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Barbara runs away and hides in a farmhouse, soon joined by Ben, who's by himself and decides to also use the farmhouse as refuge from the onslaught. Then, 20 minutes later, once Ben has used every piece of wood in the tri-state area to board up the farmhouse, they discover that they are not alone in the house. No. Seriously. It takes nearly half of the film's 100-minute running time for Ben and Barbara, who remains appropriately catatonic after her brother's death, to realize that anyone else is alive. And the rest of the time they spend together is putting wood up on the house. Of course, during this section of the film, Ben listens to a radio station that should have been called KEXP, the Exposition Station.

All the station does is tell us that, yes, there are zombies. Yes, they are all over the globe. Yes, there are posses of survivors going around and killing off any and all suspicious-looking characters. And that's about it. The first half of the film tapers off immediately after the opening scene and doesn't pick up any kind of steam until Ben and Barbara are introduced to the other survivors, who aren't exactly an exciting bunch, but they do talk and do more than put wood up. There's a pair of young lovers, and two parents whose daughter has recently been bitten by one of the roving zombies and is slowly turning into one. This kind of dark tragedy should have had a more haunting, poetic edge to it, but since the girl only makes any dent on the story is when...well, you know, there's no excitement.

That's what surprised me most about Night of the Living Dead. A complete lack of excitement. I appreciate that zombie movies aren't usually meant to be a lot of fun, but there is usually some visceral element to be had in watching a bunch of helpless people run for their lives from stumbling, shambling flesh-eaters. So why the hell is this movie so slow, so boring? Moreover, why don't the zombies, you know, attack ever? There's the attack at the beginning and a surprising lack of scares in the middle of the film. Once the other survivors are unearthed, there's a lot of talk about what to do, but it's just talk. I'm not usually so gung-ho, but I was actively hoping for someone to pick up a shotgun or pick up a block of wood and knock some heads.

The final half-hour of the movie is far more action-packed, but by this point, it's hard to care if any of the survivors live, or if the zombies are eradicated by the posses, who are always hinted at instead of shown until the very end. I understand, of course, the limitations of having only $114,000 at your disposal, but whatever tension and horror there is in the other ...Of the Dead films, it's not in Night of the Living Dead, a movie with loads of potential that only paid off in the sequels, rip-offs, and homages.

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