MovieChat Forums > Night of the Living Dead (1968) Discussion > When did you first see this? Where were ...

When did you first see this? Where were you? What did you think?

posted 8 years ago by shango7200
34 replies | jump to latest

ME:
years before I had seen this there was a lunch time discussion about horror movies on the playground at grade school.
One girl (that I was not fond of--she had a mean attitude) chimed in like "Oh yeah?! Well did you ever see Night of the Living Dead?" (with a snotty tone in her voice) . At the time (4th grade 1973) I hadn't ! And I had seen PLENTY of horror movies (Tales from the Crypt, Asylum, Vault of Horror, Frogs) at that young age (thankfully I had semi-liberal parents).
FAST FORWARD:
1976-ish.
Late night TV. Channel 7 in the NYC area . I was upstairs watching TV. My parents were having a cocktail party with the adult neighbors downstairs.
11:30 PM (I guess the still-then-new and outrageous Saturday Night Live was not on Or was a repeat?)
So I watched NOTLD for the first time............
All I can say is THANK GOD there were adults right downstairs making conversation in the background ! If I was home alone I would have FREAKED out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL.

My question is this; does anyone remember seeing this on TV BEFORE 1976 ? I don;t. Just wondering......

Would love to hear your story..............

"In every dimension , there's another YOU!"

[–] erwisc1964 7 years ago

Same here...
Same date,same age as you,same parents cocktail time. That movie scared the s..t out of me. Especially when the brother and sister were in the graveyard. I'm 52 years old now, and here I am still thinking about it!!! Crazy, huh?
Remember all those b&w horrors? I can't even LOOK at a spider without thinking about that movie TARANTULA!!!
Mary

[–] katholiday1962 7 years ago

It changed my life. And I went on to write a song about it!

I honor the dead with Easter-Egg's! "The Walker" / www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EIsv6QmEHk

[–] Prelude (1443) 6 years ago

Just saw it for the first time recently, I have to say I wasn't impressed.

I'm not trolling, it just left me feeling blah about it. I don't get the excitement about this film. Having said that, probably important to add I've never really cared about zombie movies so perhaps that's part of my indifference.

[–] paulbeardsley 7 years ago

I didn't see it till rather late. I'd already seen Dawn of the Dead in the cinema in about 1980 (aged 17) and possibly also Day of the Dead and Return of the Living Dead in around 1985. I remember imagining there was a parallel world where this was taking place, and had been going on for all those years, while we enjoy a zombie-free life in our world.

I also remember wondering what it must have been like for the characters in Night of the Living Dead (which by now I knew about but still hadn't seen). In Dawn, everyone knew about shooting them in the head, and that bites are always fatal, but in Night, they wouldn't know that stuff, would they?

So eventually - in about 1988 - I finally got to see Night. I was struck by how atmospheric - scarily atmospheric - it was right from the start. I was also struck by how well they conveyed the sense of it happening over a wide area through radio and TV reports and Ben's spoken account. And the things I'd wondered about were actually part of the plot. Finally, that ending...

Nevertheless, I'm envious of you people who saw it before everybody was zombie-savvy!

So this is permanence, love's shattered pride.
What once was innocence, turned on its side.

[–] Pableaux 7 years ago

I first saw this film on the big screen as a young teenager, 1968 or 1969. It was on a Saturday afternoon where they usually showed horror films but none of them were scary to me. This was when American International and Hammer films were popular, so I saw most of the Poe related films, still not scary for me. On this day I was just expecting another horror film with no horror, but I was wrong, dead wrong. I had never been frightened so much in a movie theater. It was ecstatic!
Years later it would appear on television and it still scared me. Now, nearly 50 years later, I still watch it often and wish I could experience the shock of the first time viewing!

[–] Verdugo85 7 years ago

In 2006. I seen bits of it before but wasnt into it. I guess because I preferred the 1990 remake with Tony Todd which I saw first and grew up with it but in 2006 is when I completely saw the original movie and I actually ended up liked it. Ben's death shocked me and it still does today when saw it recently..

[–] ephexis-78736 7 years ago

Me, I was quite late I had seen the remake first and thought it was ok but not great. Then I saw it in a pack of 4 straight to dvd films released by Prism. So I bought it and watched it that night about 2003 it was and I was shocked it was black and white.

I watched it in bed in the dark and *beep* it lol. It was so creepy and it turned out to be one of the best films I ever saw.

[–] ShallowAl69 7 years ago

No idea when

In the uk

Not much.

I don't really rate the film. I prefer the remake. And the sequels. And the remakes of the sequels.

[–] Strannger (2007) 7 years ago

Spoliers

I thought the world had a chance and might not be ending. Still it was shocking how the last survivor was killed. In a way I felt kinda hopeless as mankind's number may dwindle allowing the zombies a chance to multiply

[–] StyxNyx (859) 7 years ago

Shhhhh...don't give the ending away like that Strannger, it's not fair to those who haven't seen it yet. Some newer crowds probably haven't seen it yet and might actually want to some day. Should write **SPOILERS** on it so they'll know not to read it. I always do that as a courtesy to other's. 😊

[–] Strannger (2007) 7 years ago

Oh good idea

[–] StyxNyx (859) 7 years ago

Yeah, wasn't scolding you or anything, just some friendly advice. 😊👍

I've had many a films ruined from people telling the ending before I've seen them.

