Night of the Living Dead still has the capacity to shock because it goes into taboo territory, to include story elements or images that for the most part are strictly off-limits. In this way, NLD reminds me of a much older film, Tod Browning's Freaks, a pre-Code movie (from 1932) that challenges the audience by using many real-life sideshow performers as characters in what is basically a gruesome revenge tragedy. With NLD, screenwriters John Russo and George Romero plotted a story that moved into territory that violated social values and taboos. Many people have written about the filmmakers' intention of commenting on the times, but I don't think that's exactly how many zombie films work. Rather, much of what an effective zombie film does is to show how human nature reveals itself when the social fabric unravels, civilization collapses, and existence is reduced to a kill-or-be-killed scenario. Whatever values and habits survivors hang on to -- or whatever new ones they develop -- unfolds in them.
The primary taboo that zombies violate is the eating of human flesh. As many will know, one of Romero and Russo's original titles was "Night of the Flesh-Eaters," and, of course, NLD was inspired in part by Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, in which the apocalyptic scourge comes in the form of vampires, blood-suckers existing a degree of magnitude beneath flesh-eaters. And although one could make much of cannibalism as a commentary on the excesses of consumer capitalism, cannibalism has a much more fundamental history as an idea that Western civilization defines itself in opposition to. It's not so much that zombies are eating your flesh, it's that, in a sense, they are eating everything we've come to identify ourselves with. Again and again, zombies are shown as outside (a room, a house, a mall, a wall) and trying to get in. The barbarians are at the gate.
Certainly, 1968 was a year of cultural anxiety in the United States. Richard Nixon was elected President, in part, by running as the candidate of law and order. Coming as it did out of this moment of perceived chaos, Night of the Living Dead builds some of its tensions out of cultural elements. The media is shown as slow to perceive what's really going on, referring to the growing hoards of cannibalistic ghouls as "mass murderers," still applying the old framework. The federal government may know what's going on, but they are not going to be forthcoming with the general public. Local law enforcement is handled for the most part by dangerously cocky rednecks with guns, and they'll happily deal with the walking dead as long as the coffee's hot and the ammo plentiful.
Ont the ground, where the main plot of Night of the Living dead unfolds, matters are far more gruesome. Opening in a rural cemetery where Johnny (Russell Streiner) and Barbara (Judith O'Dea) have reluctantly come to visit the grave of their father, Johnny teases her graveyard-fearing sister with the now famous line, "They're coming to get you, Barbara!" Before you know it, Johnny is downed by an indigenous zombie and Barbara runs for for her life, finding refuge in a rural farmhouse. She is soon joined by Ben (Duane Jones), who, seeing that she's in shock, takes it upon himself to secure the house, boarding up the windows and doors and locating a gun. Although the pairing of a white woman and a black man alone in a house might not seem problematic for younger audiences, at the time, it would certainly have raised some eyebrows. The fact that Ben is perfectly comfortable taking charge -- asserting himself physically when necessary -- is all the more socially provocative. We're a long way from the island automaton of Carrefour in 1943's I Walked With A Zombie.
After a time, as night falls, Ben discovers that a handful of people have been hiding in the cellar of the farmhouse. There's a teenage couple, Tom (Wayne Keith) and Judy (Judith Ridley). More notably, there's a family whose daughter, Karen (Kyra Schon) has been bitten by a zombie, and she's dying despite the care of her weary mother Helen (Marilyn Eastman) and her panicky, overbearing father Harry Cooper (Karl Hardman). Harry would rather everyone stay cooped up down in the cellar, door bolted against the gathering hordes. As Ben makes clear, once everyone's locked into the basement, there's no way out. Some of the best moments in the film happen between Ben and Harry, exchanges full of racial subtext, with Karl Harman showing some fine acting chops for imperious douchebaggery in the face of Duane Jones' urgent confidence.
The reversals pile up faster than the motionless bodies of zombies in the last half of the film. Still concerned about your brother? You'll be carried off and eaten, and Johnny will nibble on your knees. Idealistic teenage love? That'll get you blown up and eaten. Take a gun away from a black man? That'll get you shot. Look after your children? They'll kill you and eat you. Stay loyal to your husband? He'll get you killed and eaten by your own children. Assume the authorities will come to your rescue? They'll end up assuming you're part of the problem shoot you in the head. Forget the zombies, it's people who are the problem. Romero and Russo pile up the unthinkables-- murder, cannibalism, miscegenation, patricide, matricide, racial revolt, martial law, even incest -- to the point where viewer's might miss them on a conscious level, but their effects would nevertheless be felt.
