Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent horror film, directed by George A. Romero, starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. It was completed on a $114,000 budget and premiered October 1, 1968. The film became a financial success, grossing $12 million domestically and $18 million internationally. It has been a cult classic ever since. Night of the Living Dead was heavily criticized at its release for its explicit gore.
The story follows characters Ben (Jones), Barbra (O'Dea), and five others trapped in a rural farmhouse in Western Pennsylvania, which is attacked by a large and growing group of unnamed "living dead" monsters drawing on earlier depictions in popular culture of the ghoul, which has led this type of creature to be referred to most popularly as a zombie. This is the most easily recognized version of the living dead, to the point where people gather in mass quantities for conventions dressed as zombies, complete with makeup and prosthetic limbs.