.
 * Ben: And you wouldn't come up here and help?
 * Tom: Well, if there were more of us...
 * Harry: That racket sounded like the place was being ripped apart. How were we supposed to know what was going on?
 * Ben: Now wait a minute. You just got finished saying you couldn't hear anything down there. Now you say it sounded like the place was being ripped apart. It would be nice if you get your story straight, man.
 * Harry: All right, now you tell me! I'm not gonna take that kind of a chance when we've got a safe place! We lock into a safe place, and you're telling us we gotta risk our lives just because somebody might need help, huh?
 * Ben: [disgusted] Yeah, something like that.
 * Tom: Alright, why don't we settle this--
 * Harry: LOOK, MISTER! We came up, okay?! We're here! Now, I suggest we all go back downstairs before any of those things find out we're in here!
 * Ben: They can't get in here.
 * Tom: You got the whole place boarded up?
 * Ben: Yeah, most of it. I'll put a few spots upstairs. They won't be hard to fix.
 * Harry: You're insane! The cellar's the safest place!
 * Ben: I'm telling you they can't get IN here!
 * Harry: And I'm telling you those things turned over our car! We were damn lucky to get away at all! Now you're telling me those things can't get through this lousy pile of wood?
 * Tom: His wife and kid's downstairs. The kid's hurt.
 * Ben: Well, I still think we're better off up here.
 * Tom: We could strengthen everything up, Mr. Cooper.
 * Ben: With all of us working together, we can fix this place up in no time. We have everything we need up here.
 * Harry: We can take all that stuff downstairs with us. Man, you're really crazy. You know that? You got a million windows up here. All these windows! You're gonna make them strong enough to keep those things out, huh?
 * Ben: I told you, those things don't have any strength. I smashed three of them and pushed another one out the door.
 * Harry: Did you hear me when I told you they turned over our car?
 * Ben: Oh, hell! Any good five men could do that!
 * Harry: That's my point! Only there's not going to be five, or even ten! There's going to be twenty, thirty, maybe a hundred of those things, and as soon as they find out we're here, this place is gonna be crawling with them!
 * Ben: Well, if there's that much, they'll probably get us wherever we are.
 * Harry: Look! The cellar. There's only one door, right? Just one door. That's all we have to protect. Tom and I fixed it so that it locks and boards from the inside. But, all these windows? Like, we'd never know where they're gonna hit us next!
 * Tom: You got a point, Mr. Cooper. But, down in the cellar, there's no place to run to. I mean, if they did get in, there'd be no back exit. We'd be done for.
 * Harry: [disregards Tom's statement] Daah!
 * Tom: We can get out of here if we have to, and we got windows to see what's going on outside. But, down there with no windows? If a rescue team did come, we wouldn't even know it.
 * Harry: But, the cellar is the strongest place!
 * Ben: The cellar is a death trap!
 * Tom: I don't know, Mr. Cooper. I think he's right. [to Ben] You know how many is out there?
 * Ben: I don't know, maybe six or seven.
 * Harry: Look! You two can do whatever you like! I'm going back down to the cellar, and you'd better decide! 'Cause I'm gonna board up that door, and I'm not going to unlock it again no matter what happens!
 * Tom: Now wait a minute, Mr. Cooper.
 * Harry: No, I'm not going to wait! I've made my decision, now you make yours!
 * Tom: Now wait a minute! Let's think about this! We can make it to the cellar if we have to! And if we do decide to stay down there, we'll need some things from up here! So let's at least consider this a while!
 * Ben: You box yourself in the cellar and those things get in the house, you've had it. At least up here, you have a fighting chance.


 * Helen: Does anyone up there know why we're being attacked?
 * Harry: Whatever it is, it isn't just happening here. It's some kind of mass murder. It's going on everywhere. The radio said to stay inside--
 * Helen: Radio?
 * Harry: Radio, upstairs. I heard the news bulletin.
 * Helen: [outraged] There's a radio upstairs and you boarded us in down here?!
 * Harry: I know what I'm doing!
 * Helen: What did it say?!
 * Harry: Nothing! Nothing! They don't know anything yet! There's mass murder everywhere, and people are supposed to look for a safe place to hide!
 * Helen: Take the boards off that door!
 * Harry: We are staying down here, Helen!
 * Helen: Harry, that radio is at least some kind of communication! If the authorities know what's happening, well, they'll send people for us, or they'll tell us what to do! How are we going to know what's going on if we lock ourselves in this dungeon?!
 * [Harry throws his cigarette to the floor in frustration]
 * Helen: We may not enjoy living together, but dying together isn't going to solve anything. Those people aren't our enemies.