[–] Strannger (2007) 7 years ago

Oh I know Styx. When there old you think everyone has seen it, but you never know.

[–] StyxNyx (859) 7 years ago

Exactly. It's sometimes easy to forget about the younger generations, not having seen the older films that WE'VE seen yet.

[–] StyxNyx (859) 7 years ago

Nowadays, I usually wait until AFTER I've seen a film before looking at discussion boards. I've learned my lesson...lol!

[–] StyxNyx (859) 7 years ago

Other than that, for a low budget film, wasn't it a great little film? I loved it! Saw it in 76 and it scared the crap out of me...lol! I think B&W horror is often more effective than colourized horror.

[–] Strannger (2007) 7 years ago

Spoliers

t's a favorite I watch every Halloween. It really was a good step in world building as the zombies seemed so inhumane and a force of nature. The way they grabbed rock's and could tear flesh apart.

The characters, while they may not seem the most exciting bunch to grace the screen, were different enough that I cared about them in different ways. It's great when you feel torn between ideas as who has the right plan to survive or not.

It's the best psychological depiction I've ever seen

[–] StyxNyx (859) 7 years ago

Yeah, and on a budget of $114.000, I think they did a pretty good job! I think it was the first zombie film I had seen...even though I was 16 at the time. I never was really into zombie flicks much but was glad I had seen this! I watched it on the old Bob Wilkins Creature Features on tv at a friends house a few houses up from mine. It was midnight when it ended and I had to walk home...alone. It was in October and one of those breezy, gloomy looking nights with the trees and bushes softly rustling in the breeze...very creepy! I ran like lightning...lol!

I felt bad for the ending of the film. 😩

[–] [email protected] (5497) 7 years ago

One of the most frightening films ever made, imo. And since they were working on a shoestring budget, in b&w, it had the feeling of a REAL documentary, not a movie.

I was in college and a local channel was playing it one Saturday night. What was especially scary for me is that I was in Pittsburgh and the movie was filmed in western PA. The director made use of local TV personalities including Bill Cardille who hosted a Saturday night chiller theater movie as Chilly Billy.

So there I was , watching what looked like a real newscast with Chilly Billy talking about "strange murders" in the area.

It was so freaky. Like this was really happening. I actually got so scared that I turned it off. Couldn't watch the end. I saw the end years later when I was older and braver. Boy! This was one scary movie!

[–] StyxNyx (859) 7 years ago

Yeah, it DID look sort of "Documentaryish". Definitely scary! What I like about old B&W films too is, they know how to use shadowing which, I think, is what makes it creepier.

When I saw it in 76, it was definitely the scariest film I ever saw! Until 80, when "The Shining" came out...that topped the charts of "scary" for me! I have yet to find a film that scared me more. I guess that was the ultimate for me but I keep hoping I'll find something that'll scare me even more! 😉

[–] [email protected] (5497) 7 years ago

Well it's not a film about the supernatural but Silence of the Lambs really scared me! I actually think it traumatized me a little!

I have this ability to recognize faces of actors after I've seen them once. I have recognized actors who played Klingons or other aliens when I see them without their make-up.

Now the character of Jame Gumb in Silence of the Lambs...several years later the actor who played him, Ted Levine, played Capt. Stottlemeyer on Monk. I watched the show for several years and didn't recognize him from the film. It was only when it was pointed out to me did I realize it was the same actor!

I really think that the character was so evil and scary that I blocked out his face in my memory.

Pet Sematary was pretty darned scary too. I was watching it alone one night and one of my cats was sitting across the room, staring at me. I kept thinking that if his eyes started glowing in the dark like the cat in the movie, Church, I am OUTTA here! lol

[–] StyxNyx (859) 7 years ago

"It rubs the lotion on it's skin". Yeah, it was creepy, but never scared me. Great film though!

They can do wonders with make-up! I've seen lots of actors, on films, that I didn't recognize because of the way they were made up...it's really amazing at what they can do! If you were fairly young when you saw this film, you very well could've blocked out scenes that scared you. That's why they put ratings on films. Too many young kids today are watching films that parents wouldn't dream of subjecting their kids to 20 or 30 years ago. I don't approve of it even today. Films like this are NOT made for kids! They can be very traumatic and have long lasting effects on a child. It puts too many bad ideas into their heads. It's no wonder a lot of them are the way they are today. Same goes for the music they listen to...especially hard core, R rated rap. Kids have no business listening to that stuff...at all...but they do! There is a reason for ratings.

