Fails the Bechdel test
Night of the Living Dead
1968. Directed by George A. Romero, written by John A. Russo and George A. Romero.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Barbra and Johnny visit their father's grave in a remote cemetery when they are suddenly set upon by zombies. Barbra manages to get away and takes refuge in what seems to be an abandoned farm house. She is soon joined by Ben who stopped at the house in need of gas. Beset by the walking dead all around them Ben does his best to secure the doors and windows. The news reports are grim however with creatures returning to life everywhere. Barbra and Ben are surprised when they realize there are 5 people hiding out in the basement: Harry, Helen and Karen Cooper; and a young couple, Tom and Judy. Dissensions sets in almost immediately with Harry Cooper wanting to be in charge. As their situation deteriorates, their chances of surviving the night lessen minute by minute.
- Released
- 04 Oct 1968
- Genres
- Horror, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 89 / 100
- Awards
- 7 wins total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Truckdriver 98 lines, man
- Harry 53 lines, man
- Barbara 39 lines
- Tom 37 lines, man
- Helen 30 lines, woman
- John 29 lines
- Ben 21 lines, man
- Mcclelland 16 lines
- Radio Announcer 9 lines
- Tv Commentator 4 lines, man
Full cast, 39 people
- Judith O'Dea as Barbra
- Duane Jones as Ben
- Marilyn Eastman as Helen Cooper
- Karl Hardman as Harry Cooper
- Judith Ridley as Judy
- Keith Wayne as Tom
- Kyra Schon as Karen Cooper / Corpse in House
- Charles Craig as TV Newscaster / Zombie
- S. William Hinzman as Zombie
- Bill Cardille as Field Reporter
- John Simpson as Zombie
- George Kosana as Sheriff McClelland
- Frank Doak as Scientist
- A.C. McDonald as Zombie / Posse Member
- Samuel R. Solito as Zombie / Posse Member
- Mark Ricci as Washington Scientist
- Lee Hartman as Zombie / News Reporter
- Ross Harris as Newscaster/Zombie
- Steve Hutsko as Cardille's Cameraman
- Phillip Smith as Zombie / Posse Member
- Randy Burr as Zombie / Posse Member
- Jack Givens as Zombie
- Richard Ricci as Zombie
- Rudy Ricci as Zombie
- Paula Richards as Zombie
- Herbert Summer as Zombie
- William Burchinal as Zombie
- Al Croft as Zombie
- Jason Richards as Zombie
- Dave James as Zombie
- Sharon Carroll as Zombie
- William Mogush as Zombie
- Joann Michaels as Zombie
- Ella Mae Smith as Zombie
- George A. Romero as Washington Reporter
- John A. Russo as Washington Military Reporter
- Russell Streiner as Johnny
- Richard France as Zombie
- Roger McGovern as Hospital Gown Ghoul (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 29% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 2
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 to 2 | 30 | 218 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 12 are women's.
30 lines from women, 218 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
4 women and 16 men in the cast. 1 women and 5 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 191 of 351.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 190 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 8% of the words (473), men 92% (5,157). Women have 12% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit D: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
0
Two men
21
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 8 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 9% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- George A. Romero (man)
- Written by
- George A. Romero (man), John A. Russo (man)
- Produced by
- Karl Hardman (man), Russell Streiner (man)
- Shot by
- George A. Romero (man)
- Edited by
- George A. Romero (man), Hugh C. Daly (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 0 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 23 on average. Men: 33 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Kyra Schon 11, Judith Ridley 22, Judith O'Dea 23, Marilyn Eastman 34
Men
Keith Wayne 23, S. William Hinzman 31, Duane Jones 32, Charles Craig 36, Karl Hardman 41
Exhibit G: the money
It made 265.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $114,000
- Box office
- $30.2 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 2 scenes and 351 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
