Thanks Thanks:  0
Page 1 of 7 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 96
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    906
    Credits
    452

    Night Of The Living Dead DVD Retrospective

    PART I: THE 1968 CLASSIC - A

    This was something I kept putting off, a huge task to rework. But this IS the season when it should be posted. So work began.

    Welcome to the re-launch!

    Back story.

    My name is JohnIan, some of you are readers (hopefully) of my weekly write-ups (Thursdays); a look back at previous store exclusives called "Past Tense" (within my tread, "Home Video Exclusives"). Check them out. These entries were altered from their original post on JoBlo's "DVD, Blu-Ray & Home Theater Discussion" forum which has since gone dark.

    This began as a side project, an idea that took root in November of 2011. It all started one night looking on Ebay at NOTLD collectables. As far as I can tell, this hasn't been done before; collected and indexed. Two months of writing, researching and gathering images before the first post was made on January 5th, 2012.

    I own most of this stuff (OR did at one time). Exceptions will be noted where needed.

    Man, getting it done was hard - blame the feet of procrastination and dread. I had to climb this big ass tower that kept getting larger and more complicated. Initially just want to go through the relevant DVD releases to the George A. Romero classic. But started to think about the laser discs and the CD soundtracks. Then popped in my head was the remakes, the re-imagining and colorized edition - more and more subjects...

    The original thread ran from 2012 to July 14th, 2015. I'll be adding newer entries as they appear and obviously re-posting the old ones.

    A labor of love.

    Shadows crawlin'!

    - - - - - - - - - -



    Released on March 12th, 2002 from Elite Entertainment for $24.95 was the "Millennium Edition" (#EE1117). This DVD came in a blood red case (first I ever saw) and a red foil wraparound, well the top and bottom of the front were foil.

    There were two inserts. First was a chapter listing with liner notes by Stephen King on both sides. The second was a single sided advertisement from Elite Entertainment which read "Got Blood?" Their collection of horror titles. Not going to list them; I counted, the sheet showcases forty-one releases.

    The motion picture is ninety-six minutes long.

    - - -

    Extras:

    * Commentary 1: director/co-writer George A. Romero, co-writer/actor/film editor John Russo, producer/actor/make-up/electronic sound effects/still photographer Karl Hardman and actress Marilyn Eastman
    * Commenatry 2: producer/actor Russell Streiner, director of photography/actor/assistant camera Bill Hinzman, actress Judith O' Dea, actor Keith Wayne, actress Kyra Schon and production director/actor Vince Survinski
    * Treatment/Original Script (frame advance)
    * Personal Scrapbook And Memorabilia gallery (159 images)
    * "Night Of The Living Bread" short (1990, full screen, 8:25 minutes)
    * "Duane Jones' Last Interview" December 13th, 1987 (audio only with stills from the movie, 16:21 minutes)
    * Judith Ridley Interview (full screen, 10:39 minutes)
    * Beginnings: The Latent Image/Hardman Eastman Studios
    - About The Studio (frame advance lecture)
    - Commercials (by The Latent Image): Magic Lantern, Awrey, Guiness Book/Chevy Dealers #1, Guiness Book/Chevy Dealers #2, The Calgon Story, Iron City Beer, Kennywood Park and Duke Beer (all full screen)
    - Outtakes from "The Derelict" (a short starring Karl Hardman, full screen, 1:22 minutes, no audio)
    - Breaking Out Of Commercials About Image Ten (frame advance lecture)
    * Scenes From "There's Always Vanilla" (a.k.a. "The Affair", lost film by Romero, starring Judith Ridley, full screen, 5:09 minutes)
    * "There's Always Vanilla" gallery (7 images)
    * Theatrical Trailer
    * TV Spot
    * THX Opimizer

    - - -

    Audio:

    * Dolby Digital 2.0 (mono)
    * Dolby Digital 5.1

    - - -

    NOTES/REVIEW

    There are no subtitle options.

    The DVD is not dubbed in any language(s).

    The DD 5.1 remix is different (newer) than the remix used in the "30th Anniversary" edition from Anchor Bay Entertainment (1999).

    This was a full screen motion picture; not widescreen; lensed on 35mm stock. So don't try looking. If you DO find it, you're getting less of the movie. The "Millennium Edition" was transferred from the laser disc (1994) remastered print (supervised by film's producers).



    All the DVD extras originated from the "25th Anniversary Collector's Edition" LD (#EE1114). I still have mine, good reason. This was a two disc, laser disc set (CLV/CAV); streeted on October 26th ('94) and retailed for $89.95. I remember being all giddy upon learning of its release - saved my money to buy that.

    If I'm not mistaken (been twenty-one years), I found out through Laser Craze, an LD store/mail order shop. Never visited their store in Massachusetts, I'm in Southern California. They were awesome; pre-order titles and get 20% off. Bought a lot from them, great deals - considering the prices at other places.

    For those of you jotting down facts. This was Elite Entertainment's very first laser disc release. And the first black and white movie get the THX treatment. The "Millennium Edition" has 12 chapters which is weak, the LD had 31.

    I still remember being excited when the package arrived, carefully opening it; reading all the liner notes and specs. But I didn't play it. This was a big deal for me, laser discs were expensive. The 17th of the following month was my birthday - that's when I wanted to see it, making it a special day indeed.

    On that Thursday, I pulled out disc 1 and gently placed into my laser disc player. *play*

    My jaw dropped.

    WTF!?!

    The movie starts and the worst possible print plays; all scratched up with blots and hairs. My heart sank.

    A moment later the Elite Entertainment logo crashed through the screen, things went black and the film played for real. You got me! I have to say I was impressed by the image quality. There were no DVDs back then, nor Blu-Rays or HD-DVDs. You HAD video cassettes, VHS or Betamax. This LD presentation blew them away.

