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Synopsis
After a cemetery attack, a woman reaches a farmhouse where strangers gather for shelter. The dead surround the building, while those inside disagree over how to survive. The danger beyond the walls grows alongside the group's inability to act together.
Barbra Blair. A 23-year-old commercial and stage actress, O'Dea had previously worked for Hardman and Eastman in Pittsburgh. She was in Hollywood pursuing a film career when contacted about the role. O'Dea expressed surprise at the film's cultural impact and the recognition it brought her.
Ben. The casting was potentially controversial in 1968 when it was rare for a black actor to be cast as the hero of an American film with a predominantly white cast, but Romero said Jones gave the best audition. Jones later appeared in other films, including Ganja & Hess (1973) and Beat Street (1984).
Helen Cooper. Vice president of Hardman Associates, Marilyn Eastman played Helen Cooper and the unnamed, bug-eating zombie. She later appeared in Santa Claws (1996), directed by John Russo.
Romero's independent production helped establish the flesh-eating undead that became central to later zombie cinema. Its confined setting and internal conflicts gave the genre a durable model for linking collective disaster to human behaviour.
The synopsis and editorial text were written for this collection. The references below were cross-checked to identify the film and its copy; each editorial section identifies its reference.
Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.
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Availability checked on September 10, 2026.
Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.
