Without question, props must be given to George A. Romero's 1968 masterpiece, "Night of the Living Dead." This black-and-white classic is the gold standard by which all other zombie movies are measured. While the movie does its share to appease gorehounds, it also screamed out at the social and political turbulence that was the late 1960's.

With a ragtag group of independent filmmakers and producers, Romero made the movie on a shoestring budget. Most of the actors in the movie were friends and financial backers who all had a vested interest in seeing the film succeed. Romero himself made a cameo in the film as a Washington reporter who appears in a TV report. Others played more than one role in the movie. For example, Maryiln Eastman, who played Helen Cooper, was also a zombie who appeared eating bugs from a tree!

Although zombies had appeared in previous films, none were as terrifying as the ghouls that existed in "Night." Imagine, being trapped in a remote farmhouse, far from help, and the dead were rising, looking to eat you alive and draft you into the legions of their undead army. While it might be a tired concept today, in 1968 it struck a untapped vein of fear and terror that we had never before experienced.

Romero is famous for using his zombie movies as vehicles for social and political commentary. "Night" is the first which does it with such shock and awe. It addressed racism (a black man being in charge over white people at the farm) the hippie culture (Romero has often referred to the zombies as the hippies, trying to impose themselves on us, though they could metaphorically be substituted for anything) and the breakdown of the nuclear family (Harry Cooper, once master of his family, who loses control during the crisis). Having these elements all in play while still delivering a quality horror film speaks volumes about Romero's fatalistic vision and filmmaking techniques.

While Romero probably owes some of his success to the short story "I Am Legend" by David Matheson, it's "Night of the Living Dead" that will forever be known as the best old horror movie with zombies in it. It's an irrefutable fact that only has only grown stronger over time and with each subsequent ripoff film that follows in its wake.

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