Editing Night of the Living Dead (section)

== Production ==
=== Development and pre-production ===
{{external media
| width  = 210px
| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oMQRrcLIaI The Calgon Story] <br />The creation of a high-budget television commercial for [[Calgon|Calgon brand detergent]] spurred the film's producers to create a horror movie.{{sfn|Kane|2010|p=28}}
}}

George Romero embarked upon his career in the [[film industry]] while attending [[Carnegie Mellon University]] in [[Pittsburgh]].{{sfn|Kane|2010|p=25}} He directed and produced television commercials and [[sponsored film|industrial films]] for The Latent Image, a company he co-founded with his friend [[Russell Streiner]].{{sfn|Kane|2010|pp=26–27}} The Latent Image started small, but after producing a high-budget [[Calgon]] commercial spoofing ''[[Fantastic Voyage]]'' (1966), Romero felt that the company had the experience and equipment to produce a feature film.{{sfn|Kane|2010|p=28}} They wanted to capitalize on the film industry's "thirst for the bizarre", according to Romero.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2017/07/17/george-romero-godfather-zombie-horror-obituary/ |title=George A Romero, Godfather of Zombie Horror – Obituary |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=July 17, 2017 |access-date=August 27, 2023 |archive-date=August 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230827020019/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2017/07/17/george-romero-godfather-zombie-horror-obituary/ |url-status=live}}</ref> He, Streiner, and [[John A. Russo]] contacted Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman, president, and vice president respectively, of a Pittsburgh-based industrial film firm called Hardman Associates, Inc. The Latent Image pitched their idea for a then-untitled horror film.<ref name="Hardman/Eastmaninterview">{{cite interview |last1=Hardman |first1=Karl |last2=Eastman |first2=Marilyn |url=https://www.homepageofthedead.com/films/night/interviews_1.html |work=Homepage of the Dead |title=Interview with Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman |access-date=October 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107014220/http://www.homepageofthedead.com/films/night/interviews_1.html |archive-date=November 7, 2015}}</ref>

These discussions led to the creation of Image Ten, a production company chartered to produce a single feature film. The initial budget was $6,000;{{sfn|Kane|2010|pp=20–23}} each member of the production company invested $600 for a share of the profits.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://variety.com/2017/film/obituaries-people-news/night-of-the-living-dead-george-kasana-dies-at-81-1201951718/ |title='Night of the Living Dead' Actor George Kosana Dies at 81 |last=Thorne |first=Will |date=January 3, 2017 |work=Variety |access-date=January 4, 2017 |archive-date=January 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104114404/http://variety.com/2017/film/obituaries-people-news/night-of-the-living-dead-george-kasana-dies-at-81-1201951718/ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|The initial ten members for which Image Ten gets its name are:

# George A. Romero
# John Russo
# Russell Streiner
# Marilyn Eastman
# Karl Hardman
# Vince Survinski (production manager)
# Richard Ricci (actor)
# Rudy Ricci (actor)
# Gary Streiner (sound)
# Dave Clipper (attorney) <br />{{harv|Kane|2010|p=22}} }} Ten more investors contributed another $6,000, but this was still insufficient.{{sfn|Russo|1985|pages=6–7}} Production stopped multiple times during filming while Romero used early footage to persuade additional investors.{{sfn|Peary|1981|p=227}} Image Ten eventually raised approximately $114,000 for the budget (${{Inflation|US|114000|1968|r=-3|fmt=c}} today).{{Inflation/fn|US}}{{sfn|Russo|1985|pages=6–7}}

=== Writing ===
[[File:Zombies NightoftheLivingDead.jpg|thumb |alt=A group of actors in zombie makeup shamble across the unlit lawn of the farmhouse. |Ghouls swarm around the house, searching for living [[Human cannibalism|human flesh]].]]
The script was co-written by Russo and Romero. They abandoned an early [[Horror comedy (genre)|horror comedy]] concept about adolescent aliens,{{sfn|Kane|2010|p=23}} after realizing they would not have the budget to create a convincing spaceship.{{sfn|Kane|2010|p=21}} Russo proposed a more constrained narrative where a young man runs away from home and discovers aliens harvesting human corpses for food in a cemetery.{{sfn|Russo|1985|pages=31, 61}}{{sfn|Kane|2010|pp=20–24}} Romero combined this idea with an unpublished short story about flesh-eating ghouls,{{sfn|Bishop|2006|p=199}} and they began filming with an incomplete script.{{sfn|Peary|1981|p=227}}{{sfn|Kane|2010|p=23}} According to Russo, the screenplay written prior to filming only covered events up to the emergence of the Cooper family.{{sfn|Surmacz|1975|p=16}} Russo completed the script while filming and Romero later expanded the final pages of his short story into the sequels ''[[Dawn of the Dead (1978 film)|Dawn of the Dead]]'' (1978) and ''[[Day of the Dead (1985 film)|Day of the Dead]]'' (1985).<ref>{{cite interview |last=Romero |first=George A. |title=George A. Romero Interview |work=Forbidden Weekend |publisher=BBC2 |date=February 2, 1997}}</ref>

