Night of the Living Dead (Directed by George A. Romero) 1968

I'm a huge zombie fan but George Romero's 1968 black and white classic still remains unbeaten as an undead fright-fest. Many zombie films came before and after this low-budget flick, but this really sets the stall out when it comes to lumbering, blood-thirsty corpses rising from the grave and taking over the world. Cue also those inner frustrations of the community struggling to survive, those being a small group of characters penned up in a Pennsylvanian rural farmhouse whilst the dead walk the planet.

This is no ordinary zombie film - and it begins life as a seemingly pleasant drive through the countryside involving Johnny and Barbra who are en route to a cemetery to pay their respects to a deceased relative. However, the journey takes on a terrible turn for the worst when the couple are harassed by a stumbling and rather pale gent' who just happens to be dead. Johnny comes off worse and is attacked by the ghoul, and is killed when he falls and smashes his head in, leaving Barbra fleeing in terror from the zombie. Barbra ends up at the farmhouse, and whilst she thinks she's safe in the company of the survivors, the inner friction and the fact that there's a rather creepy girl in the basement means that 'Night of the Living Dead' becomes a horrifying and claustrophobic movie that to this day causes the spine to shudder. Even amidst those haywire radio reports we never truly find out why the dead have chosen to walk the Earth, but there's something so reflective and downbeat about this movie that it plays out more than just a silly low-budget blood-fest. The ending, in which black hero Ben, gets shot by the authorities - who mistake him for a zombie and throw him on the pyre - seems to say a lot about society and the fact that critics, even to this day, continue to debate the merits and flaws of this film says a lot for its overwhelming power. 'Night of the Living Dead' is the sole reason we are so afraid of zombies, and the fact that zombie films are still so successful today is testimony to the fantastic direction of George A. Romero and his clan of skin-slurping dead 'uns. Romero would follow this movie with a brace of zombie classics, but neither of them - although reviewed, came close to this horror.