    The commentaries are good, very informative. But of the two, the first one was better, livelier. As if a group of friends got together, joked around and reminisce. The second is dry; except for the comment on Kyra Schon's breasts, that was weird.

    The Stephen King liner notes is from the laser disc gatefold jacket. It also has notes from Romero, Tom Savini and Sam Raimi. The "Millennium Edition" does not include the false (damage print) start.

    My favorite commercial is "The Calgon Story", a parody of "Fantastic Voyage" (1966). A group of 'Calgonauts' are shrunk to micro size and inserted into a washing machine (why the hell would anybody do that?), they become trapped in the fibers of a t-shirt. Engines clogged by leftover detergent film. The explorer release Calgon and film be gone, free! Oh God, I'm old enough to have seen this ad originally air. I was a wee little boy.

    Did ALL the extras carry over?

    No they didn't.

    As you read above the main gallery has 159 pictures (minus the stills with text explaining what category you're looking at). The laser disc's gallery is bigger. How much more? Nearly 400 images! Hundreds of production and publicity stills - including very rare color photographs from the set. That alone is reason to keeping the LD. And I don't know if it will ever appear on DVD or BD.

    The gallery on the "40th Anniversary Edition" (2008) does in fact have production stills missing from this 2002 release. But that number is only 68 pictures. All together that's 227, we're still lacking over a hundred and fifty pixs. While true, 40th does have some color stills - not all of them. So for avid fans, hold on to that laser disc.

    Man, I have a problem.

    So this color thing had me thinking. I have some of those color photos - in card form, "25th Anniversary" set. An eight card... well, trading card collection, published by Imagine, Inc. in 1993, long out of print.

    There was a time I was very into collecting non-sport trading cards. Not ashamed, have quite the library (a good chunk of it feminine; bikini and nudes; there were even a couple of gentlemen clubs which had sets - oh pre-internet). Since I can't take screen snaps off my laser disc, this is the next best thing. So I took a hi-res scan of two cards, #1 and #8. Both of these images were included on the LD. Cropped off the black boarders with the text "Night Of The Living Dead" in gold.

    Say thank you. I'm dead serious. You have no idea what a mess I made locating them.



    A hair puller, I hadn't seen this set in well over a decade. Where the hell did I put them? So I played amateur detective and found them. Where's MY Scooby Snack? The text. Card 1 "On Location: The Entire Cast & Crew!" Card 8: "On Location: Duane, Judy, Marilyn, And Karl". I should mentioned that I have cards #2 and #3 autographed by Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman, it was part of the set. Can't recall what I paid.

    The image on card 1 appeared inside the gatefold of the laser disc. Where's Romero? He's the fellow next to the 35mm camera.

    Like looking at old family pictures. Who were these guys?
    Last edited by JohnIan101; 10-03-2018 at 05:59 AM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    906
    Credits
    452
    PART I: THE 1968 CLASSIC - B

    OTHER COPIES

    The "Millennium Edition" was the second attempt by Elite Entertainment for a deluxe release.



    The first happened five years earlier. Streeted on August 6th, 1997 for $29.95; "Special Collector’s Edition" DVD (#EE1116). I do not own this. Information comes from various net locales and my archive. This version has less bonuses than the "Millennium Edition".

    A guess; since there were no subtitles on the 2002 DVD - probably was none here either. Same goes for a foreign langauge track, not present.

    To be expected, this is ninety-six minutes.

    - - -

    Extras:

    * Commentary 1: director/co-writer George A. Romero, co-writer/actor/film editor John Russo, producer/actor/make-up/electronic sound effects/still photographer Karl Hardman and actress Marilyn Eastman
    * Commentary 2: producer/actor Russell Streiner, director of photography/actor/assistant camera Bill Hinzman, actress Judith O' Dea, actor Keith Wayne, actress Kyra Schon and production director/actor Vince Survinski
    * "Night Of The Living Bread" short (full screen, 8:25 minutes)
    * The Latent Image Commercials: Guiness Book/Chevy Dealers #1, Guiness Book/Chevy Dealers #2, The Calgon Story, Iron City Beer (all full screen)
    * Theatrical Trailer
    * TV Spot

    - - -

    Audio:

    * Dolby Digital 2.0 (mono)

    - - -

    NOTES

    Since this is also from the laser disc print, also has THX. The selling point was the DVD had the best possible image presentation. Looking at the picture of the rear cover (found online), it's different. I'm not used to seeing the chapters listed in back. It came in a black case. So yeah, no insert included with the release. This edition did include the false start.

    The odd thing is that this release has 31 chapters. Why didn't this carry over to the later, better DVD?

    Since were talking about other editions...



    Dislike that image too. On November 27th, 1996 Elite Entertainment released a bare bones (budget), single disc LD (#EE1115), CLV only. It sold for $34.95 and like the other laser disc has 31 chapters. Only extra is the trailer. Do not own this. Why would I?

    The 25th anniversary is way better.

    - - - - - - - - - -

    SOUNDTRACKS PART I

    Up until five years ago, there's been a single official soundtrack to the horror classic. Released by Varése Sarabande in 1982 was "Night Of The Living Dead: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" (#STV 81151). Exclusively on vinyl; the LP had 15 tracks and LONG out of print. I do not own this. Like the movie, the soundtrack has had various bootlegs.

    Guilty of owning two of them.



    My first was bought from Monsters In Motion website in 2003, can't recall the price. I thought it was real, nope. It's a CD-R (with jewel case), plays in my CD player, but lacked quality. As if the person responsible just hooked up a record player to his computer. Zero attempt to clean up the audio. It was awful, like poor radio reception.

    The covers were printed off an ink jet printer that was running low on pigment. Man, I had to work on the above picture to make it look as good as it does. Which is pretty amazing, I thought I threw it away years ago.

    The second was pure digital. Thank you, interwebs.

