George Romeros best zombie film of all time. You cant beat the classics.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
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Is it age appropriate?
About our ratings -
Is it any good?
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Common Sense says
Oft-copied zombie classic. Still intense and gory.
Why We Rated This 
for Ages 16–18
What to watch out for
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Violence:
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Sex:
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Language:
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Consumerism:
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Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
What Parents Need to Know
This review of Night of the Living Dead (1968) was written by Charles Cassady Jr.
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
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- 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?
Have you seen it? Review It!
More on Night of the Living Dead (1968)
What’s the Story?
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD begins when a young woman and her brother are attacked in a cemetery by a zombie, then moves to a group of strangers seeking shelter from the ghouls in a remote house. Barricaded inside, they see TV bulletins linking the zombie plague to "radiation" from a Venus space probe contaminating the environment, and they hear the only way to stop a ghoul is to destroy the brain, with a well-aimed bullet or cranial blows. The panicked survivors split into two factions, a family called the Coopers, who want to stay barricaded indoors and wait for help, and a more pro-active bunch, led by Ben (Duane Jones), an assertive black man, who plan a dash to safety, despite the ghouls massing relentlessly in the dark outside. A famously shocking finale indicates that neither of their plans works out.
Is It Any Good?
George A. Romero's cult classic brought a virtually unprecedented level of realistic gore and disturbing grotesquerie to creature-feature fans (many of them children). When it premiered in 1968, critics and commentators were outraged kids had been exposed to such a nightmare. Though it's unrated by the MPAA, some posters and ads carried an "X" rating (for gruesome violence, not sex), and that should tell you something. It's still intense today, and pushes a lot of buttons, with its well-rendered camera angles, effective jolts, claustrophobia, and the fate-worse-than-death zombie vibe.
Beware: The film is in the public domain, which means there are lots of fuzzy-looking, technically inferior copies on the market, computer-"colorized" versions, and spoof editions with completely dubbed-in gag dialogue (even with a bad-joke soundtrack, the imagery is still disturbing).
Movie Details
Studio: No Studio, Director: George A. Romero
Run time: 90 minutes
Theatrical release: 01/10/1968, DVD release: 05/19/2008
MPAA Rating: NR
Run time: 90 minutes
Theatrical release: 01/10/1968, DVD release: 05/19/2008
MPAA Rating: NR
Our Members Say
See all 16 member reviews
Most Recent Reviews
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I rate this title on for age 12 and give it
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
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I rate this title on for age 14 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- My highlights are:
A classic, but somewhat violent
This classic zombie flick has surprisingly good anti-racist messages and is very entertaining. However, there are one or two very violent scenes and there is brief nudity. Still, pretty good.
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I rate this title iffy for age 11 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Negative role models
Good for non squemmish or easly scared people
Ok to start the movie is in black and white Its pretty gory though you see images like a young girl ( who was zombiafied ) killing her mother with a gardening spade later eating her , and zombies eating dismembered human bodies , i mean its a zombie movie / Now bad role models in the movie people turn on each other and kill them or injure them , there is also a scene where a man punches a woman unconscious Soo make sure they know not to do that in real life , this movie is suspense type PS : dont isten to the people commenting on for age 2 or 6 i highly dont recommend that
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I rate this title on for age 2 and give it
Zombies can teach kids valuable life lessons.
Kids need to learn how to fight zombies.
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I rate this title on for age 6 and give it
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
Romero this is very spooky!
scary and spooky, will give your children nightmares about zombies though... nothing sexual here, except a view of buttcheeks! but thats it! i reccomend for all ages, but still might want to watch with your kids and tell them "its only a movie"
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I rate this title on for age 6 and give it
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
Romero this is very spooky!
scary and spooky, will give your children nightmares about zombies though... nothing sexual here, except a view of buttcheeks! but thats it! i reccomend for all ages, but still might want to watch with your kids and tell them "its only a movie"
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I rate this title iffy for age 13 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Negative role models
Genius Film
This film, about the breakout of a virus from space, is genius. The main characters are boarded up in a house, and they slowly turn against each other. It's done well, and the flesh eating monsters only help out the movie.
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I rate this title on for age 12 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
Violence is its purpose.
This movie is explicitly violent. Even though it is a horror classic, it isn't very good. And they never really explain why the dead came back. They just rose out of the grave for no reason.
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Lives in OhioI rate this title iffy for age 16 and give it- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
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I rate this title pause for age 0 and give it
Many imitators, no equals.
This movie was one of the first horror movies to cast a black man as an intelligent, articulate character instead of a stereotype. The final scenes of the movie are still shocking and effective. On the whole, this is a well-acted movie, but it's too intense for children.
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I rate this title on for age 0 and give it
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I rate this title on for age 0 and give it
Over-rated
This is considered one of the classics of horror cinema. Unfortunately, it doesn't hold up. The acting is poor. The zombie effects aren't interesting. It is remarkable that this movie, even in the late 60's was considered shocking with director Herschell Gordon Lewis working to give us such films as, The wizard of Gore, and The Gore Gore Girls. This film has good direction that other shock movies lack, but it also lacks shock value for any modern audience.
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I rate this title on for age 0 and give it
Let the kids See it!
I saw it when I was 11. My parents were a little mad, but I think this movie is perfectly aproprite for kids 12 and over! This movie should probably be watched with a perent though.
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I rate this title on for age 0 and give it
Night of the Living Dead
The first zombie movie, and still one of the best. Highly entertaining, and for being a low-budget B-movie made almost 40 years ago, has held up really well over time. The ending is still pretty intense. A fun, suspenseful horror classic - but the first sequel, Dawn of the Dead, is even better.
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I rate this title pause for age 0 and give it
A great movie, but very graphic
This movie has to be one of my favorite movies of all time. That said, it's not for kids. It has a lot of brutal violence and a very negative ending. I really did enjoy the "Anniversary Edition", and if you are a fan of the original movie, you should check it out. I don't think it deserved a 16+ rating; I would probably give it a 14+.
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I rate this title on for age 0 and give it
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Ratings at a Glance
| 50% | of parents say it gives kids positive messages |
| 33% | of parents say there are good role models |
| 33% | of parents say it's too violent |
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