Romero drew inspiration from [[Richard Matheson]]'s ''[[I Am Legend (novel)|I Am Legend]]'' (1954),{{sfn|Dinello|2006|p=257}}{{efn|Official film adaptations of Matheson's novel include ''[[The Last Man on Earth (1964 film)|The Last Man on Earth]]'' (1964), ''[[The Omega Man]]'' (1971), and the 2007 release ''[[I Am Legend (film)|I Am Legend]]''.}} a [[horror fiction|horror novel]] about a [[Epidemic|plague]] that ravages a futuristic Los Angeles. The infected in ''I Am Legend'' become [[vampire]]-like creatures and prey on the uninfected.{{sfn|Paffenroth|2006|pp=138–143}}{{sfn|Russo|1985|pages=6–7}}<ref>{{cite book |author=Matheson, Richard |author-link=Richard Matheson |title=I Am Legend |orig-year=1954 |publisher=Orb Books |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-312-86504-7}}</ref> Matheson described Romero's interpretation as "kind of cornball",{{sfn|Weaver|1999|p=307}} and more theft than homage.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Clark |last=Collis |title=An Author You Can't Refuse |url=https://ew.com/article/2007/11/30/richard-mathesons-latest-sci-fi-project/ |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |date=December 7, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731002331/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20164028,00.html |archive-date=July 31, 2018}}</ref> In an interview, Romero contrasted ''Night of the Living Dead'' with ''I Am Legend''. He explained that Matheson wrote about the aftermath of a complete global upheaval; Romero wanted to explore how people would respond to that kind of disaster as it developed.<ref>{{cite web |first=Marianna |last=McConnell |url=https://cinemablend.com/new/Interview-George-A-Romero-On-Diary-Of-The-Dead-7818.html |title=Interview: George A. Romero On ''Diary of the Dead'' |work=Cinema Blend |date=January 24, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226094750/https://www.cinemablend.com/new/Interview-George-A-Romero-On-Diary-Of-The-Dead-7818.html |archive-date=December 26, 2019}}</ref>

Much of the dialogue was altered, rewritten, or improvised by the cast.{{sfn|Kane|2010|pp=33–34, 40, 45}} Lead actress Judith O'Dea told an interviewer, "I don't know if there was an actual working script! We would go over what basically had to be done, then just did it the way we each felt it ''should'' be done".{{sfn|Collum|2004|p=4}} One example offered by O'Dea concerns a scene where Barbra tells Ben about Johnny's death. O'Dea said that the script vaguely had Barbra talk about riding in the car with Johnny before they were attacked. She described Barbra's dialogue for the scene as entirely [[improv theater|improv]].{{sfn|Collum|2004|pages=3–4}} Eastman modified the scenes written for Helen and Harry Cooper in the cellar.<ref name="Hardman/Eastmaninterview"/> Karl Hardman attributed Ben's lines to lead actor Duane Jones. Ben was an uneducated truck driver in the script until Jones began to rewrite his character.{{sfn|Kane|2010|pp=32–35}}<ref name="Hardman/Eastmaninterview"/>

The lead role was initially written for a [[white American|white]] actor, but upon casting black actor Duane Jones, Romero intentionally did not alter the script to reflect this.<ref name="Walkdead"/> The film appeared in theaters at a time when very few black actors played leading roles. The rare exceptions, like the consciously black heroes played by [[Sidney Poitier]], were written as subservient to make those characters palatable to white audiences.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=McGreevy |first=Nora |date=January 7, 2022 |title=How Sidney Poitier Rewrote the Script for Black Actors in Hollywood |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-sidney-poitier-rewrote-the-script-for-black-actors-in-hollywood-180979333/ |magazine=[[Smithsonian Magazine]] |access-date=January 8, 2022 |archive-date=January 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108205154/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-sidney-poitier-rewrote-the-script-for-black-actors-in-hollywood-180979333/ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Harper|2005}} Asked in 2013 if he took inspiration from the [[assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.]] in the same year that the movie was made, Romero responded in the negative, noting that he only heard about the shooting when he was on his way to find distribution for the finished film.<ref name="Walkdead"/>