    Summer of 2006, I was reading IMDb's message board for NOTLD and saw someone posted a link for a download, the soundtrack - presented in 192 bits. Awesome! So I did.

    As I recall, he/she didn't do it. They found the link elsewhere and included it in their reply. This was bare bones, no tagging. But the sound quality was great. Who ever did this, took the time to make it as good as it could be.

    So I tagged the hell out of them. Looked online and found the various track information (complete artist data) and a copy of the liner notes by Romero himself (inserted into Lyrics). I did a good job, nay - a fantastic job! Also found a good cover picture to include.

    BUT...

    It still needed work; took up the cause in 2010. I kinda procrastinate. For those who don't know, as a hobby I do audio restoration. You would be surprised how many albums are released wrong; snaps, pops and clicks. Someone is definitely asleep at quality control.

    When I rip my CDs (which I own) into MP3s. I sometimes need to extract the AIF documents and repair them. I'm anal, it bugs me. One of the big offenders was the soundtrack to "A View To A Kill" (2003), remastered my ass!!! I had to fix several BIG snaps on it. What the hell? How could they NOT hear that?

    So I took all the MP3s and converted into AIF documents. My restoration took a week an a half to complete. Some were far too embedded for removal; did the best I could - make them as unnoticeable as possible. In addition to mending, some tracks and track portions were amplified because of low volume. They were then ripped back as 192 MP3s (and retagged).

    I know what some of you are thinking.

    Yes, a bit of fidelity was lost. But the loss is negligible; the album was in mono, there shouldn't be any noticeable degradation - unless you have serious hardware. The outcome was the best possible solution to that situation.



    I improved my original tagging with movie trivia on each track. Plus I recreated the Varése Sarabande cover. The image is a composite of six elements and color corrected. You can read the text clearly. I learned much in that four years. Looks mighty sway. *nods*

    The soundtrack was made up of existing library music, not made for the movie. It saved the production money as it was an indie flick.

    - - -

    Tracks

    1. Driveway To The Cemetary (Main Title)
    2. At The Gravesite/Flight/Refuge
    3. Farmhouse/First Approach
    4. Ghoulash (JR's Demise)
    5. Boarding Up
    6. First Radio Report/Torch On The Porch
    7. Boarding Up 2/Discovery: Gun 'N Ammo
    8. Cleaning House
    9. First Advance
    10. Discovery Of TV/Preparing To Escape/Tom And Judy
    11. Attempted Escape
    12. Truck On Fire/Ben Attacks Harry/Leg Of Leg
    13. Beat 'Em Or Burn 'Em/Final Advance
    14. Helen's Death/Dawn/Posse In The Fields/Ben Awakes
    15. OK Vince/Funeral Pyre (End Title)

    - - - - - - - - - -

    SOUNDTRACKS PART II



    Things changed in 2010 (May 25th). For the first time an official CD was created, "They Won't Stay Dead!: Music From The Soundtrack Of Night Of The Living Dead", put out by Zero Day Releasing (#ZDCD21; digipak). Man, I still need to buy that. I pretty much own all the 'Dead' CD soundtracks.

    Did not know about this.

    If I did, I would've have wasted so much time remastering that bootleg - all pointless now. Well at least my repairs for "Bram Stoker's Dracula" CD soundtrack (1992) hasn't been in vain. Yet.

    Anyhow, the company ZDR also released a NOTLD documentary called "Autopsy Of The Dead" (2009), I haven't seen it yet.

    This new soundtrack is remastered from original (mono) sources from Capitol Hi-Q's production library. The track names are the original titles'. Due to copyright issues, they couldn't rename them as they did for the 1982 album.

    Which means the old Varése Sarabande release is kinda illegal. How cute.

    - - -

    Tracks

    1. Eerie Heavy Echo (L-1204)
    2. Night Suspense (JB-33)
    3. Heavy Agitato (TC 416)
    4. Light Suspense (JB-37)
    5. Fateful Fire (TC 151)
    6. Dreary Danger (TC 157)
    7. Weird Eerie (ZR-87C)
    8. Small Disaster (TC 130)
    9. Reserved Disaster (TC 127)
    10. Space Drama
    11. Black Night (TC 155)
    12. Shock Suspense
    13. Dream
    14. The Music Box
    15. Mystery Hour
    16. Curious Danger (TC 158)
    17. Dramatic Eerie (PG 190)
    18. Mysterioso (8-ZR-8)
    19. Danger In The Night (Take 9)
    20. Mysterioso (ZR-68)
    21. Emotional Bridge
    22. Somber Emotional (L-33)
    23. Punch Disaster (TC 132)
    24. Attack at the Window (Medley)
    25. Shock/Stormy
    26. Acoustic Space Station (Take 8)
    27. Weird Suspense
    28. Mysterioso (ZR-65)
    29. Mysterioso (ZR-9)
    30. Serene Heart (TC-306)
    31. Tension (TC 402)
    32. Sting 44 (TC 344)/Sting 27 (TC 329)
    33. Fire (JB-28)
    34. Chase (ZR-62)
    35. Heavy Dramatic (CB 16B)
    36. Heavy Dramatic (CB 54)
    37. Heavy Dramatic (CB 15A)
    38. Heavy Dramatic (CB 15B)
    39. Eerie Heavy Echo (L-1216)
    40. Eerie Heavy Echo (L-1214)

    - - - - - - - - - -

    EASTER EGG



    Within the "Millennium Edition" there is a vintage ad for the Monroeville Mall (circa 1969). The same Pennsylvania shopping center where "Dawn Of The Dead" (1978) was filmed. The TV commercial was done by Latent Image.

    Bonus Materials -> Next -> "Beginnings: The Latent Image/Hardman Eastman Studios" -> "Outtakes From 'The Derelict'" -> hit previous chapter button, once it starts to play.
    OR on a computer... Bonus Materials -> place mouse next to "S" at the end of Materials - CLICK.

