Parents need to know that this was once considered the ultimate in gruesome horror, with its ghastly premise of armies of undead "ghouls" devouring and infecting the living. One of the zombies is a little girl who ends up killing her parents. The movie is claustrophobic and intense, with one of the most famously pessimistic endings in movie history. Though later cannibal-zombie movies pushed gore-makeup effects to extremes, this one is relatively restrained -- except for the Anchor Bay "Anniversary" edition that adds more severe carnage that was filmed later and edited in (along with the character of a nasty priest).

Families can talk about the mistake the survivors make in their defense strategy against the ghouls; their self-interest and egotism divides them (the zombies, on the other hand, have no such problems). You can also discuss with movie-buff kids why this was such a success on the horror market. Do you think it was because a premise this frightful had never been brought to the screen before? Or was it skillful filmmaking? What examples do you see in today's horror movies of filmmakers pushing the envelope? Do you believe (like some critics) that the movie is trying to make a social point? Or do you agree with the filmmakers, that it's just a scary movie?