Night of the Living Dead (1968)

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Night of the Living Dead (1968) – G. Romero

The first thing that Romero’s original low-budget zombie flick has going for it is that you feel that it could really be happening – the characters do the things you expect them to do, if facing this (otherwise implausible) scenario. The second thing is that Romero manages to sneak some social commentary (chiefly about race relations) into what would have been expected to be just grindhouse fare. The third thing is Pittsburgh – it just feels like a place where a zombie manifestation could happen.  Dawn of the Dead, the first sequel, may be even better, although the franchise loses steam after that.  If you’ve only seen its more recent descendents (or remakes), you really owe it to yourself to check out the opening salvo.