History & local legend
Evans City Cemetery is the setting of the opening encounter in George Romero’s 1968 film Night of the Living Dead. Johnny and his sister Barbra arrive to visit a grave, only to encounter a man who attacks them. Barbra’s attempt to escape ends with their car against a tree.
Producer Russell Streiner, who also played Johnny, explained that the damaged car belonged to his mother. She lent it to the production but continued driving it to work between filming days. After someone hit it during that interval, Streiner asked her not to have the damage repaired yet. The filmmakers used the dent to stage Barbra’s crash, saving the expense of wrecking another car.
Decades later, Streiner’s brother Gary, the film’s sound recordist, organized a campaign to restore the cemetery chapel seen in the opening. Contributions came from fans, including one donation of $3.57. Romero attended the restored chapel’s ribbon cutting in 2014.
Sources
- Russell Streiner, firsthand interview on the family car and the cemetery sequence
- Image Ten, the original production company, film locations and the restored chapel
- Patch, interview with Gary Streiner about individual donations to the chapel campaign
- OpenStreetMap, Evans City Cemetery on Franklin Road
- Library of Congress film catalog
