For all their long and honorable folkloric histories, vampires and werewolves have yet to recover from the setback that their reputations suffered as a result of the much-mocked Twilight series of books and movies. At this point in horror-trope history, voracious revenants are where it’s at. In cinema we’re seeing the undead done every which way imaginable, and there seems no end in sight – which makes it a good time to return to the original touchstone of zombie filmdom: Night of the Living Dead.
This Saturday at Upstate Films in Rhinebeck, you’ll have a chance to reexperience George Romero’s cheesy 1968 black-and-white classic with a new, custom-composed musical score. It will be performed live by the Andrew Alden Ensemble, which previously gave the same treatment to F. W. Murnau’s 1922 German Expressionist vampire epic Nosferatu. Since Night of the Living Dead’s dialogue consists mainly of zombies moaning and grunting and their victims screaming, no one is likely to miss the deleted soundtrack very much, but subtitles will be provided anyway.
The screening begins at 8:30 p.m. on October 26. Tickets cost $10 general admission, $9 for seniors, $8 for Upstate members. For info call (845) 876-2515 or visit https://upstatefilms.org.
Join the family! 
