Zombies currently appear in everything from television’s “The Walking Dead” to the “Resident Evil” movies to video games.
George A. Romero’s 1968 classic film “Night of the Living Dead” started it all.
The NIU Film Society will show Romero’s film during a Halloween week screening from 9 to 11 p.m. Monday, Oct. 29, in Reavis Hall 211. Scott Balcerzak, assistant professor of film and literature at NIU, will host a discussion after the screening.
Balcerzak said the film is a milestone in the history of horror cinema.
“Never before had a film explored supernatural horror in such a starkly realistic style,” Balcerzak says. “It forced the viewer to question the meaning of the horror in new ways.”
Made on a shoestring budget of $114,000 outside of a major studio, “Night of the Living Dead” went on to become one of the most influential horror films of all time. While initially criticized for its gore and grisly tone, it is now considered a classic and in 1999 was listed on the National Film Registry as an American film deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”
The event is just one of the screenings hosted by the NIU Film Society this fall.
In correspondence with ENGL 363 and 604, the society host a Thursday, Oct. 18, screening of Robert Altman’s “Nashville” (1975). This event will feature a discussion moderated by Robert T. Self, professor emeritus of English and 2012 winner of an NIU College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Distinguished Faculty Award. This screening will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Cavan Auditorium of Gabel Hall.
The screenings are open to all NIU students, faculty and staff. Refreshments will be served at all of the events.
For more information, contact the NIU Film Society at NIUFilmSociety@gmail.com. Information about future NIU Film Society events also is avialable on Facebook and Twitter.