 * Newscaster: Reports, incredible as they may seem, are not the results of mass hysteria.
 * Harry: "Mass hysteria?" What do they think, we're imagining all this?
 * Ben: Shut up!


 * Ben: Willard. I saw a sign that said Willard.
 * Tom: It's only about 17 miles from here.
 * Ben: You know this area. Are you from around here?
 * Tom: Judy and I are both from around here. We were on our way to the lake to go swimming. Judy had a radio, and we heard the first reports about this. So we knew the old house was here and we came in and found the lady upstairs dead. Then these other people came. We went down into the basement and put a bar across the door, and it is pretty strong.
 * Harry: How could we possibly get away from here? We've got a sick child, two women, one woman out of her head, three men, and the place is surrounded with these things.


 * Ben: Judy, I need you to find some bedspreads or sheets to tear up into small strips, okay? [to Tom] Is there a fruit cellar here?
 * Tom: Yes.
 * Ben: We need some bottles or jars to make Molotov cocktails to hold them off while we try to escape.
 * Tom: Hey, There's a big can of kerosene down there.
 * Judy: I'll see what I can find.
 * Tom: I'll look for the bottles.
 * Harry: There's a big key ring down there. There may be a key to the gas pump on it.
 * Tom: I'll check. [goes down in the cellar]
 * Ben: We can toss the cocktails from a window upstairs. Meantime, some of us can go out and try to get the gas, then we can come back for the rest of the people.
 * Harry: But that'll leave a door open someplace.
 * Ben: Yeah, that's right. It better be this door. It's closer to the truck. Before we go out, we'll put some supplies behind the cellar door. While we're gone, the rest of you can hole up in there.
 * Tom: I found some fruit jars in the cellar. And there's a key on here that's labeled for the gas pump out back.
 * Ben: I'm not really that used to the truck. I found it abandoned.
 * Tom: I can handle the truck, no sweat.
 * Ben: You're it, then. You and I'll go. We'll put whatever lumber we find behind the cellar door. You can go upstairs and toss the cocktails from a window. Tom, you and I will have to unboard this door. [to Harry] After you toss the cocktails, you hustle back down here and lock this door. It's no good to board it up because we'll have to get back in quickly. After we get the gas and get back into the house, then we'll worry about getting everybody into the truck. Now, let's move it.


 * Field reporter: Chief, if I were surrounded by six or eight of these things, would I stand a chance with them?
 * Chief McClellan: Well, there's no problem. If you had a gun, shoot 'em in the head. That's a sure way to kill 'em. If you don't, get yourself a club or a torch. Beat 'em or burn 'em. They go up pretty easy.
 * Field reporter: Well, Chief McClellan, how long do you think it'll take until you get the situation under control?
 * Chief McClellan: Well, that's pretty hard to say. We don't know how many of 'em there are. We know when we find 'em, we can kill 'em.
 * Field reporter: Are they slow-moving, chief?
 * Chief McClellan: Yeah, they're dead. They're all messed up.
 * This has been described as George Kosana's most memorable line from the film. It was originally an ab lib from Kosana's audition for the role. Source:


 * Sheriff McClelland: Alright Vince, hit him in the head; right between the eyes.
 * [Vince shoots and kills Ben]
 * Sheriff McClelland: Good shot! OK, he's dead; let's go get 'im. That's another one for the fire.

Taglines

 * They keep coming back in a bloodthirsty lust for HUMAN FLESH!...
 * Pits the dead against the living in a struggle for survival!
 * They won't stay dead.
 * They're coming to get you...again!

Cast

 * Duane Jones - Ben
 * Judith O'Dea - Barbara
 * Karl Hardman - Harry Cooper
 * Marilyn Eastman - Helen Cooper/Bug-eating zombie
 * Keith Wayne - Tom
 * Judith Ridley - Judy
 * Kyra Schon - Karen Cooper/Upstairs body
 * Charles Craig - Newscaster/Zombie
 * S. William Hinzman - Cemetery Zombie
 * Russell_Streiner - Johnny
 * George Kosana - Sheriff McClelland