    This egg also appeared on the "25th Anniversary Collector's Edition" laser disc; at the end of chapter 15, side 4.

    So much more retrospective in the weeks to come. See you next Thursday for the remakes.
    Last edited by JohnIan101; 10-03-2018 at 05:58 AM.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    906
    Credits
    452
    Laser Disc Formats

    This needs to be addressed.

    An explanation of laser disc. Man, I feel old. Laser disc or sometimes called Laserdisc was a video format that began in 1978 and died in 2001. The discs were LP sized (think giant double sided compact discs) and came in two formats, CLV and CAV.



    Above is an ad from Home Video Magazine from 1982. This is Magnavox's 8005 model shown. The first machine was made public on December 15th, 1978; the Magnavox, model 8000

    This sold in only three stores in America - all in Atlanta, Georgia. It sold out in a matter of hours.

    Each machine retailed for $749.00; stores also sold the first movies on disc.



    Above is page from the 8000 brochure. Anyway...

    CAV is an acronym for Constant Angular Velocity, also known as Standard Play. Discs are encoded at a rate of one frame per disc revolution and disc is played at a fix speed of 1,800 rpms. The time per side is thirty minutes (54,000 individual frames). Users have the ability with these discs to frame advance and smooth multi-speed playback (forward and reverse), plus the option to go to an individual frame.

    CLV is Constant Linear Velocity, also known as Extended Play. The rotational speed during playback varies from 1,800 rpms for the innermost tracks to 600 rpms for the outermost. The length per side is one hour. Movement on fast-foward and reverse is choppy. Fancy players (which I didn't own) overcome that problem and behave like CAV discs.

    Both types have chapters like DVDs. Laser disc was the format that introduced consumers to the now common movie extras; restored/remastered films, commentaries, deleted scenes, screenplays (whole or excerpts), teasers/trailers, bloopers/outtakes, galleries, making-of featurettes, documentaries, interviews, presentation in stereo, isolated music, Matrix Surround Sound (simulated Surround Sound), liner notes on the jacket/sleeve and director's cut; LD got there first - it was in fact the first interactive video format.

    Many of the early DVDs had their extras culled from materials originally appearing on laser disc.

    Audio was presented in either digital mono/stereo or analog mono/stereo. Some discs were encoded with AC-3 and/or Dolby Surround. Not to mention, closed captioned. A good chunk of the discs were encoded with CX (Compatible eXpansion), a noise reduction system for the hiss/hum, analog audio only.

    One of the big selling points (beyond chapters, though some disc didn't have them) is that laser disc was the only format you could watch movies in widescreen. Yeah, everything back in the day was Full. And of course the superior picture quality (at the time).

    In that era, VHS was king. Video cassettes have a resolution of 240 lines, LD has 425. Not to mention since no contact is made with the discs, there wasn't damage occurring with each and every playback, unlike tapes.

    Movies on laser disc had to be broken into parts/discs (depending on the length) and side flip(s) to continue/conclude the feature. High end machines did this automatically.

    This is the one feature I don't understand that isn't in current DVD players. So many TV box sets have double side discs. Why don't the players, play both sides without flipping? How hard can it be?



    The very first special edition LD was from Criterion, their release of "Citizen Kane" (1941) in 1984, two disc set (first pressing came in a box; later re-releases was in a gatefold jacket).

    I used to have that, the gatefold.

    Yeah. Today's word is Verbose.

    - - -

    Something that also should be noted.



    NOTLD Soundtracks; there are so many of them. Most are bootlegs and some are not - as in the soundtracks to the stage adaptations, there have been many (even high school productions). Above is the digital only EP album (five tracks) from the 2012 The Devious Theatre Company production in Ireland (a present day retelling).

    Music by Peter Lawlor; released by Replete, can be bought from $4.95 and up.

    The show ran from July 24th - 28th, '12 at the "The Watergate Theatre" in Kilkenny (made me laugh). This kept the concept and added more characters. This was a crowd source production.

    Before you ask, no I haven't seen it. But now I'm curious.



    Above is a promo image from the stage play by Blue Monkey Theater Co. from 2007. Left to right; Steve Black as Harry Cooper, Shuhe Hawkins as Ben, Kate Larsen as Helen Cooper, Hayley Rousselle as Karen Cooper, Jordan Parkyn as Tom and Molly Ponkevitch as Judy.

    Not pictured; Jordi Barnes as Barbara and Ken Potts as Johnny. This was adaptated by Lori Allen Ohm and directed by John Monteverde. It ran from October 19th - 31st, 2007 at "The Valley Cinema & Pub" in Beaverton, Oregon.

    Anyhow, the one that sticks to mind is the 2009 production "Night Of The Musical Dead" by Hole In The Wall Theater in New Britain, Connecticut. Nope, didn't see this either.



    It happened from July 24th - August 22th, 2009, a musical. It brought something to the table I had never considered before.

    The song was for Little Miss Cooper, "Oh Mother". In this version, the infected daughter is named Carrie Rowland. Written by Bill Arnold (who wrote, directed and composed the play; produced by Rebekah Royer-Poppel) sung by Emily Ravita and Jennifer Condon on different days.

    All the characters were given new names by the way. Ben became Duane White, Barbara became Bunni, Johnny became Jimmy, Tom became Tim Dutkiewicz, Judy became Kitten, Helen Cooper became Ellen Rowland and Harry Cooper became Harvey Rowland. The story takes place in Wicksford, Connecticut.

    So?

    The lyrics...

    Treat me like a little baby, dress me up just like Cindy Brady. Oh mother. You'd never would admit that I had grown. So now I'm doing something on my own. My days of slavery are about to end. So say 'hello' to my little friend. [trowel] Mother. Oh Mother. You kept me like a little kid, I'd like to replay you back for what you did. Oh mother.
    You wouldn't let me date any boys instead you filled my head all up with noise. I always had to lie about my age so now I have some unexpressed rage. Oh mother. Oh mother. All these things I will remember as I begin to dismember you. Mother.
    Never said it was fancy.

