Night of the Living Dead (1968): What the Classic Horror Film Really Means

1968 was a year of upheaval in America—marked by the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, the escalation of the Vietnam War, and civil unrest across the nation. Amid this turbulence, George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead emerged as a low-budget horror film that forever changed cinema. In this episode, we explore how the film reflected the anxieties of its time, broke new ground with its shocking realism and social commentary, and laid the foundation for modern horror. From its casting choices to its bleak vision of survival, Night of the Living Dead wasn’t just a movie about the undead—it was a mirror to a society in crisis.

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