10 Movies You Wrongly Thought Were Innovators
4. The Last Man On Earth Inspired Night Of The Living Dead
Night Of The Living Dead director - and all around horror genius – George Romero has made no secret of his debt to the book I Am Legend, by author Richard Matheson. The book follows the last man alive, while he struggles to survive in a world full of vampires.
The book was first adapted into a film in 1964, where Vincent Price played the lead. Throughout the story there are numerous scenes of Price in his boarded up house, while brain dead ghouls gather outside and try to get in. There’s even a scene where he’s trapped outside and has to push through waves of slow-moving ghouls to make it to safety.
These scenes actually sparked the central idea for Night Of The Living Dead, including the look of the zombies and the siege concept. Romero once thanked the author for the inspiration, though Matheson said he would have preferred a cut of the profits.