The Movie: Night of the Living Dead (1968)
What Is It?: The
beginning of a new age in zombie movies, and the finest serious film in the
swarming-dead genre. The newsreel aesthetic lends this cheapy a powerful sense of realism, as does Duane Jones's performance and the finale, which hits as hard as a punch in the teeth.
Why Today?: On
this day in 1957, actress Kyra Schon, who plays the sweet
little girl who eats her mom, is born.