# Has there ever been a zombie movie as scary as the original "Night of the Living Dead"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 10, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878 "2010-05-10T04:53:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878/21 "2010-05-10T21:16:58Z")
> [@shy\_guy](#): > > God knows I love _NotLD_ and have seen it about a hundred times, but it’s just too _old_ to actually be scary. I’m incredibly impressed by the movie and some of its images and ideas are certainly chilling, but the style of acting is just too dated and silly and the special effects are too bad for me to take it seriously enough to be scared by it. Oh, poor jaded fellow . . . ☹ Is it like that across the board? Have all the classic horror films from Universal and Hammer, everything that the late Forrest J. Ackerman used to gleefully showcase in [_Famous Monsters of Filmland_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famous_Monsters_of_Filmland) (and don’t forget [\*Castle of Frankenstein](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_of_frankenstein)),\* everything that scared and thrilled the shit out of young Stephen King as he recounted in [_Danse Macabre,_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danse_Macabre_(book)) lost their power to awe and terrify? What about the original _Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street?_ How new does a frightfilm have to be to do the job any more? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878/22 "2010-05-10T22:25:21Z")
I enjoyed both NotLD and DotD, but DotD is so much more abruptly graphic than its predecessor (heh) that it really had me scared for weeks. In particular a very early scene on the stairs of an apartment building… ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878/23 "2010-05-10T22:30:29Z")
NotLD is scariest for me, for a few reasons. First, I saw it when it came out, so I was not full up of zombie law. Second, I saw it in the Orson Welles Theater in Cambridge as the third part of a triple feature - the first two parts being W. C. Fields movies. The sudden shift from comedy to horror was brilliant. To me, the movie seemed about 18 hours long - not because I was bored, but because the zombies kept on coming. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878/24 "2010-05-11T02:39:29Z")
I agree with the OP. Definitely one of the scariest of the scary. Most “scary” movies fail to scare me, because they are just so damn impossible. But this one manages to have an otherworldly feel to it; something about the camera angles, the B&W, the pacing… you just don’t have that disconnect from reality that most horror movies give you. It is its \*own \*reality, where these damn ghouls just might really \*be \*possible! And yes, I hear, “they’re coming to get you, Barbra!!” in my head in many situations…TRM ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878/25 "2010-05-11T03:25:13Z")
Yes. Wouldn’t have even been interested (or aware) until a Readers Digest editorial appeared about how movies are destroying our children. The complete editorial was a rant against this one film. Never had heard of it before. It became a must see. ---
**Author:** ![parthenokinesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/cc9497/32.png) [@parthenokinesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parthenokinesis)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878/26 "2010-05-11T11:30:58Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > For me, the reason Night of the Living Dead is scary is that no one can escape the zombie apocalypse. They might be brainless, they might be slow, but they absolutely will not stop. The only film that comes close is 28 Days Later. These are also my two top favorites and they are very different movies. NotLD is a classic siege film, and that became synonymous with zombie films for a while, bunch a people trapped in a place surrounded by zombies who are slowly breaking down the defenses. 28 Days Later was a road film, people on the run, running from, running to. Different dynamic. But the third act was just masterful. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878/27 "2010-05-11T11:55:17Z")
It didn’t frighten me at all, but the new _Dawn of the Dead_ is fantastic. I think people overlook it as just some zombie movie, but I think it’s a great film, even beyond its genre. The opening scene with the music by Johnny Cash is brilliant- whoever is responsible for it deserves an award of some kind. _28 Days Later_ is brilliant as well. I wish they hadn’t made a sequel. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878/28 "2010-05-11T12:01:57Z")
My vote is for Shaun of the Dead, don’t know why but it seemed more real then the OTT American movies. Did find one scene chilling in one though, at the Shopping Mall a Zombie is carrying a live human like shopping up an escalator. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878/29 "2010-05-11T17:11:37Z")
