10 Movie Characters Who Were Seconds Away From Surviving

George A. Romero's influential zombie classic set in motion modern cinema's love for zombie movies, and broke all the rules in the process by casting African-American stage actor Duane Jones as protagonist Ben.

After hiding from the "ghouls" who are attempting to eat their flesh, Ben takes control of a small band of survivors with his calm and collected leadership skills, but the group is eventually torn apart by petty squabbles to such an extent that Ben is the only person left alive at the end of the film.

At least, that's how it looks. With the other survivors dead and gone, Ben hides out in a locked cellar, and emerges when he hears humans taking out the remaining zombies outside. When he rushes out to meet them, they see him as a zombie - despite the fact he's talking and holding a gun - and shoot him dead.

Controversial at the time for being such a striking, progressive allegory of racism in America, Ben is only killed because he's seen as a threat, and if the militia had just taken a moment to assess the situation, they'd have seen he was just a man looking for help, and he would have survived his traumatic ordeal.