Night of the Living Dead plot recap, spoiler-light
Siblings Barbra and Johnny travel to a rural Pennsylvania cemetery to visit their father's grave, where an unexpected attack by a pale, tattered man leaves Johnny dead and Barbra fleeing for her life. She reaches an isolated farmhouse, discovering a half-eaten corpse inside before another stranger named Ben arrives. Ben immediately sets to work boarding up the windows and doors as a growing number of flesh-eating ghouls surround the property.
While exploring the home, Ben uncovers a rifle and discovers other survivors hiding in the cellar. These include Harry Cooper, his wife Helen, and their injured daughter Karen, alongside a young teenage couple named Tom and Judy. The group learns through television and radio broadcasts that mysterious reanimations are sweeping the East Coast, caused by radiation from a space probe returning from Venus.
They also discover that the ghouls can be destroyed by targeting the brain or utilizing fire. As the siege intensifies, Ben formulates a desperate escape plan utilizing his truck to reach a nearby rescue center, leading to a tragic fuel explosion that claims the lives of Tom and Judy.
What happens at the end of Night of the Living Dead?
Key takeaways
