Editing Night of the Living Dead (section)

==== 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}}