    But it makes me wonder about the mother - daughter relationship Helen had with Karen. Could Arnold be correct?



    Above is the cover from the February 1977 issue of Popular Science showcasing the Magnavox LD player. And YES, that guy is super pervy. Girl, you better drop that disc and RUN!!!

    Worse yet if he's her dad.

    Next to that is a poster from the Devious Theatre production.

    Go to YouTube, type in "Devious Theatre Night Of The Living Dead" in search. Or if you know how, "DmFkzxI5bms". It's still there (as of writing), checked. Uploaded on March 9th, 2013 by Devious Theatre.

    There you go, you've been educated on laser discs and NOTLD stage plays.

    I'll close this post with one more play.

    Did not see this one either.



    This is the digital only soundtrack EP (five tracks) to the 2009 Urban Pirates Production; music by Bobby Burns. He did a good job. Favorite track is "A Radio (The Plan)".

    Sure...

    Other plays based on the movie were done by Heritage Theatre Company from "Lewis University" in Romeoville, Illinois. The Maverick Theater in Fullerton, California. And Pumphouse Theatre in Calgary, Canada. Far too many to list. You get the idea.
    Last edited by JohnIan101; 01-16-2019 at 09:00 AM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Posts
    3
    Credits
    2
    Great list guys but will you please share more adventurous movies list from 80's...

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    906
    Credits
    452
    I think that comment was meant for another thread.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    906
    Credits
    452
    PART II: THE REMAKES - A1

    Welcome back. This week's "Living Dead" reflection takes us on a trip to a familiar, yet different farmhouse. Today we cover the NOTLD remakes. Because of size issues, this is broken up into three parts.

    Since this was made after 1982 I have access to various stats.

    Our first redo is "George A. Romero's Night Of The Living Dead". The feature opened on October 19th, 1990. It was made with a budget of $4,200,000 (estimated) and grossed over 5.8 million during its U.S. theatrical run. The movie opened number six at the box office, the following week it dropped to number fourteen.

    The feature opened against "Quigley Down Under", "Ghost", "Memphis Belle" and "Goodfellas".

    I saw this on opening day, still have my ticket stub. I'm anal. Some things about me; I only see movies in theaters on opening day - I like the rush of a fresh audience and I keep my ticket stubs.

    It started with "Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade", May 24th, 1989.

    That theater has long disappeared into history. The building was turned into a high end, consumer electronic store. Bought a few laser discs there back in the day. And now?

    That store died in 2011, a victim of the bad economy. It's a cool looking building. Would take a lot to renovate it, but it would make a really cool large house. Keep one of the smaller screening rooms and turn it into... a home theater. Sorry, reminiscing. Saw a good chuck of the movies in my youth there.

    This building has now becoming the fortified offices of a repo foreclosure company. I'm not joking about it being fortified, looks like a prison. They're the guys who force you out and clean out houses for the banks.

    Moon don't look friendly.



    Released on October 6th, 1999 from Columbia TriStar Home Video for $24.95 was the special edition DVD (ISBN# 0-7678-2783-X). It came in a common DVD case, normal wraparound.

    There was an insert, a two page booklet; production notes and chapter listing, twenty-eight of them. This title was re-released some years later, I'll get to that in a few.

    The motion picture is eighty-eight minutes long.

    - - -

    Extras:

    * Newly remastered print
    * Commentary: director Tom Savini
    * "The Dead Walk: Remaking A Classic" making-of featurette (full screen, 24:52 minutes)
    * Talent Files
    * Theatrical Trailer (full screen)
    * Additional Trailer: "The Tingler" (full screen, black & white, 1959)

    - - -

    Audio:

    * Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
    * Dolby Digital 2.0 (mono; Portuguese dub)

    - - -

    NOTES/REVIEW

    There are subtitles in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean and Thai. The odd thing is, the English subtitles is auto on when the film starts, you have to turn them off.

    DVD is double sided and presents the movie in anamorphic widescreen on S-A, full screen S-B. The extras are identical on each side. Too bad they couldn't include more. The home video for "Wrong Turn" (2003), same deal - double sided, but S-A and S-B had different extras.

    NOTLD disc labels are reversed, full screen is wide and vise versa.

    The commentary is solid, Savini talked mostly throughout. Various things pointed out such as the name of the home owner is "M. Celeste". As in the Mary Celeste, yes that Celeste.

    Bought from Best Buy for ten bucks, around 2004. For me the featurette just scratches the surfaces. My favorite part was the merging of 1968 footage with 1990, the cemetery zombie that breaks the car's window, quite seamless.

    The making-of shows a few poor looking deleted scenes, culled from a VHS tape. They had to make cuts to get an R rating. The original MPAA pass resulted in an X. The lost bit that sticks out is when Tom Bitner (William Butler), Judy Rose Larsen (Katie Finneran) and Ben (Tony Todd) are in the pickup going for gas. Tom is in the flatbed and shoots a zombie, point blank range with his shotgun, its head ceased to exist in a shower of blood.

    This title was re-released by Sony Picture Home Entertainment on September 27th, 2005 for $19.94. This has the very same ISBN number. There are four important differences...

    1. This is a single sided disc; anamorphic widescreen only
    2. It fixes the problem with the auto English subtitles
    3. Excludes the booklet.
    4. The wraparound is different in the back; same images, but gone is the special features listings and of course now reads Sony Picture Home Entertainment.

    All the features from the first pressing.

    Ended up using a two disc transparent DVD case. The newer wraparound on the outside with the older cover showing on the inside. Disc one becoming the widescreen only DVD.