=== Filming ===
==== Principal photography ====
{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | width = 220
 | image1 = EvansCityCemetery PA.jpg
 | caption1 = [[Evans City, Pennsylvania|Evans City]] Cemetery in 2007
 | alt1 = Color photograph of tombstones from the film.
 | image2 = Evans City Cemetery Chapel, Evans City, PA - February 2009.jpg
 | caption2 = Cemetery Chapel in 2009
 | alt2 = Color photograph of the cemetery chapel seen in the film, now with all windows boarded over.
}}
The small budget dictated much of the production process.<ref name="Hardman/Eastmaninterview"/>{{sfn|Newman|2000|p=57}} Scenes were filmed near [[Evans City, Pennsylvania|Evans City]], Pennsylvania, {{convert|30|mi|km}} north of Pittsburgh in rural [[Butler County, Pennsylvania|Butler County]];{{sfn|Kane|2010|p=46}} the opening sequence was shot at the Evans City Cemetery on Franklin Road, south of the borough.{{sfn|Kane|2010|pages=55–6}}{{efn|In 2011, when the cemetery chapel was under warrant for demolition, Gary R. Steiner led a successful effort to raise funding to restore the building.<ref name="fix">{{cite web |url=http://www.fixthechapel.com/ |title=Save the Evans City Cemetery Chapel |access-date=October 4, 2013 |archive-date=October 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005173755/http://www.fixthechapel.com/ |publisher=Living Dead Festival, LLC}}</ref><ref name="trib">{{cite news |last=Farkas |first=Rachel |date=August 31, 2013 |url=https://archive.triblive.com/news/zombie-fans-celebrate-iconic-night-of-the-living-dead-in-evans-city/ |title=Zombie Fans Celebrate Iconic 'Night of the Living Dead' |access-date=October 4, 2013 |archive-date=November 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116014144/https://triblive.com/mobile/4609845-96/dead-evans-living |url-status=live |newspaper=TribLIVE |publisher=Trib Total Media}}</ref>}} Lacking the money to build or purchase a house for the main set, the filmmakers rented a nearby farmhouse scheduled for demolition. Though it lacked running water, some crew members slept there during the shooting, taking baths in a nearby creek.{{sfn|Hervey|2008|pp=10–11}} The building's neglected cellar was not a viable location for filming, so the few basement scenes were shot beneath The Latent Image offices.{{sfn|Kane|2010|pp=28, 29, 59}} The basement door shown in the film was cut into a wall by the production team and led nowhere.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://screenrant.com/night-of-the-living-dead-1968-hidden-details-trivia/ |title=10 Hidden Details Everyone Missed In Night Of The Living Dead |first=Colin |last=McCormick |date=February 4, 2021 |website=ScreenRant |access-date=September 2, 2023 |archive-date=September 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230902053222/https://screenrant.com/night-of-the-living-dead-1968-hidden-details-trivia/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Theatrical property|Props]] and [[special effect]]s were simple and limited by the budget. The blood, for example, was [[Bosco Chocolate Syrup]] drizzled over cast members' bodies.{{sfn|Kane|2010|p=n184}} The human flesh consumed by ghouls consisted of meat and [[offal]] donated by an investor's butcher shop.{{sfn|Hoberman|Rosenbaum|1983|p=121}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://daily.jstor.org/the-d-i-y-origins-of-night-of-the-living-dead/ |title=The D-I-Y Origins of Night of the Living Dead |first=Elizabeth |last=Winterhalter |date=November 5, 2020 |website=JSTOR Daily |access-date=September 2, 2023 |archive-date=September 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230902063336/https://daily.jstor.org/the-d-i-y-origins-of-night-of-the-living-dead/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Zombie makeup varied during the film. Initially, makeup was limited to white skin with blackened eyes. As filming progressed, mortician's wax simulated wounds and decaying flesh.{{sfn|Kane|2010|pp=47–49, 58}} Filming took place between July 1967 and January 1968 under various titles. Work began under the generic working title ''Monster Flick'', was changed to ''Night of Anubis'' after Romero's short story that provided the basis for the script, and was completed as ''Night of the Flesh Eaters'', a title not used in the final release due to a potential conflict with a [[The Flesh Eaters (film)|similarly named film]].<ref name="Scrapbook, Special Features 2002">{{cite AV media |people=Romero, George A. |display-authors=etal |title=Scrapbook |work=Night of the Living Dead |publisher=Elite Entertainment |year=2002 |type=DVD |series=Millennium Edition}}</ref>{{sfn|Heffernan|2004|p=219}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://horrorstudies.library.pitt.edu/content/night-flesh-eaters-mini-banners |title=Night of the Flesh Eaters Mini-Banners |website=Horror Studies Collection |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Library Systems |last=Hart |first=Adam Charles |access-date=September 2, 2023 |archive-date=September 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230902060824/https://horrorstudies.library.pitt.edu/content/night-flesh-eaters-mini-banners |url-status=live}}</ref> The small budget led Romero to shoot on [[35mm movie film|35 mm]] black-and-white film. The completed film ultimately benefited from the decision, as film historian Joseph Maddrey describes the black-and-white filming as "[[guerrilla filmmaking|guerrilla-style]]", resembling "the unflinching authority of a wartime newsreel". He found the [[exploitation film]] to resemble a documentary on social instability.{{sfn|Maddrey|2004|p=51}}

