How did you feel when Ben died in Notld?

[zombie theo]

how did it make you feel? Inside the house, the Negro hears help coming and looks out the window. He is shot through the forehead by the deputies. "That's one more for the bonfire," the sheriff says. End of movie. The kids in the audience were stunned. There was almost complete silence. The movie had stopped being delightfully scary about halfway through, and had become unexpectedly terrifying. There was a little girl across the aisle from me, maybe nine years old, who was sitting very still in her seat and crying. I don't think the younger kids really knew what hit them. They were used to going to movies, sure, and they'd seen some horror movies before, sure, but this was something else. This was ghouls eating people up -- and you could actually see what they were eating. This was little girls killing their mothers. This was being set on fire. Worst of all, even the hero got killed. source: The Night of the Living Dead By Roger Ebert / January 5, 1967

[AcesandEights]

I felt cheated...it was absolutely brilliant!

[blind2d]

"...Pretty BAD!!" - Joe Strummer, some early Clash song. Sums it up well, I think. Lovely film, truly. Lovely. Wunderbar. Why none like it?

[ProfessorChaos]

i was very young when i saw night of the living dead for the first time, but i distinctly recall feeling totally shocked by the ending, and quite sad. poor guy made some bad calls that ended up getting a couple of people killed (more their fault than his, really), had to watch his plan fall to pieces, everyone in the house with him died, and he had to take the advice (regarding the cellar) that he'd been arguing against all night. i always imagined he had a slight feeling of guilt waking the next morning and realizing he was safe in the cellar. then he goes upstairs to investigate the sounds, and whammo, bullet in the skull. pretty ironic, really. i also recall wondering why the posse didn't call out, but then again, given how busted up the house was and how many ghouls were wandering around, they probably figured anyone (thing) inside was a ghoul and went ahead and didn't take any chances. i also thought that ben could've shouted or said something to let them know he was alive in there.

[BillyRay]

I remember watching it as the Late Movie as a kid, and I remember saying: "That's not fair.", then watching the credits with a chill down my spine. I was young enough to believe that the Hero was supposed to live at the end of the story; especially since Ben had a good plan and kept a cool head. And THAT's what made me a Romero fan, I can still feel that reaction in the back of my mind...

[JDFP]

Adding a little humor here ('cause c'mon, this is a depressing thread!)... I've said in another thread and I'll say it again, nothing would be more situationally funny than hearing the guy who shot him yell: "Hey, that's the guy who stole my truck!" before firing. Of course, being 1968 he probably wouldn't have said "guy". j.p.

[Mr.G]

Completely shocked....total investment in Ben throughout the movie and then gone in an instant. Cheated is a good word too....similar to Spock (until part 3) giving up his life for the rest of the ship.

[JDFP]

Completely shocked....total investment in Ben throughout the movie and then gone in an instant. Cheated is a good word too....similar to Spock (until part 3) giving up his life for the rest of the ship. But do you not agree that the good of the many outweigh the good of the one? On a more serious note, I don't really recall my first experience with seeing NOTLD as I was about 7 when I watched it and was in mortal terror at the events happening (and the music terrified me too, still does). Looking back on it now, I commend Romero for taking the 'risk' of putting away John Wayne-American ideology where the "good guy always wins" and making an example of the world in a more realistic sense. Sometimes there are no winners, sometimes the worst case scenario does take place. It was a courageous statement. j.p.

[rongravy]

As I wasn't even born until 1972, I saw it as a elementary school kid. Not a big fan of Ebert but... Since it was somewhere in the late 70's when I saw it, I wasn't thinking about what color he was, just that DAYUMN was he in the wrong place at the wrong time with a bunch of itchy trigger fingered hillbillies. Actually, I was dwelling more on the fact that dead people were walking around and anyone, even your dear mama, could be munched on. It's weird that all my nightmares that stem from that movie were always in black and white, at least that's how I felt they were. NOTLD, and The Day After, used to terrorize my dreams. Zombies and nuclear war...

[MoonSylver]

I felt cheated...it was absolutely brilliant! i was very young when i saw night of the living dead for the first time, but i distinctly recall feeling totally shocked by the ending, and quite sad. poor guy made some bad calls that ended up getting a couple of people killed (more their fault than his, really), had to watch his plan fall to pieces, everyone in the house with him died, and he had to take the advice (regarding the cellar) that he'd been arguing against all night. I remember watching it as the Late Movie as a kid, and I remember saying: "That's not fair.", then watching the credits with a chill down my spine. I was young enough to believe that the Hero was supposed to live at the end of the story; especially since Ben had a good plan and kept a cool head. And THAT's what made me a Romero fan, I can still feel that reaction in the back of my mind... Completely shocked....total investment in Ben throughout the movie and then gone in an instant. Yeah, that's pretty much it right there. Shocked. Angry. Stunned. And the more I thought about it, the more it made sense, until I realized it was one of the greatest endings I'd ever seen.

[Gryphon]

I was 8 when I saw it... loved the whole movie, enraptured by it... and at the end when Ben was shot, I cried Now I just feel he should have called out, "Alive in here!" Ah, well...

[Wrong Number]

Geez thanks for posting a spoiler in the thread name! It was a complete shock and I was thinking about it for days after, heck even after a zillion views I feel a sense of dread when he heads upstairs. WN

[BillyRay]

When Ben dies at the end of our puppet show version of NOTLD, there's usually an audible groan in the audience along the lines of "Awwww...Not him, too...." Sometimes even from people who've seen the movie - no lie - We've been told: "I had hoped he would get out alive in your version." So even when it's filtered through cheap comedy, Ben's death still shocks & affects people.

[clanglee]

I honestly can't remember my reaction to Ben's death when I first saw the movie. It was too long ago, and my memory is pretty bad. But, 2 years ago I attended the GAR film fest in Charlotte NC. And during the viewing of Night, I was surprised and pleased at the crowd reaction to Ben's death. There must have been a lot of first timers in the audience. There was an audible, collective gasp from the audience. I love how the movie still has power on today's young audiences. Also. . my Daughter was very upset when she watched the movie for the first time.

[bassman]

I honestly can't remember my reaction to Ben's death when I first saw the movie. Same here. Night is one of those films that I've seen throughout my entire life, so I really have no idea how felt about it the first time I saw it. I imagine it was a shock, but there is no telling how young I was during my first viewing. I still vividly remember my reactions to Dawn and Day, though.