Directed by
Jeff Broadstreet
Cast
Brianna Brown ………. Barb
Joshua DesRoches ………. Ben
Sid Haig ………. Gerald Tovar, Jr.
Greg Travis ………. Henry Cooper
Johanna Black ………. Hellie Cooper
Adam Chambers ………. Owen
Ken Ward ………. Johnny
Alynia Phillips ………. Karen Cooper
Max Williams ………. Tom
Cristin Michele ………. Judy
Marcia Ann Burrs ………. MomZombie
Robert DiTillio ………. Priest / PriestZombie
Run Time: 80 minutes
Rated R
DVD Release date: October 9, 2007
Very late in the game, George Romero’s classic Night of the Living Dead was going to be called Night of the Flesh Eaters. Problem was, there already was a Night of the Flesh Eaters. To avoid confusion and possible legal troubles, the title was changed to Night of the Living Dead. Unfortunately, during this last minute title switch the notice of copyright was left on the cutting room floor, allowing Night to pass quickly into the public domain. This mix-up is the reason that one can find dozens of different versions of the DVD (including no less than 3 different colorizations), many for as little as a dollar, and why you can legally download the film from a number of different sources.
It also means that any Tom, Dick or Harry can release a film and call it Night of the Living Dead, with the only possible roadblock being John Russo’s apparent ownership of the term “Living Dead” by means of his satirical Return of the Living Dead features.
So the question becomes: how does one make a worthwhile remake of a movie which is widely available and considered by many to be one of the ten greatest horror flicks of all time? Furthermore how does one justify re-making a film which has already been competently remade? Night of the Living Dead already has sequels, remakes, parodies, remakes of its sequels, sequels of its parodies, and is probably due for a parody of the remake of its sequel.
Jeff Broadstreet and company respond to this question with a simple two letter answer: 3-D. Yes 3-D, that fabulous format that reached its zenith in 1953, and was all but dead by 1955 save for the occasional 1980s desperation sequel.
There are two main problems with 3-D movies:
1. 99 percent of all 3-D features are absolutely terrible. The best one I can think of is Creature from the Black Lagoon, a film which few people realize was made in 3-D, let alone have seen it in 3-D.
and
2. 95 percent of the time, the 3-D isn’t very effective. It tends to be blurry and headache-inducing.
Suffice to say, Night of the Living Dead 3-d is not in the minority in either of these categories. The film is listless, pointless, bland, the sort of generic horror flick that the Sci-Fi channel would be tentative about producing. There is no story of which to speak, and I’ve never seen a zombie flick with less tension. The one-note characters in the film watch the original Night. Listen up directors, it is never a good idea to feature a much better film in the context of your film. Furthermore, the characters don’t seem to notice that many of them share names with the characters in the Romero flick. There’s no, “Look, Tom and Judy are a couple in this movie, just like our friends in the barn!”
Are there any women under 40 named Judy anyway? Or Barbara for that matter?
The DVD does afford the courtesy of supplying 4 pair of 3-D glasses. Here is what my test audience had to say with regards to the 3-D:
“I feel Like Ethan Suplee trying to get the Magic Eye to work in Mallrats.”
“The red [of the glasses] is oppressive.”
“Everything looks purple.”
“I don’t think 3-D works for me.”
“I can’t see.”
“I think it looks better with the glasses off.”
“What is that? I can’t even tell.”
The biggest name in the movie is former blaxploitation star, and current member of the Rob Zombie stock company, Sid Haig. Haig is saddled with a monster sized chunk of horrible exposition. Director Broadstreet’s credits include Dr. Rage, and 1989’s Sexbomb starring Return of the Living Dead‘s Linnea “naked in a cemetery” Quigley.
If you bother seeing Night of the Living Dead 3-D a.k.a. Night of the Living De3d, might I suggest the following drinking game: Take a shot every time there is an establishing shot of the farm house. That way, you’ll pass out from alcohol poisoning, and not have to watch the entire movie.
The DVD
The disc is not without SPECIAL FEATURES. As previously stated it does come with 4 pairs of 3-D glasses. Less interesting are the featurettes.
We get the interminable Night of the Living Dead 3D Behind-the-Scenes Featurette, a Q & A with the Filmmakers and Actor Sid Haig at the New Beverly Cinema, a special Behind-the-Scenes Special Look at Filming in 3-D which might be helpful in advising what not to do, the Theatrical Trailer, and the all important Radio Spot.
It seems to be more of a collection of things that they had lying around, and not things that anybody would actually want.
Also included is a 3-D Still Gallery, some of which don’t appear to be in 3-D. You could pretty much pause the film every couple of seconds and get an equally intriguing still gallery.
I almost forgot, we are afforded a Blooper Reel. (It’s not particularly funny.)
Finally, we are supplied with an Audio Commentary with Director Jeff Broadstreet, Screenwriter Robert Valding and Actor Sid Haig. Of course, watching this would entail watching the film a second time. There is no reason you’d want to do that thing.