==== Directing ====
[[File:Girl zombie eating her victim Night of the Living Dead bw.jpg|alt=Karen Cooper leans over her father's bloody corpse holding two handfuls of meat in a still from the film.|thumb|Living dead Karen Cooper, eating her father's corpse]]

''Night of the Living Dead'' was the first feature-length film directed by George A. Romero. His initial work involved filming advertisements, industrial films, and [[Short film|shorts]] for Pittsburgh public broadcaster [[WQED (TV)|WQED]]'s children's series ''[[Mister Rogers' Neighborhood]]''.<ref name="DOD">{{cite AV media |title=Dawn of the Dead |type=DVD |date=2004 |chapter=George A. Romero Bio |publisher=Anchor Bay |edition=Special Divimax}}.</ref><ref>{{multiref2
|{{cite web |url=http://www.diamonddead.com/diary/view.php?s=YTo |author=Romero, George A. |author-link=George A. Romero |title=''Bloody Diary: Part 1'' |website=diamonddead.com |date=January 7, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214070123/http://www.diamonddead.com/diary/view.php?s=YToyOntzOjM6ImFpZCI7czoxOiIzIjtzOjI6ImlkIjtzOjI6IjE2Ijt9 |archive-date=February 14, 2007 |ref=none}}
|{{cite web |url=http://www.diamonddead.com/diary/view.php?s=YToyOntzOjM6ImFpZCI7czoxOiIzIjtzOjI6ImlkIjtzOjI6IjI4Ijt9 |author=Romero, George A. |author-link=George A. Romero |title=''Bloody Diary: Part 2'' |website=diamonddead.com |date=January 15, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216005517/http://www.diamonddead.com/diary/view.php?s=YToyOntzOjM6ImFpZCI7czoxOiIzIjtzOjI6ImlkIjtzOjI6IjI4Ijt9 |archive-date=February 16, 2007 |ref=none}}
|{{cite web |url=http://www.diamonddead.com/diary/view.php?s=YToyOntzOjM6ImFpZCI7czoxOiIzIjtzOjI6ImlkIjtzOjI6IjM1Ijt9 |author=Romero, George A. |author-link=George A. Romero |title=''Bloody Diary: Part 3'' |website=diamonddead.com |date=January 28, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061026095318/http://www.diamonddead.com/diary/view.php?s=YToyOntzOjM6ImFpZCI7czoxOiIzIjtzOjI6ImlkIjtzOjI6IjM1Ijt9 |archive-date=October 26, 2006 |ref=none}}
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.grunge.com/816022/how-mr-rogers-gave-night-of-the-living-dead-director-george-romero-his-start/ |title=How Mr Rogers Gave Night Of The Living Dead Director George Romero His Start |first=Matt |last=Reigle |date=March 30, 2022 |website=Grunge |access-date=September 4, 2023 |archive-date=September 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230904014148/https://www.grunge.com/816022/how-mr-rogers-gave-night-of-the-living-dead-director-george-romero-his-start/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Romero's decision to direct ''Night of the Living Dead'' launched his career as a horror director. He took the helm of the sequels as well as ''[[Season of the Witch (1972 film)|Season of the Witch]]'' (1972), ''[[The Crazies (1973 film)|The Crazies]]'' (1973), ''[[Martin (1978 film)|Martin]]'' (1978), ''[[Creepshow]]'' (1982) and ''[[The Dark Half (film)|The Dark Half]]'' (1993).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ew.com/movies/george-romero-movies-ranked/ |title=George Romero Movies, Ranked |first=Declan |last=Gallagher |date=August 17, 2023 |website=EW.com |access-date=September 4, 2023 |archive-date=September 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230904014151/https://ew.com/movies/george-romero-movies-ranked/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/literary-cultural-heritage-map-pa/bios/Romero__George |title=George A. Romero |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Libraries |location=Pennsylvania |website=Center for the Book |access-date=September 4, 2023 |archive-date=September 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230904014204/https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/literary-cultural-heritage-map-pa/bios/Romero__George |url-status=live}}</ref> Critics saw the influence of the horror and science-fiction films of the 1950s in Romero's directorial style. Stephen Paul Miller, for instance, witnessed "a revival of fifties schlock shock ... and the army general's television discussion of military operations in the film echoes the often inevitable calling-in of the army in fifties horror films". Miller admits that "''Night of the Living Dead'' takes greater relish in mocking these military operations through the general's pompous demeanor" and the government's inability to source the zombie epidemic or protect the citizenry.{{sfn|Miller|1999|p=81}} Romero described the film's intended mood as a downward arc from near hopelessness to complete tragedy. Film historian Carl Royer praised the film's sophistication—especially considering Romero's limited experience—and noted the use of [[chiaroscuro]] ([[film noir]] style) lighting to create a mood of increasing alienation.{{sfn|Royer|2005|p=15}}

