However, before release, the title was changed to its more familiar version but, when changing the title card, the distributor forgot to put the copyright notice on the final print. Instead, it referred to the movie as “Night of the Flesh Eaters”, one of the working titles of the movie. The first prints of “Night of the Living Dead” didn’t use the title we know it as today. However, that might not have been the case if not for a screw up with the copyright of the original film that caused the movie to be released into the public domain.Īs such, copyright, or the lack thereof, played a tremendous role in the development of the modern zombie film, helping to ensure that the dead can keep rising in film after film.

Nearly every zombie movie since 1968 owes its roots to Night of the Living Dead, even those that deviate from the formula. This, to most horror buffs, is known as the “Romero Zombie” or the “Slow Zombie” It also established much of the lore that surrounds modern zombies, such as the idea of having to destroy the brain of a zombie to kill it, zombies being afraid of fire and so forth. Night of the Living Dead changed that by rebranding the zombie into a undead killer that hungers for human flesh (or brains). “White Zombie”, released in 1932, is perhaps the best-known example of that genre. Prior to the release of the film in 1968, “zombie” movies focused on “voodoo zombies”, which meant living victims that were turned into slaves by supernatural forces. It serves as the seminal modern zombie flick and a movie that, single-handedly, changed horror movies forever. Even if you aren’t a horror movie fan or have never seen a zombie film, you’ve probably at least heard of “The Night of the Living Dead”.

Return of the Living Dead by John Russo