> [@Doug\_Bowe](#): > > Yes. Wouldn’t have even been interested (or aware) until a Readers Digest editorial appeared about how movies are destroying our children. > > The complete editorial was a rant against this one film. > > Never had heard of it before. It became a must see. OMG, I came here to mention this article! I didn’t think anyone but an old person like me(55) would remember it. I didn’t see it then because I was still too young to get myself to the theater on my own. But I would have gone if I could drive. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878/30 "2010-05-11T17:36:09Z")
When I first saw Night of the Living Dead in the 80’s, sure it was scary. But it wasn’t the stuff of nightmares. It was more scary than the monster movies that would play on Son of Svenghoulie, for what that’s worth, but around the time I could have named a lot of movies that were more frightening. But I saw part of Day of the Dead in the theater, and I had to walk out. I sat in the lobby waiting for my sister, though I could still hear the screams. Since then, I’ve had the wiggins about zombie films. But from the original? Feh. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878/31 "2010-05-11T17:49:36Z")
I thought Return of the Living Dead was pretty creepy. “Send more paramedics!” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878/32 "2010-05-11T17:51:44Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > However, the first ten minutes or so of the Dawn of the Dead remake are incredibly chilling. They used the fact that the characters don’t know they’re in a zombie movie, but we do, to build tension beautifully. Absolutely agreed. Best ten minutes of any zombie movie, period. And one of the remakes of _Night_ was pretty chilling, until Librarian Barbie turned into Badass Barbie. Then it was hot. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878/33 "2010-05-11T17:54:11Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > It didn’t frighten me at all, but the new _Dawn of the Dead_ is fantastic. I think people overlook it as just some zombie movie, but I think it’s a great film, even beyond its genre. The opening scene with the music by Johnny Cash is brilliant- whoever is responsible for it deserves an award of some kind. > > _28 Days Later_ is brilliant as well. I wish they hadn’t made a sequel. I’m going to ditto these points. _The Dawn of the Dead_ remake and _28 Days Later_ are the two best zombie movies around. (Yeah, yeah, the _28DL_ critters aren’t technically zombies. Shut up. It’s a zombie movie.) And I agree that the opening sequence of the new _Dawn of the Dead_ is just about the best piece of footage in any zombie movie. However, I will confess that the original _Night of the Living Dead_ gave me quite a case of the willies when I was a lad watching it on late night TV. It seemed disturbingly “real” compared with other horror movies of the day. Strange to say, given the subject matter. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878/34 "2010-05-11T23:36:27Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Absolutely agreed. Best ten minutes of any zombie movie, period. > > And one of the remakes of _Night_ was pretty chilling, until Librarian Barbie turned into Badass Barbie. Then it was hot. Savini’s 1990 remake. It’s the first one I saw actually. Made me a lifetime Tony Todd fan. Barbara’s “We can just walk right past them” revelation is genius. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878/35 "2010-05-11T23:52:43Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > the only explanation for them he ever had in mind was, “When Hell is full, the dead will walk the earth!” (A phrase never mentioned in the movie, but prominent on the posters.) The phrase is from Dawn of the Dead (original), not NotLD, and used in the movie by Peter, in addition to the posters. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oykvs8ePij8/hqdefault.jpg "Dawn of the Dead - When Theres No More Room Left In Hell,The Dead Will Walk The Earth.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oykvs8ePij8) Peter also actually calls them zombies at one point (couldn’t find a clip, sorry). ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878/36 "2010-05-12T00:17:25Z")
I’d say _Dawn of the Dead_ (the original) is a better movie (and far superior than its own remake\*), but _Night_ still has the rawer look and feel that gives me the creeps like none of the others. B&W helps immeasurably in this department, and the single locked house setting is used to full advantage. \*Yes, the first 10 minutes were awesome blah-di-blah-blah. But after those first 10 minutes were 90 more of dumb-dumb-dumb-dumb-dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878/37 "2010-05-12T18:48:56Z")
Anyone seen or heard about Romero’s latest? “Survival of the Dead” I watched the trailer last night (you can download the whole movie from xbox live for 1200 points). It looks… interesting. Basically a Hattfield and McCoy style rivalry between two families on a remote island… with zombies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-zombie-movie-as-scary-as-the-original-night-of-the-living-dead/538878.md?page=1)