''Night'' was visually influenced by [[Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] [[horror comics]].{{sfn|Chute|1982|p=15}} The [[EC Comics]] books that Romero read as a child were graphic stories set in modern America. They often featured brutal deaths and reanimated corpses seeking revenge on the living.{{sfn|Hervey|2008|p=36}} Romero said that he tried to bring into the film the "real hard shadows and weird angles and beautiful lighting that a comic book artist can create."{{sfn|Selby|2004|loc=43:40}} He later collaborated with horror writer [[Stephen King]] and former EC Comics artists on the homage ''[[Creepshow]]''.{{sfn|Selby|2004|loc=44:25}}

While some critics dismissed Romero's film because of the graphic scenes, writer [[R. H. W. Dillard]] claimed that the "open-eyed detailing" of [[taboo]] heightened the film's success. He asked, "What girl has not, at one time or another, wished to kill her mother? And Karen, in the film, offers a particularly vivid opportunity to commit the forbidden deed vicariously."{{sfn|Dillard|Waller|1988|p=15}} Romero featured social taboos as key themes, especially cannibalism. Film historian Robin Wood interprets the flesh-eating scenes of ''Night of the Living Dead'' as a late-1960s critique of American capitalism. Wood argues that the zombies' consumption of people represents the logical endpoint of human interactions under capitalism.{{sfn|Wood|1985|p=213}}

=== Post-production ===
Members of Image Ten were involved in filming and [[Film editing|post-production]], participating in loading [[camera magazine]]s, [[Gaffer (filmmaking)|gaffing]], constructing props, recording sounds and editing.{{sfn|Russo|1985|p=7}} Production stills were shot and printed by Karl Hardman, assisted by a "production line" of other cast members.<ref name="Hardman/Eastmaninterview"/> Upon completion of post-production, Image Ten found it difficult to secure a distributor willing to show the film with the gruesome scenes intact. [[Columbia Pictures|Columbia]] rejected the film for its lack of color, and [[American International Pictures]] declined after requests to soften it and re-shoot the final scene were rejected by producers.{{sfn|Peary|1981|p=227}} The [[Walter Reade|Walter Reade Organization]] agreed to show the film uncensored but changed the title from ''Night of the Flesh Eaters'' to ''Night of the Living Dead'' because of an existing film with a [[The Flesh Eaters (film)|similar title]]. While changing the title, the copyright notice was accidentally deleted from the early releases of the film.{{sfn|Boluk|Lenz|2011|p=5}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.library.cmu.edu/about/news/2017-11/legacy-dead-zombie-redux |title=Legacy of the Dead: Zombie Redux |publisher=Carnegie Mellon University |website=CMU Libraries |access-date=September 4, 2023 |archive-date=September 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230904020141/https://www.library.cmu.edu/about/news/2017-11/legacy-dead-zombie-redux |url-status=live |last1=Mulligan |first1=Rikk |last2=Prisbylla |first2=Andy |last3=Scherer |first3=David}}</ref>

