Art house: : Birth of the Living Dead takes aim at the zombie genre

One of the cultural touchstones of our time was created by a college drop-out with the help of local media, law enforcement, and a group of non-professional actors and filmmakers. In 1968, George Romero released Night of the Living Dead and launched the zombie phenomenon.

An independent production shot in black and white, costing less than US$120,000 and the first feature film shot in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this movie changed the world.

Five decades and billions of dollars later, flesh-eating zombies now infest cinema screens, televisions, books, video games and our consciousness.

Rob Kuhns' Birth of the Living Dead entertainingly fleshes out our knowledge of the production of Night of the Living Dead, its initial reception (and later re-evaluation), and long-standing cultural impact.

Romero is inarguably one of the most influential media creators of our time. His zombies have become urban legends. As the documentary shows, even primary school students know that the only way to kill a zombie is to destroy the brain.

Night of the Living Dead broke many of the rules of its time. It was a truly independent film and it literally eviscerated taboos about graphic depictions of violence.

It was also the first horror film to self-reference horror films. In one scene, a character jokes to his sister: "They're coming to get you, Barbara, there's one of them now!" It turns out to be no laughing matter.