Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Bumping The Night Away: Night of the Living Dead with A Live Band @ LACMA


Images courtesy of Getty images and Film Independent
Film Independents Bring The Noise had us running faster than any zombie in it's special Night of the Living Dead screening-using the recently released Criterion version- to get to the theater before it started. Elvis Mitchell of KCRW's The Treatment hosted the event with the live band The Paranoyds sticking around for the entire show providing a creepy soundtrack for all the undead.

Night of the Living Dead from the now deceased George Romero was the start of all we know to be zombies, without it all zombie media would be...dead. In this tale we have to deal with different survivors coming together in a farm house as the dead start walking the earth, eating the flesh of the living. Problems occur inside the house with just the survivors and though George Romero denies trying to make the film about race it does bust through as the lead, Duane Jones who plays Ben is and African American and happens to be the first black lead in a movie. And it came out only in 1968. Tensions rise not only because of the zombies trying to get in, but whose in control in the house.

As the crowd and us watched there were some laughable moments, like the flat-out, not okay punch the other lead, Judith O'Dea who plays Barbara as is in the "They're coming to get you Barbara!,' Barbara, gets from Ben. There's some terrible acting to laugh at too. For a major part of it at least for it's time, it is scary as the world around you suddenly has undead murderers who want to eat you. And some still haunting and quite gruesome visuals.

The Paranoyds provided a powerfully haunting soundtrack of people fighting or running away from the undead. The creepy rock music added to the tension if our survivors would make it. See the movie for yourself to find out if they did.

Afterward we were given free posters and a reception outside by the Hollywood Foreign Press to talk about what frightens us and if the movie holds up today...it does.



The free poster for all who attended