=== Soundtrack ===
[[File:0752 Fallout When and How to Protect Yourself Against It 12 01 05 00.ogg|thumbtime=114 |thumb |alt=|start=6|end=28|Drawn from pre-existing recordings, the music in ''Night of the Living Dead'' appears in many other films. The composition from the end credits previously appeared during this 1959 nuclear fallout public service video.<ref>{{cite journal |trans-title=New Children of War: On the Iconography of the Zombie Archetype in the Context of the Vietnam War |title=Des Krieges Neue Kinder. ÜBerlegungen Zur Ikonografie Des Zombiearchetyps Im Kontext Des Vietnamkriegs |last=Drogla |first=Paul |date=2015 |journal=Zeitschrift für Fantastikforschung |language=German |issue=2 |page=31:24 |quote=[...] Lehrfilms Fallout: When and How to Protect Yourself Against It  (USA 1959, produziert von Creative Arts Studio Inc. im Auftrag des Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization). Was im Aufklärungsfilm einleitend Aufnahmen von Nuklearexplosionen begleitet, unterlegt in NIGHT die dokumentierte Katastrophe im Abspann (vgl. Höltgen 23). |trans-quote=[...] educational film Fallout: When and How to Protect Yourself Against It  (USA 1959, produced by Creative Arts Studio Inc. on behalf of the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization). What accompanies the introductory shots of nuclear explosions in the educational film is accompanied by the documented catastrophe in the end credits in NIGHT (cf. Höltgen 23).}}</ref>]]

The film's music consisted of existing pieces that were mixed or modified for the film. Much of the soundtrack had been used by previous films.{{efn|The opening title music with the car on the road had been used in a 1961 episode of the TV series ''[[Ben Casey]]'' entitled "I Remember a Lemon Tree" and is also featured in an episode of ''[[Naked City (TV series)#Season 1: 1958–59|Naked City]]'' entitled "Bullets Cost Too Much". Most of the music in the film had previously been used on the soundtrack for the science-fiction [[B movie|B-movie]] ''[[Teenagers from Outer Space (film)|Teenagers from Outer Space]]'' (1959), as well as several pieces used in the classic [[Steve McQueen]] western series ''[[Wanted Dead or Alive (TV series)|Wanted Dead or Alive]]'' (1958–61). The piece playing when Ben finds the rifle can be heard in a more complete form during the beginning of ''[[The Devil's Messenger]]'' (1961) starring [[Lon Chaney Jr.]] Another piece, accompanying Barbra's flight from the cemetery zombie, was taken from the score for ''[[The Hideous Sun Demon]]'' (1959) {{harv|Kane|2010|pp=71–72}}.}}  Romero selected tracks from the [[Hi-Q (production music)|Hi-Q music library]], and Hardman cut them to match the scenes and augmented them with electronic effects.{{sfn|Kane|2010|pp=71–72}}<ref name="Hardman/Eastmaninterview"/> Probably the most recognizable production music to be used were from the Hi-Q reel D-24 (1956), which included several tracks composed by Spencer Moore titled "Eerie - Heavy Echo" and include the opening and closing music in the film.<ref name="comerford-2011"/> Previous uses of some of the "Eerie - Heavy Echo" tracks in film and television include the ''[[Gumby]]'' episode "The Magic Show" (1956), the low-budget science fiction film ''[[Teenagers from Outer Space (film)|Teenagers from Outer Space]]'' (1959), and the [[civil defence]] film ''Fallout: When and How to Protect Yourself Against It'' (1959).