    This needs is a deluxe edition; longer gorier version, commentary with the cast, production artwork (would love to see that, some of the early drafts on the zombies), home videos, storyboards, bloopers and more featurettes on the making. Better remastered picture and sound. Plus something else?

    Can't say for certain... the DVD has an item listed as 'Trailer', the thing is - it feels like a teaser. Trailers tend to be around two minutes or so long. This thing clocks at 1:09 (including the green MPAA rating screen). It feels wrong, teasers are roughly a minute in length.

    A big point was gingerly mentioned; Savini had trouble making the movie. Not from the Hollywood end, but from the local mob. They had their teeth in the production. It's only mentioned once, probably for good reason. And maybe that's why we won't get that better version. Dogs best left sleeping.

    This was an enjoyable, some have gone as far as saying this equals Romero's version. Can't disagree. It was the first picture to introduce me to Tony Todd. I can't imagine him NOT being Ben.



    Barbara (Patricia Tallman) is easy on the eyes. I'm not into short haired girls, but she definitely an exception. Glad she made it beyond the massacre. Actress Katie Finneran as Judy Rose in the background.

    Finneran played Sharon Tyler on Fox's "Wonderfalls" (2004), the older sister to Jaye (Caroline Dhavernas).

    What shines is the zombie effects. The gaunt, bald fellow who pops through the window (Jay McDowell). I remember seeing that for the first time. My mouth was wide open.

    How the hell? 'They're shooting him, skin is breaking, but it's not regular squibs. I see flesh.'

    Outstanding!



    He looked so freaky, yellowish, skinny, disturbing. As with the half burnt zombie from "Dawn Of The Dead" (1978), this guy became iconic.

    There is a weak point, Johnnie (Bill Mosley). Not like that. He was fine. I'm talking about his death. The dummy head that hits the tombstone - breaking the neck, looked too fake.

    The problem was it lingered a second too long.

    Should've been a very quick cut. Boom! Dead.



    The DVD cover, passable. CGI zombies? Yeah, I know, the cover foreshadows things to come. Granted the ghoul with the open maw is traditional drawing.

    Cover works, gets the message across, true. But why?

    The film's poster was WAY better and ominous.

    They should've gone with that.



    I have this too, the laser disc, a single disc release (CLV only). It streeted on April 11th, 1991 for $34.95 (#77176) from RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video. In full screen, the horror (no chapters!). The only extra is that same, so called 'trailer'.

    An issue I have is with the cover (beyond the lack of chapters and not in widescreen). It gets the job done, but gives away the ending - zombified Ben. Okay, fine - everybody knows that he dies in the end. But since this was a remake, it could've gone a different route as it did with Barbara. What if newbies saw this?

    The surprise is gone. Anyhow, the cover IS superior to the DVD's.

    Who was the hotter MILF, McKee Anderson or Marilyn Eastman as Helen Cooper? Gonna side with Anderson. I was going to include Johanna Black from the next remake, thought about it... nah. She was perfect for that interpretation and leave it at that, though she seems like a cool person to party with - hilarious.

    Okay - why does the dead woman with the doll look like she just broke major foul wind?

    - - -

    The apocalypse cause was never given. There's been speculation, but no definitive answer(s). As it should; the world came to an end, the reason why at this point is purely trivial - not much you can do about it.

    The back of the DVD says different...

    Seven strangers are trapped in an isolated farmhouse while cannibalistic zombies - awaken from death by the return of a radioactive space probe - wage a relentless attack, killing (and eating) everyone in their path.
    - - -

    Often asked; why did Ben turn if he wasn't bitten?

    This event; the contagion is airborne. From this point forward - everyone who dies (regardless how) will get back up and feast on the living. It has contaminated our ecosystem. If you're bitten or scratched, you receive a huge dose of the virus which is lethal. Otherwise it's sit dormant, waiting...

    Get gnaws at once more next Thursday, if you DARE!
    Last edited by JohnIan101; 10-30-2018 at 05:02 AM.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    906
    Credits
    452
    Reanimation

    I wasn't going to write, but the more I thought about, the more I felt it was necessary - to back up my claim in the previous post.



    Becoming undead does not require a bite nor scratch to occur. The virus is everywhere.

    I'll start with news reports from the 1990 motion picture. And yeah, Patricia Tallman is lookin' kinda hot.

    Newscaster here was played by William Cameron.

    The voice on the radio was uncredited, sorry.



    The scientific community is focusing on the phenomenon, specifically on that trance like state that seems to characterize the assailants. Clearly a behavioral disorder, but what could have caused so widespread and dramatic a condition as the one we are facing tonight? We've heard speculation on everything from the ozone layer and chemical weapons; to voodoo, mysticism and organisms from space. Biologists in Stockton, California have released a report, stating that the bodies of the recently dead are returning to life - driven by an unknown force that enables the brain to continue to function. Doctors at the Center for Disease and Control in Atlanta reject that theory, calling it "preposterous beyond belief". They feel the only reasonable explanation is a germ, a bacteria or virus that has a mind-altering effect on its victims. Though how such a germ could've been delivered so quickly in over such a vast area does remain a mystery. It's being called "Judgment Day" by religious leaders...
    - Newscaster

    Do not attempt to reach friends or family. Do not attempt to reach any of the rescue stations identified in previous advisories. They may no longer be in operation. Repeating this advisory, number nine from the Offices of Emergency Preparedness; dated 11 PM, August 23rd, 1989. It has been confirmed that the bodies of the dead are being reactivated by forces yet unknown. These reactivated bodies are weak and uncoordinated, but are capable of inflicting damage on people and on property. They are to be considered extremely dangerous, especially when encountered in large numbers. These bodies can be disposed of in only one known manner. That is by incapacitating the brain. These reactivated bodies will attack warm-blooded animals of all species including human beings without provocation and will devour the flesh of any prey. It has been confirmed that acts of homicide and cannibalism reported in the afternoon and evening hours of August 23rd, 1989 are attributable, at least in part to these reactivated bodies. Civil defense and military patrols are moving through Western Pennsylvania in a systematic search for those who might need assistance.
    - Radio Announcer



    And now the news report from 1968; Newscaster was played by Charles Craig.

