Museum First Friday raises the dead with Zombie double feature
October 3, 2005
For Immediate Release
Contact: Steve Popson (919) 733-7450 x379
RALEIGH -- For the First Friday in October, folks at the North Carolina
Museum of Natural Sciences invite you to leave your homes, crawl and
shamble through empty streets, whimpering, pleading and begging for
this month's Natural Horror Picture Show. From 5 to 11 p.m. Friday,
October 7, you won't want to miss this awesome zombie double feature
of The Last Man on Earth and Night of the Living Dead, complemented
by live music guaranteed to get you shuffling your feet.
Have you ever imagined what it would be like to be the last man on Earth ... or the last woman? Well, The Last Man on Earth (1964) will show you all the mind-numbing details. Vincent Price stars as Dr. Robert Morgan, the only survivor of a devastating worldwide plague. But he is not truly alone. As night falls, plague victims begin to leave their graves to form a hellish undead army that's thirsting for his blood. Out of self-preservation, he has to hunt them when the sun is up, poking into their lairs and impaling them. Last Man was based on Richard Matheson's classic horror novel "I Am Legend," a book that also inspired The Omega Man (1971), starring Charlton Heston.
If you're still thirsty for more entertainment, stay later for Night of the Living Dead (1968), one of the best and most influential horror movies ever made. A mysterious source of radiation causes the recently deceased to rise from the grave and hunt for human flesh. A group of radiation-free folks barricade themselves in a farmhouse and take turns bopping zombies on the head. Their only hope is to get gas from a nearby pump, fill up the truck and bolt. But at more than $3 a gallon, tension mounts and the plan goes awry.
The movie was directed by George A. Romero -- who later resurrected the story with Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985) -- and stars Duane Jones, a cult figure who will forever be remembered as "Ben," the resourceful yet ill-fated hero. Jones was also the first African-American actor to portray the hero in a horror film. Note: Due to the graphic nature of this film (more flesh-eating than a backyard barbecue), parental discretion is advised.
The Museum will stay open till 11 p.m. Last Man on Earth begins at 7 p.m. and Night of the Living Dead at 9 p.m. The Countdown Quartet plays two sets of New Orleans-influenced "jazz for the working stiff" at 6 and 8 p.m. Catch an early film short from the AV Geeks. Enjoy light fare and beverages from the Acro Café. The Museum Store offers after-hours shopping and an opening reception for its latest Nature Art Gallery exhibitors: Paula Patterson, Lori Kerr and Lee Mims.
The Museum of Natural Sciences is located in downtown Raleigh at 11 West Jones Street. Parking is available on the street and in surface lots along Wilmington and Edenton streets. For more information, contact Steve Popson at 919-733-7450, ext. 379.
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, in downtown Raleigh, documents and interprets the natural history of the state of North Carolina through exhibits, research, collections, publications, and educational programming. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sun., noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Visit the Museum on the web at www.naturalsciences.org. The Museum is an agency of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, William G. Ross Jr., Secretary.
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