Sunday Matinee #74 Night of the Living Dead

Prophets and Politics and Zombies, oh my!

1 Samuel 8:4-11, 16-20 | EnterTheBible.org
Third Sunday After Pentecost | 06.09.2024
Context: Many years after his time as a pupil to Eli, now Samuel is a judge to lead the kingdom of Israel. Yet he is getting older and so he appoints his two sons as judges for Israel. Similar to his mentor, Eli, Samuel’s sons also go against their father and rule with corruption. The people can take it no more.

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, "You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations." 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to govern us." Samuel prayed to the LORD, 7 and the LORD said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. 9 Now then, listen to their voice; only--you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them." 10 So Samuel reported all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king.

Night of the Living Dead | 1968
IMDb | Letterboxd | RRMC
Context: Two strangers are now allies as they board up an old farmhouse from zombies. As they settle in for the night, Ben (Duane Jones) finds a radio new bulletin while Barbra (Judith O’Dea) goes catatonic on the couch. Without warning, they’re joined by Tom (Keith Wayne) and Cooper (Karl Hardman) from the cellar, where others have been hiding, as well. After fending off another round of zombies, Ben and Cooper argue over whether it’s safer to fortify the house and stay up stairs or immediately retreat to the cellar. 

Ben: We've gotta fix these boards.
Cooper: You're crazy! Those things are gonna be at every window and door in this place! We've got to get down into the cellar.
Ben: Go down into your damn cellar and get out of here!
Cooper: I'm... I'm taking the girl with me.
Ben: You leave her here. Keep your hands off her, and everything else that's up here too. Because if I stay up here, I'm fighting for everything up here, and the radio and the food is part of what I'm fighting for. Now if you're going down in the cellar, get.
Cooper: The man's insane. He's insane. We've... we've got to have food down there. We've got a right.
Ben: This your house?
Cooper: We've got a right.
Ben: You going down there with him? 
Tom: …Well, I–
Ben: Yes or no?! This is your last chance. No beating around the bush.
Cooper: Listen, I got a kid down there. She can't poss– I couldn't bring her up here. She can't possibly take all the racket from those things smashing through the windows.
Ben: Well, you're her father. If you're stupid enough to go die in that trap, that's your business. However, I am not stupid enough to follow you. It is tough for the kid that her old man is so stupid. Now, get the hell down in the cellar. You can be the boss down there. I'm boss up here.
Cooper: …You bastards!

Commentary:

Careful what you wish for… you just might get it. 

As 1 Samuel continues, the situation gets progressively worse for the ancient kingdom of Israel. Remember last week’s divine game of telephone when God told young Samuel to tell his mentor Eli to tell his naughty sons that because of their naughtiness, it’s not going to go well for them? Well, it didn’t. The ark of the covenant was captured. Eli’s sons were killed. When Eli heard the news, he “fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died.” Was this an inspiration for Monty Python and the Holy Grail “when suddenly, the animator suffered a fatal heart attack”?

The Philistines did not do so hot with the ark and were glad to be rid of it after it brought pestilence to their people. Even with the ark back in their possession, the Israelites had a period of mourning in their major defeat. 

Twenty years later…

Samuel says enough is enough. We’ve got to turn back to God. He urges the people to do so, they say okay, the Philistines say no way, they battle away, and God helps the Israelites seize the day. Samuel holds up a rock to mark the spot where God helped them and names the rock “Ebenezer,” which means “stone of help.” First, you may know that hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” with the line “Here I raise mine Ebenezer”? This is where that comes from! Second, you may know that story “A Christmas Carol” with the character “Ebenezer Scrooge”? Now you know the irony of naming your character Stone Help of Miserliness. 

Samuel is made a judge of the people, and it goes well. 

Three verses later…

He makes his sons judges and they immediately screw it up. Enough so that the Israelites tell him they don’t want judges anymore. They want a king. Everybody else gets a king, so we want a king. Is this the right call? They only have the information they have. They don’t know the future. As I say, careful what you wish for…

Who’s in charge? That’s the ultimate question for seven strangers in a boarded up farmhouse in Night of the Living Dead. Because when you’ve boarded up a farmhouse to protect yourself from a zombie horde, the first thing to do is argue over who gets to be the boss. While each of them holds power, each of them ends up losing that power, too. Barbra is resourceful and makes a daring escape, but her trauma and shock take over. Tom and Judy stand up for themselves to help with an escape plan, but it costs them dearly. Mrs. Cooper may have strong words for Mr. Cooper, but Daughter Cooper gets the final say. 

Ben and Cooper go back and forth on what’s the right choice. Fortify upstairs, barricade downstairs. Their tension over who is right, who gets to be in charge, who gets to hold the gun (no symbolism there…) is what makes the group’s chance of survival dwindle as they night wears on.

The next morning…

Ultimately, neither of them is right. Instead of keeping the farmhouse fortified, they decide they need to make a break for it. By abandoning both of their plans for a third, one which ultimately wouldn’t have helped them very much compared to what could have helped them later (can I be any more cagey about the ending of a 56-year-old movie that through a terrible production error is public domain and available to watch legally for free literally anywhere?!) They only have the information they have. They don’t know the future. The basement indeed becomes a death trap and a saving grace. But the real trap is by arguing over who is the boss, everyone loses out. That’s what the worst of politics can do. As I say, careful what you wish for…

Night of the Living Dead kicked off a new way of telling a horror story in the movies. The first silent movies of horror, Phantom of the Opera comes to mind, used eeriness to its advantage. Those Universal classics like Dracula and Frankenstein relied on a mixture of mystery and makeup. The 1950s brought the age of the atomic monster and hundreds of forgettable ones at that. But something clicked with this little movie in 1968 that created a new blueprint for this kind of story. We get mystery, makeup, monsters, and a new kind of political dynamic that makes the whole thing feel less fantastical and more real. That’s where the chill of Night of the Living Dead really shines.

One more thing: this movie is free everywhere, but not all options are the same. There’s one with added scenes, one with a new score, a colorized version, an original yet very grainy version, etc. If you can, get your hands on the Criterion edition 4K UHD version, it is GORGEOUS. It’s the movie like it’s never been seen before!