    I think we have some late word just arriving. And we interrupt to bring this to you. This is the latest disclosure in a report from National Civil Defense Headquarters in Washington. "It has been established that persons who have recently died have been returning to life and committing acts of murder. A widespread investigation of reports from funeral homes, morgues and hospitals has concluded that the unburied dead are coming back to life and seeking human victims." It's hard for us to believe what we're reporting to you, but it does seem to be a fact.
    - Newscaster

    Later...

    Dr. Grimes was played by Frank Doak - now interviewed by the news man.



    Newscaster: Dr. Grimes is also head of special project; physiological research being conducted in the field for NASA. Dr. Grimes, your entire staff have, I know - has been working very hard to find some solution to these things that are happening. Do you have any answers at this time?

    Dr. Grimes: Yes, we have some answers. But first let me stress the importance of seeking medical attention for anyone who's been injured in any way. We don't know yet what complications might result from such injuries.

    Newscaster: I see, that's good advice doctor. Now how about the basic problem we're facing?

    Dr. Grimes: In the cold room at the university we had a cadaver, a cadaver from which all four limbs had been amputated. Sometime early this morning, it opened its eyes and began to move its trunk. It was dead, but it opened its eyes and tried to move... The body should be disposed of at once, preferable by cremation.

    Newscaster: How long after death then does the body become reactivated?

    Dr. Grimes: It's only a matter of minutes.

    Newscaster: Minutes? That doesn't give people enough time to make any arrangements.

    Dr. Grimes: No, you're right. It doesn't give them time to make funeral arrangements. The bodies must be carried to the street and, and, and burned. They must be burned immediately. Soak them with gasoline and burn them! The bereaved will have to forgo the dubious comforts that a funeral service will give. They're just dead flesh and dangerous.

    The contagion is everywhere - it doesn't matter if you're directly infected. Once you die and necrosis sets, you WILL rise and feast on any living thing(s). Our ecosystem has been corrupted, perhaps forever - zero solution in sight. This is the new reality. Depressing when you think about it.

    - - -

    Some bits.

    Haven't noticed this before until taking screen snaps for this post. When Ben (Tony Todd) kills that zombie (with down's syndrome) with the crow bar, the one he hit with the truck - there is a zoom on him as he gets up (17:31). So that you can't see the end result of the head bashing. As mentioned in the last post, probably done to secure an R rating.

    That and Ben's found truck is from "Whalen Nursery Outlet" (written on the side). It has a plant in the flatbed.

    I got curious and took a look.



    Above left is actress Heather Mazur as Sarah Cooper in the '90 remake (she was thirteen); next to that is her today.

    Okay I'm done with this.

    Wait.

    I wonder if the name Rick Grimes from "The Walking Dead" comic and later series was inspired by that doctor interview.
    Last edited by JohnIan101; 03-27-2019 at 03:38 AM.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    906
    Credits
    452
    PART II: THE REMAKES - A2

    Controversy.



    Barbara (Patricia Tallman) has something else to fear besides the ghouls outside.

    I do not own this - I'm not into Blu-Rays.

    Doesn't do it for me, could go into a long rant, but won't.

    Lets dive in...



    Released on October 9th, 2012 from Twilight Time (through Screen Archives Entertainment) for $29.95 was the limited edition Blu-Ray (UPC# 8-51789-00332-0), only 3,000 produced worldwide of the 1990 remake. The region A/1 (1080p) came in a common BR case, normal wraparound.

    There was an insert, an eight page booklet; production notes by film historian Julie Kirgo.

    The motion picture is eighty-eight minutes long.

    - - -

    Extras:

    * Newly remastered print
    * Commentary: director Tom Savini
    * Isolated Score: composer Paul McCollough
    * Theatrical Trailer (in HD)
    * Catalog Ad: "The Rains Of Ranchipur" (1955) and "Bonjour Tristesse" (1958)

    - - -

    Audio:

    * 5.1 DTS-HD MA

    - - -

    NOTES/RANT

    Missing from the BD is the making-of featurette, "The Dead Walk: Remaking A Classic", though the Savini commentary carries over.

    All of this entry was researched; spent hours online, looking about and reading: blogs, message boards and HD reviews - taking a lot of notes. I believe I can write about this.

    There are subtitles in English SDH.

    Blu-Ray is not dubbed in any language(s).

    It is presented in anamorphic widescreen.

    This was the first title from Twilight Time that sold out in eight days (on pre-order). Impressive. A pre-order sold on Ebay for $150.00. It has a current auction price of $95.95. And selling on Amazon for $144.95 new.

    The problem hit the web shortly after folks got their copies and watched; upset fans vented their displeasure.



    These pixs are from a YouTube video from Auzorann; called "1990 NOTLD DVD vs Bluray Comparison". It's short, thirty-five seconds. Download the HD video; the stills were not altered by myself. The change is explicit, everything has a dark blue tint.

    The image details were dimmed by the HD new transfer - which is the opposite that you would expect from high definition.

    The trailer isn't Smurfed.

    The days that followed, news came out - the company never examined what they were selling.

    A step back...

    In 2010 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment was working on a deluxe edition of the 1990 flick; 20th Anniversary release. A new transfer was made. The project was supervised by the film's director of photography, Frank Prinzi. He claims this is how the film was suppose to look. I'll get into the contradiction and dissension in a few.

    For whatever reason, Sony terminated the project; transfer sat on the self for two years.

    Along comes a new company, Twilight Time (releases limited edition BDs of hard to find/vintage films) who learn of the new transfer and want to release a BD. The upstart buys the licensing rights, an exclusive three year contract - which expires this month.

