Ghoulish Anniversary
EVANS CITY — Fifty years ago, a stream of filmmakers, actors and crew descended on the borough to make one of the most iconic films of all time: “Night of the Living Dead.”
Written, directed, photographed and edited by George A. Romero, the film was released Oct. 1, 1968, and was one of the earliest to feature the now-ubiquitous undead, trudging around in an endless attempt to devour the living.
Monday marked its 50th anniversary.
In addition to much of the film being set in the borough, many of its crew and actors lived in Evans City.
Borough resident Gary Streiner worked as the sound engineer on the film and was one of its original stakeholders.
He said while the film ultimately became an international cult classic, its initial launch wasn't nearly so spectacular.
“It wasn't immediate. It was released for a while before it caught fire,” he said.
So, why did this film take off the way it did while so many others are forgotten?
“Well it's a darn good movie,” Streiner said. “It got categorized as a horror film which, in a sense, that categorization has changed. It's now being taken more seriously as a really good movie, period.”
The foundation of its success, Streiner said, was first laid in the script.
A good script, he said, is one that speaks to people even today and speaks to greater truths that resonate with people across generations.“Yes, the enemy was the ghouls but a lot of the problem was the five people in the house couldn't get along,” he said. “It becomes a social commentary even for today. That was always in there, and that, to me, is far more what this film is about rather than just about ghouls.”He also credited the actors for making the movie seem more real, another key to its success.Streiner listed a myriad of other factors that also contributed to its success, from the acceptance of distributors to the proliferation of bootlegged copies.“Then there's the fact that it just got lucky,” he said. “It broke all these rules that people never got to see that kind of stuff in the theaters.”For Ethel Mae Smith, the novelty of the film resonated.Smith played a ghoul in the film.“The movie was filmed right behind our house,” she said. “They stopped and asked us if we wanted to be in a movie. My husband said no, and I said yes ... We went back to see what was going on, and before you knew it, we were ghouls.”
In the midst of the set was Romero directing actors and extras in the parts they would play.Directions for the ghouls were simple.“They put the makeup on you and George Romero said walk around like you're half dead,” Smith said. “You just stumbled around. That's it.”Typically not a fan of horror movies, Smith said she found the ending a bit too gruesome for her taste, but still she loves to talk about it and was pleasantly surprised when the film rose to international renown.“We never thought anything would come of anything,” she said. “I guess (it did) because it was the first one. Fifty years and people are still talking about it. I'm still talking about it, too.”
