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“Night of the Living Dead” in HD – Watch it now for FREE!
It’s October! And that, of course, means it’s time for scary movies! So why not start the month off right by watching the low-budget zombie movie that set the standard, Night of the Living Dead?
Though the female characters are mostly quite useless — with one hysterical character causing catastrophe and the catatonic Barbra in particular being nothing more than a ragdoll at times, the film was particularly progressive for casting Duane Jones, a black man, as the lead character and hero, an uncommon and potentially controversial decision in 1968. Though Romero claims that Jones simply gave the best audition, the film gains a subtle racial subtext, starting a trend for later entries in the series to tackle other social matters.
The film also predates the MPAA rating system we’re all familiar with today, so the amount of gore at the time was a cause for concern, with nobody, including children, being excluded from buying tickets. It’s rather tame by today’s standards for a horror film, and perhaps a bit cheesy, too, but the film stands out as a moody, B-movie classic.
Thanks to the distributor failing to abide by the copyright laws of 1968, this cult classic is in the public domain and is free to watch and edit as you see fit! Below is the video embed of the original version in HD. Turn down the lights, turn up the volume, and enjoy.
The Viewer’s Commentary: Coming Attractions
Hello everyone! I just wanted to thank you all for this past week. I’ve been figuring out scheduling and, while still quite a bit shaky, I am of course going to keep the articles coming. I’ve got some big things planned, but haven’t had much time to do it all thanks to a birthday party, church, and work, but I figured, in the spirit of cinema, that I would give you all a set of previews for some upcoming attractions I have coming that I’m really excited about!
REVIEWS – I’ve seen a few films this past week that I’m eager to get reviews of. One of them still in theatres, one of them well into its senior years, and two that are just now starting to toddle around. … Okay enough with the age analogies. Want some hints as to what these movies are? Well, the first one involves an epidemic so epic, I can list at least 8 major actors by name who appear in the film and still not touch on the number of people involved. The oldest film I plan on reviewing is actually a recently released Blu-Ray involving a pachyderm who rises to the big top. Hint hint… As for the other two, one is a fictional account of the assassination of a legendary outlaw, and the other revolves around a couple determined to be together despite a cosmic, all knowing bureaucracy. Hope you like variety! I’ve also got reviews of the Blu-Ray editions of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi lined up – the discs are literally sitting in my living room waiting to be watched, and my eagerness to get to other movies is definitely going to motivate me to get those watched.
PIXAR IN REVUE – While this is primarily a prelude to a feature I’ve been planning to do since long before this site was even registered, I will be going through each of the major Pixar works, from the first shorts to Toy Story in 1995 to their recent and hopefully brief flirtation with pure commercialization in Cars 2, and then to infinity and beyond. All that will lead up to my most ambitious idea yet…
WALT DISNEY FEATURES: THE FEATURE – Similar to what I’m doing with Pixar, I will continue to express my love of animated films by going over each of the 51 Disney animated features and take a look at some upcoming works and related works. This one will take me the longest to do, so it will likely become a weekly-at-least type of feature, while I try to not only review and opine on the films, but also hopefully provide some historical context for each of the films, pertaining to not only Disney, but animation and even the world. I plan on doing an overview of each film as a primer before setting out to look at each on an individual basis. This is going to be quite difficult, especially since I plan on continuing work on other films, too, but I’m up for the challenge and I’m really looking forward to tackling this the most!
HORROR FILM MONTH – As always, October is going to be the month I begin focusing on horror films. This year, I’m planning on getting in touch with some of the more famous horror films I’ve always managed to avoid (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween) while going over a few of my favorites, such as 28 Days Later, The Sixth Sense, Alien, and Psycho.
LISTS – Not so much a special thing I’m planning on doing as much as it is a regular feature I plan on doing, many of you may already know that I’m big on Top 10 lists, so expect me to fan the flames of discussion and discord while I make arbitrary lists of films and film-related things!
It’s about to get serious, and I appreciate both my friends and family who come here to support me as I indulge in my interests publicly and all of you who may possibly pass by this blog and find something worth your attention. I am but one man, but I do hope I can meet not just my own expectations, but yours too, and, again, I appreciate any support I get!
Thanks again everyone! I hope you are all as excited as I am!
The Viewer's Commentary 