Produced in black-and-white in and around Pittsburgh on a very limited budget, using regional actors, and for a grand total of $114,000 (about $750,000 in 2011), Night of the Living Dead should be understood as an independent film in the the purest sense. In contrast, the year's top-grossing films in similar genres were Rosemary's Baby (which I've never cared for) and Planet of the Apes (which I adore), although both of these deal with themes of paranoia and revolt. The realism of the film's look -- especially its prominent gore -- combined with its uncompromising presentation of taboo -- provoked a remarkable range of reactions from audiences and critics. Regardless of critical or public opinion, Night of the Living Dead is the film that spawned most of the zombie movies to follow -- in part, because of its innovation, and perhaps because of its (oops) entry into the public domain. As a true original, it should be mandatory viewing for all zombie fans, if not all students of American cinema.
NOTE: This review is cross-posted at Mort-Vivant, my blog about zombies (and science fiction and comics). These cross-postings will continue until Halloween 2011, when Mort-Vivant finally walks alone!
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Footprints, Wayne Shorter, Adam's Apple
Terell Stafford
and 
. On This Side of Strayhorn
The Slow Ascent, Roxy Coss, Roxy Coss
King Tubby Meets The Rockers Uptown, Monty Alexander, Harlem-Kingston Express
. Filled with outstanding playing -- particularly tenor Marcus Strickland -- and fine writing and arranging, Wolfe really demonstrates that he can direct a group and compose a song. Any one of Wolfe's tune's show how a song should be built from the ground up, with "For The Great Sonny Clarke" in particular as a superlative number.
features her compositions and melodic approach to solos, joined often by Kate Miller on trumpet. Leading a tight band through a wide range of compositions and styles, Coss does her most interesting work on fusion-tinged "The Slow Ascent" and the bright, swinging "Cherry On Top," where she breaks out the flute for a brisk, confident solo.
. named after 
, an outstanding first album full of excellent playing, notable compositions, and well-chosen tunes from the jazz tradition. Joined by Charles Porter on trumpet, Ivan Taylor on bass, Jonathan Blake on drums, and Jeb Patton and Eric Lewis on piano, Khaliq is fully in charge of his group and his material --five distinctive originals and three covers, including an fresh take on "Polkadots and Moonbeams."
. A mix of the vocal sensibilities of Holiday and Parton, Sutton provides a charismatic focus for a group that manages to create a distinctive sound by blending banjo, accordion, flute, cello, and a variety of percussion with bass, piano, and trumpet. Full of new textures and musical surprises, Billie and Dolly offers a enjoyable and moving set of songs. Check out Sutton and company's reworking of 
The Radio Tower Has A Beating Heart,
The Bad Plus, Never Stop
, from Arturo O'Farrill and The Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra (Zoho), documents one of the very best and most versatile jazz ensembles on the planet playing a full range of material in styles from all over the Caribbean and Latin America. There's even an Irish tune thrown in here for good measure, a collaboration with Heather Martin Bixler, violinist and wife of band member David Bixler. With guest appearances by no less than Paquito D'Rivera (on clarinet) and Gabriel Alegria conducting, listeners will have a full tour of what this outstanding group is capable.
. At times, the Pirouet artists can focus a bit too exclusively on compositions by their own artists -- and the result is a somewhat uniform style from track to track. But Copland pens three tunes of the nine on this release, and lets his bandmates bring their own material to the mix as well. One of the strongest tunes is a saxophone showcase, "Ozz-thetic," by the bassist Doug Weiss. This is a strong release from a band whose international personnel works well together.
(Dinemec). For my taste, you can't go wrong with a classic organ trio -- deployed here in the form of Joe Kaplowitz (keys), Ahmad Mansour (guitar), and Klemens Markti (drums) -- and trumpeter Rapp handles himself expertly on a fine selection of songs. Six of the eleven tunes on Good Eats are compositions of 
(Hollistic MusicWorks), as the cover reads, "a tribute to some underappreciated trumpet masters. Those trumpet masters, you ask? 
. Mixing a full range of textures and styles, Binney flexes his compositional muscles across a range of compelling, clever songs that offer many memorable passages and plenty of imaginative improvisation. The work of Ben Allison most clearly came to mind as a point of comparison. The tune "Terrorists and Movie Stars" is a particularly high point on the album. For those who prefer a more straightforward approach, check out Binney's work in his sextet on last month's 
.