Night of the Living Dead returns to the theater it premiered in

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Fans of the George A. Romero classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD will soon have the opportunity to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the film in a very cool way, as a screening is set to take place at the theater where it premiered back in 1968. 

The premiere of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD was held at the Fulton Theatre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on October 1st, 1968. The Fulton is now the Byham Theater, and on October 6th the theater will be hosting a screening of the new 4K state-of-the-art restoration that was created by the Museum of Modern Art from the original camera negative. This will be the first time the restored 35mm film will actually be shown in public on film, as previous screenings of the restoration were digital.

All living (and otherwise undead) cast members will be at the theater for a special pre-show program celebrating the film's 50th anniversary. The press release also promises that the event will deliver "some shocking surprises".

Organizer Gary Streiner, who was sound engineer on the film (and is the brother of Russell Streiner, whose character Johnny spoke the famous line "They're coming to get you, Barbara"), had this to say about the event: 

50 years later, in the same theater that it premiered in 1968 (when it was the Fulton). How many times do you get to show the same movie in the same venue 50 years later?"

Directed by Romero from a screenplay he wrote with John A. Russo, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD stars Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne, Judith Ridley, Kyra Schon, Charles Craig, Bill Hinzman, George Kosana, Frank Doak, Bill Cardille, and Russell Streiner. The film tells the story of 

a disparate group of individuals who take refuge in an abandoned house when corpses begin to leave the graveyard in search of fresh human bodies to devour. The pragmatic Ben does his best to control the situation, but when the reanimated bodies surround the house the other survivors begin to panic. As any semblance of order within the group begins to dissipate, the zombies start to find ways inside — and one by one, the living humans become the prey of the deceased ones.

Ticket information for the screening isn't available yet, but will be announced soon. The event is presented by the George A. Romero Foundation and Image Ten.

This sounds like will it be an awesome event for fans to attend. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is one of my all-time favorite films and is the movie I watch more often than any other, so I wish I could go to this screening. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it to Pittsburgh on October 6th, but I'm sure the fans who do make it there are going to have a great time.