While this isn’t the blasphemy in 2008 that it might have been in 1968, it is something of a surprise that Nashville’s Downtown Presbyterian Church will hold a free screening of the classic horror film Night of the Living Dead tonight at 7 p.m.

The church, which is known for its generous support and service on behalf of the city’s homeless population, is featuring the movie as part of its annual Lenten Art Show. This year’s theme is “An Emancipation Conversation,” and before you begin questioning how a 40 year-old horror flick fits into that motif, consider the following commetary from Wikipedia:

Since the release, critics and film historians have seen Night of the Living Dead as a subversive film that critiques 1960s American society, international Cold War politics, and domestic racism. Elliot Stein of The Village Voice saw the film as an ardent critique of American involvement in Vietnam, arguing that it “was not set in Transylvania, but Pennsylvania — this was Middle America at war, and the zombie carnage seemed a grotesque echo of the conflict then raging in Vietnam.” Film historian Sumiko Higashi concurs, arguing that Night of the Living Dead was a horror film about the horrors of the Vietnam era. While she asserts that “there are no Vietnamese in Night of the Living Dead, … they constitute an absent presence whose significance can be understood if narrative is construed.” She points to aspects of the Vietnam War paralleled in the film: grainy black-and-white newsreels, search-and-destroy operations, helicopters, and graphic carnage …

Other prevalent themes included “disillusionment with government and patriarchal nuclear family” and “the flaws inherent in the media, local and federal government agencies, and the entire mechanism of civil defense.” Film historian Linda Badley explains that the film was so horrifying because the monsters were not creatures from Outer Space or some exotic environment, “They’re us.” Romero confessed that the film was designed to reflect the tensions of the time: “It was 1968, man. Everybody had a ‘message’. The anger and attitude and all that’s there is just because it was the Sixties. We lived at the farmhouse, so we were always into raps about the implication and the meaning, so some of that crept in.”

Although it earned harsh criticism for its violent and graphic content at the time, the Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry in 1999 alongside other movies considered “historically, culturally or aesthetically important.”

A free dinner will be served prior to the film at 6 p.m., thankfully so for those with weak stomachs. For more information, call DPC at (615) 254-7584.