A soundtrack album featuring music and dialogue cues from the film was compiled and released on LP by [[Varèse Sarabande]] in 1982. In 2010, Jim Cirronella, a producer and writer for the ''Night of the Living Dead'' documentary ''[[Autopsy of the Dead]]'', put together the collection ''They Won't Stay Dead! (Music from the Soundtrack of Night of the Living Dead)'' containing the complete collection of Hi-Q music used in the film, plus a recording of the music box used in one of the scenes in the film.<ref name="comerford-2011">{{Cite web| last = Comerford| first = Jason| title = Night of The Living Dead (1968) by various artists including Spencer Moore (Season 02, Episode 13)| work = 13 Chills: Thirteen Memorable Moments In Horror Film Music| format = podcast transcript| access-date = 2025-03-24| date = 2011-10-01| url = https://www.howlinwolfrecords.com/13chills/2011/13chills2011_13_nightofthelivingdead.html| publisher = Howlin' Wolf Records}}</ref> However, the collection did not contain the electronic effects created by Hardman. In 2020, [[Waxwork Records]] issued a 50th Anniversary edition of the original soundtrack, produced in cooperation with the surviving members of Image Ten, that contained a fully remastered version of the complete soundtrack, including material thought to be lost.<ref name="kaplan-2023">{{Cite web| last = Kaplan| first = Avery| title = They won’t stay dead!: Revisiting the ''Night of the Living Dead'' soundtrack| work = The Beat| access-date = 2025-03-24| date = 2023-10-23| url = https://www.comicsbeat.com/horror-beat-they-wont-stay-dead-revisiting-the-night-of-the-living-dead-soundtrack/}}</ref><ref name="waxworkrecords">{{Cite web| title = Night Of The Living Dead: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack| work = Waxwork Records| access-date = 2025-03-24| url = https://waxworkrecords.com/products/night-of-the-living-dead}}</ref>

==== 1982 Varèse Sarabande edition track listing ====
{{Track listing
| headline        = Side one

| title1          = Driveway to the Cemetery (Main Theme)
| note1           =
| writer1         = Spencer Moore
| length1         = 02:19

| title2          = At the Gravesite/Flight/Refuge
| note2           =
| writer2         = [[William Loose]]/[[William Loose|Loose]]—Seely/[[William Loose|W. Loose]]
| length2         = 03:42

| title3          = Farmhouse/First Approach
| note3           =
| writer3         = [[Geordie Hormel]]
| length3         = 01:16

| title4          = Ghoulash (J.R.'s Demise)
| note4           =
| writer4         = [[Ib Glindemann]]
| length4         = 03:30

| title5          = Boarding Up
| note5           =
| writer5         = [[Geordie Hormel|G. Hormel]]/Loose—Seely/[[Ib Glindemann|Glindemann]]
| length5         = 03:00

| title6          = First Radio Report/Torch on the Porch
| note6           =
| writer6         = [[Philip Green (composer)|Phil Green]]/G. Hormel
| length6         = 02:27

| title7          = Boarding Up 2/Discovery: Gun 'n Ammo
| note7           =
| writer7         = G. Hormel
| length7         = 02:07

| title8          = Cleaning House
| note8           =
| writer8         = S. Moore
| length8         = 01:36
}}

{{Track listing
| headline        = Side two

| title9          = First Advance
| note9           =
| writer9         = Ib Glindemann
| length9         = 02:43

| title10         = Discovery of TV/Preparing to Escape/Tom & Judy
| note10          = All the samples of the track were composed by Geordie Hormel
| writer10        = G. Hormel/J. Meakin/J. Meakin
| length10        = 04:20

| title11         = Attempted Escape
| note11          =
| writer11        = G. Hormel
| length11        = 01:29

| title12         = Truck on Fire/Ben Attacks Harry/Leg of Leg*
| note12          = *electronic sound effects by Karl Hardman
| writer12        = G. Hormel
| length12        = 03:41

| title13         = Beat 'Em or Burn 'Em/Final Advance
| note13          = ''Final Advance'' was composed by [[Harry Bluestone]] and [[Emil Cadkin]]
| writer13        = G. Hormel
| length13        = 02:50

| title14         = Helen's Death*/Dawn/Posse in the Fields/Ben Awakes
| note14          = *electronic sound effects by Karl Hardman
| writer14        = S. Moore
| length14        = 03:05

| title15         = O.K. Vince/Funeral Pyre (End Title)
| note15          =
| writer15        = S. Moore
| length15        = 01:10
}}