Night of the Living Dead (film series)

George A. Romero's The Dead series
The original poster for Night of the Living Dead
Directed by	George A. Romero (1–6) Matt Birman (Road of the Dead) Cameron Romero (Rise of the Dead)
Produced by	Night of the Living Dead Karl Hardman Russell Streiner Dawn of the Dead Richard P. Rubinstein Day of the Dead Richard P. Rubinstein Land of the Dead Mark Canton Bernie Goldmann Peter Grunwald Diary of the Dead Peter Grunwald Sam Englebardt Artur Spigel Ara Katz Survival of the Dead Paula Devonshire
Screenplay by	George A. Romero (1–7) & Matt Birman (7)
Distributed by	The Walter Reade Organization (1) United Film Distribution Company (2-3) Universal Pictures (4) The Weinstein Company (5) Magnet Releasing (6)
Release date	1968–2009
Country	United States
Language	English

The Dead is a series of six zombie horror films created by George A. Romero beginning with the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead directed by Romero and co-written with John A. Russo. The franchise predominantly centers on different groups of people attempting to survive during the outbreak and evolution of a zombie apocalypse. The latest installment of the series, Survival of the Dead, was released in 2009, with Rise of the Living Dead, a prequel film written and directed by Cameron Romero (son of George) in the works.^[1][2] A sixth sequel taking place after Land of the Dead, titled Road of the Dead, is also in development.

History

After Night of the Living Dead 's initial success, the two creators split in disagreement regarding where the series should head,^[3] and since the film was in the public domain,^[4] each were able to do what they liked with the continuity of their projects. Romero went on to direct five additional Dead films, while Russo branched into literary territory, writing Return of the Living Dead, which was later loosely adapted into a film of the same name and would have its own franchise, and Escape of the Living Dead.

Labeled "Trilogy of the Dead" until Land of the Dead,^[5] each film is laden with social commentary on topics ranging from racism to consumerism. The films are not produced as direct follow-ups from one another and their only continuation is the theme of the epidemic of the living dead. This situation advances with each film, showing the world in a worsening state, but each film is independent of its predecessor. This is exemplified by the fact that each movie is set within the era it is filmed, with Land of the Dead being set in modern times with current (as of 2005) technology such as game consoles, flatscreen televisions, cell phones and other examples of modern tech. The fifth film does not continue the depiction of progress, but returns to the similar events depicted in the first film in the very beginning of a zombie outbreak. The films depict how different people react to the same phenomenon, ranging from citizens to police to army officials and to citizens again. Each takes place in a world worsened since its previous appearance, the number of zombies ever increasing and the living perpetually endangered, but with each entry being a standalone film that is not directly continuing global events from the previous.

Romero does not consider any of his Dead films sequels since none of the major characters or story continue from one film to the next. The two exceptions are Tom Savini's character of Blades who becomes a zombie in Dawn of the Dead who would be seen again years later in Land of the Dead and the military officer (Alan van Sprang) who robs the main characters in Diary of the Dead and goes on to become a protagonist in Survival of the Dead.

Films

Cast

List indicator(s):

• A dark grey cell indicates that the character was not in the film or that the character's presence in the film has yet to be announced.
• A ^Y indicates a role as a younger version of the character.
• An ^O indicates a role as an older version of the character.
• A ^U indicates an uncredited role.
• A ^C indicates a cameo role.
• A ^V indicates a voice-only role.
• An ^A indicates an appearance through archival footage or stills.

Reception

See also

• Living Dead
• Zombie

References

External links

• Night of the Living Dead (1968) on IMDb
• Download Night of the Living Dead  — Both HD (Blu-ray) and standard version available legally for free as the film is in the public domain.
• Dawn of the Dead (1978) on IMDb
• Day of the Dead (1985) on IMDb
• Land of the Dead (2005) on IMDb
• Diary of the Dead (2007) on IMDb
• Survival of the Dead (2009) on IMDb