NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
© 2002 Elite Entertainment

Mania Grade: A
Disc Grade: A-
Reviewed Format: DVD
Rated: Not Rated
Stars: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne, Judith Ridley
Writers: John Russo, George Romero
Director: George A. Romero
Distributor: Elite Entertainment
Original Year of Release: 1968
Retail Price: $24.95
Extras: newly approved THX transfer; Dolby Digital 5.1; original Mono soundtrack; trailer; TV spot; two audio commentaries; film parody; history of The Latent Image with TV spots and outtakes; scenes from Romero's "lost film"; interviews; still galleries; treatment and shooting script; THX Optimizer; Stephen King liner notes

Related Links

0

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: MILLENNIUM EDITION

But those in the know (or those with too much time on their handstake your pick) have always been aware that Elite Entertainment's Laserdisc, and subsequent DVD, have been the home viewing choice for NOTLD fans. Originally produced for Laserdisc in 1994, this transfer of the film is the best looking and sounding of the many versions available, culled as it is from NOTLD's original 35mm negatives with the blessing of Romero himself. Now this brand new "Millennium Edition" DVDwhich still sports that same excellent transferhas become the new must-have version of the film, thanks to the addition of a bunch of new extra features not offered on the older Elite DVD.

The film itself is the stuff of cinematic legenda low budget horror flick made by a bunch of nobodies that came out of nowhere and single handedly re-shaped the genre. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD details the life and death struggle of seven people holed up in a farmhouse while the world outside is turned upside down by an inexplicable legion of attacking zombies (though the word "zombie" is never actually uttered in the original film). Action, scares, and social allegory was everywhere in the pic, which was a huge success, leading director George Romero to the big timeand two sequels (so far), DAWN OF THE DEAD and DAY OF THE DEAD. Of course countless clones also followed all three Romero pictures.

The disc offers the "newly approved THX transfer" with a brand new Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that works quite well (though the original Mono track is offered as well). Additionally, the THX Optimizer calibration system is available for fine-tuning your home theater system.

Many of the extra features here were already offered on the previous DVD from Elite, but some of them have only been available until now on the Laserdisc. Chief among the extras are the two audio commentaries by key creative personnel. The first track features George Romero (director, screenplay), John Russo (screenplay), Karl Hardman (producer, "Harry") and Marilyn Eastman ("Helen"). This is one of those commentaries that sounds like a class reunion rather than a genuine examination of the film, though the group does offer the occasional fascinating glimpse into the production. Unfortunately, Romero's contribution is perhaps the most disappointing as he seems to barely remember the making of the film at times. The second track features Russ Streiner (producer, "Johnny"), Keith Wayne ("Tom"), Vince Survinski (production director), Bill Hinzman ("cemetery zombie"), Kyra Schon ("Karen") and Judith O'Dea ("Barbra"). Again, the commentary is poorly organized but there are moments of insight peppered throughout which make it worthwhile.

A trailer and a TV spotty are pretty creepy, and there's also a parody called "Night of the Living Bread" a 1990 eight-minute student film from Ohio University. It's a one-joke bit, but its faithfulness to the original film is impressive. Two cast members who didn't contribute to the audio chats pop up in interview segments instead: a 16 minute audio talk with the late Duane Jones (who played the lead character of Ben)in his last interview in factand a 10 minute video spot with Judith "My jacket's caught" Ridley. Both are interesting, with Jones' being quite good.

A segment on the history of Romero's pre-NOTLD ad company The Latent Image offers TV spots and outtakes produced by the group, as well as some interesting text notes on the company. There're also five minutes of scenes plus a poster and stills from THERE'S ALWAYS VANILLA, Romero's so-called early "lost film" (which starred Judith Ridley again).

Other cool stuff includes the treatment and shooting script of the film (with text introductions), a stills gallery of scrapbooks, posters, collectibles and props, and some brief but worthwhile liner notes from Stephen King. (Apparently a much more extensive image gallery was included on the Laserdisc version from Elite, but I couldn't find that anywhere on this DVD.)

The bottom line is this is the best possible way to watch NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEADwith or without the extra features. If you already have the previous Elite DVD but you're a stickler for extras, then you should pick this version up (the Duane Jones talk is worth it alone). If you've only seen the film in those cruddy public domain versions, then you should pick this up as well. And if you're just a zombie fan, then hell, you'll be eating this up.