LoL...I can imagine that with your cat while watching "Pet Sematary" too. Certain things get instilled into your mind when you're watching something scary and can cause your mind to play tricks on you sometimes. I've been there, done that, many a time, while watching horror films...as an adult. Imagine what would've happened if I were a child! 😲😲 You DO know that Fred Gwynne (ex Herman Munster), played the neighbour, Jud Crandall, right? He's hard not to notice in ANY film though, no matter how they made him up...lol.

[–] [email protected] (5497) 7 years ago

Well it's embarrassing, but I saw Silence when I was an adult! And it still scared me. As a child I always watched the Saturday TV shows like Chiller Theater. Nothing like that scared me when it was on TV. But I have always had a problem seeing any type of scary or violent films in the theater. There's just something about being surrounded by all that darkness and the huge screen. It overwhelms me.

When I was a kid I used to go to the movies with my cousin when we'd visit her family on weekends. They had a theater in their town that showed older, second run films. She loved to go see horror movies. I'd try to be a good sport and go with her, but they scared me. And they were nothing like the horror/slasher films that came out later. But there were just some movies I refused to see.

To this day she likes to tease me about some of the films she missed because of my cowardice, such as 'The Screaming Skull', I didn't need to see that! lol

I could watch Pet Sematary on TV but I could NEVER go see it in the theater. Alien is one of my all time favorite films but I was too afraid to go see it in the theater.

Oh yeah, Fred Gwynne, great in Pet Sematary! He had one of the scariest lines in the film, spoken in that New England accent- "Sometimes dead is betta."

[–] StyxNyx (859) 7 years ago

An adult? Oh my! But don't be embarrassed, different things scare different people, we're are not alike in what frightens us. And other's simply scare easier too...I've had friends like that. I also used to watch the Creature Features shows on TV when I was around 13 (early 70's) to whenever the show went off the air in the 80's. Sometimes they scared me but not a lot...except the old B&W, "Night of the Living Dead" when I was 16! 😲

I never saw any horror/slasher flicks in a theatre until I was 17 or 18 (late 70's)...just in time for "Amityville", "Halloween, "Nightmare on Elm Street", "Friday the 13th", "Carrie", and the likes. They were pretty scary to me back then..."Friday the 13th" gave me one of the best scares at the end...of which caused me to scare the crap out of the guy sitting in front of me. OMG, it was classic!! Poor guy was white as a ghost after what I did to him...accidentally of course. But, I'll never forget it and, probably, nor will he!

I remember seeing "The Screaming Skull" on TV when I was about 9 or 10, that one scared me pretty good! As for "Pet Sematary", I didn't get to see it in the theatre but would've loved to. Yeah, that line of Fred's, the way he said it, was pretty creepy. The film never DID really scare me though, just creeped me out a lot. Oh...and I DID see "Alien" in the theatre when it first came out in '79'...I was about 8 months pregnant...imagine my thoughts...LOL!! 😉😉

I really wish we had a theatre near me that showed old horror flicks and what not, I'd be there all the time! 😄

[–] [email protected] (5497) 7 years ago

Well I feel a little embarrassed when I get scared in movie theaters! lol

But it's true that different people are afraid of different things. When we were kids, my sisters and I often watched Chiller Theater and Mad theater on Saturday afternoons. But then, my one sister would be afraid to go upstairs alone to go to the bathroom!

Movies like Silence of the Lambs are extra scary to me because they portray REAL monsters. People like Jame Gumb do exist. I've read many of Ann Rule's true crime novels. These people are scary enough when you read about them, but to see them in a movie is worse.

Of course some people are bigger chickens than I am. Years ago we rented Scream. My husband (now my ex) was too afraid to watch the rest of the movie. He went to bed! Of course he wouldn't watch the rest of Mel Gibson's Hamlet because he didn't understand it. lol

He bought a copy of Night of the Living Dead. I told him how much it scared me when I saw it. I didn't go into any details but I told him how scary it was. He never watched it! Big baby! lol

You went to see Alien while pregnant? Don't you know what could have happened to your baby? My grandmother had an old wives tale about things like that. When my mom was expecting me, she and my dad went to see some weird scary movie called "Invasion of the Mole People." I think that was the title.

My grandmother told my mom not to go see that type of movie because it will scare the baby. He or she will be born weird or deformed. Happy to say that I'm not THAT weird looking!

[–] StyxNyx (859) 7 years ago

Yeah, there's always going to be someone that is more afraid than you are, so I wouldn't worry about it. Each person has a different scare limit to what they can handle. Your ex sounds like a character...lol. 😉

I used to love the old B&W horror movies on TV when I was a kid. My friends would come over on a lazy Saturday afternoon and sit on the rug in front of the TV and get scared, then after the movie, we'd go back outside and play. Those were the good ol' days. 😊 I remember "Invasion of the Mole People" too...lol.

That's what my friends said to me when I saw "Alien" too...lol. Fortunately...I don't believe in wives tales. If I set my mind to doing something, I'm gonna do it regardless of wives tales or rumours...lol. They're just that...tales. After all...you turned out fine, and so did my daughter. 😉 I'm not superstitious at all either.

[–] TommyJarvis82 (2473) 7 years ago

First watched it in early 1988. I like it much more now.