    The rest is history.

    To combat the MASSIVE negative comments, Twilight Time posted the following on their Facebook page:

    UPDATE: As promised, we have discussed NOTLD at the studio and are able to verify via SPE’s Mastering Department, that our Blu-ray is indeed the approved transfer from 2010, generated for the film’s 20th anniversary, and done in consultation with the film’s director of photography. As you will have also seen on this page and elsewhere on the Internet, director Tom Savini has now had a chance to view the end product and declared it "fantastic." As we are aware that some fans of the film will remain disappointed, our offer of a full refund still stands if you wish to return your copy. However, we would caution you with this thought: this is a limited edition run of 3,000 copies, and the title is sold out. Right or wrong, it is a collector’s item, and there are no guarantees this title will ever be repressed. Going forward, if TT encounters another situation where the new transfer differs greatly from the old, we will bring that to collectors’ attention prior to the disc being offered so that you may know of the changes beforehand. Thanks for all your support.
    Savini posted on his Facebook:

    You know what...I watched it last night and it's beautiful. I can't see anything wrong with it and I watched it on my 70 inch high def Sharp.
    - - -

    A commenter on IMDb with the moniker Zilla7777 made this post (October 9th, 2012) in the message board for the 1990 movie:

    It turns out that Tom Savini "gave his okay" on this version after it was long-sold-out. I know, because I just got done talking to him (I initially contacted him via email, the same one he uses on his public website for contact: tom_savini@msn.com). He also told me that he was PAID FOR HIS "OPINION" by Twilight Time, the label that released this dreck.
    That invalidates his quote about how great the transfer is; conflict of interest, damage control.

    Here's a quote from the DVD featurette from actress Patricia Tallman:

    When we started shooting, we started with the beginning of the script, which was the graveyard scene. This was spring time in Pittsburgh; we wanted to have that gloomy, rainy kind of thing going on - which I believe is the way it is in the original. Instead we had these glorious, sun shining, blue days with birds chirping in the background. Not scary at all. But at the end, Tom loved it, 'cause its the opposite; it was the opposite of what you expected. And that's what he kept doing in that scene.
    So this talk about how great the BD picture is pure BS.

    Still trying to save face, Twilight Time later posted this on Facebook:

    Well, the Blu-ray is an accurate representation of the transfer...obviously things like bright/dark levels are utterly subjective. The transfer was undoubtedly approved by the filmmakers.
    An indigo screen is subjective?

    Some claimed the situation can be fixed by adjusting their TVs, no; the tint is too far embedded to revert. Worse yet are the folks who see nothing wrong. Don't know what to say to them. The word apathy comes to mind.

    A quote from online denizen named Project-Blu:

    the scary thing is, some people (the revisionists in this case) just don't understand the betrayed emotions people get when something they love and are familiar with changes. if someone took their pet and shaved it bald, they'd be upset, and others would state if it didn't harm the creature it isn't THAT big a deal.
    Apathy. Like those folks who recorded that guy getting beat up on the street with their smart phone - not helping, just recording; wondering how many 'Likes' they'll get.

    There is another issue that hasn't gotten as much attention - the audio.

    Sound effects are missing/deleted from the new transfer. It's present on the DVD. The clicking sounds from Cooper's shotgun after he fired all his rounds is truant. So is the camera noise from the end credits; the sound effect of a camera's motor, moving the image forward for each end credit still is absent. I have no answer. Are there more deletions? Probably.

    Should be in the discount bargain bin at Wal-Mart.

    - - -

    Twilight Time shouldn't have taken all the heat, but they're not 100% blameless. They should've seen what they were selling before shipping.

    And if they did? They should still sell; have a disclaimer and a video comparison and stills (online) for buyers to decide. It would've made money. And all this mess on their heads wouldn't have exist - blame would fall solely on the studio for creating a bad transfer.

    Sony had to have known about this image situation; they made it. Perhaps knew this wouldn't go sit with fans and HD connoisseurs.

    What if they gave this inferior product to Twilight Time? Let them take the wraith of angry buyers and get some money back with licensing rights. After three years, they'll re-release a collector's edition. Speculation.

    They now know that there is a rabid fan base, granted a niche market. The newer title will be done proper and become a good seller.

    Not that outlandish since there exist TWO hi-def transfers. The other was not tinted navy blue, both owned by Sony. When was the second made? Don't know, but I can tell you it's on the streaming service VUDU from Wal-Mart.

    So questions on the abandoned 20th Anniversary. How many special features were produced before the plug was pulled? Was the bad transfer the tipping point? Sony didn't want to spent the money to fix it and decided to kill the project?

    Back to subject; so the film's director of photography is to blame? That's not what the director was going for.

    But he did approved the transfer?

    Didn't he?

    The ugly transfer finally received a legitimate answer; exposed November of 2012 from the website, Cinema Lowdown.

    Discord continues next Thursday. See you then.
    Last edited by JohnIan101; 10-30-2018 at 05:03 AM.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    906
    Credits
    452
    Reunification

    The darkness is my lover and acts of pleasure.
    - Samantha Fox

    Things that once were lost have now found its way to cinema surface. We stand at the precipice of the whole! Not fancy dreamin' or a bold lie. Truth.

    What am I speaking of?

    In short - synthesis.



    Lets take a step back - some history (Romero with camera above)...

    March 7th, 1974 the Monongahela River overflowed, spilled onto downtown Pittsburgh, filling the streets with muddy water and debris. The former location of The Latent Image office building.

    The basement was where they stored their archive; master prints to their TV commercials, shorts to posters, press kits, props, outtakes and deleted scenes for "Night Of The Living Dead". In fact this was the location where scenes of the farm cellar was filmed.

    Film's distributor Walter Reade Organization did two major things. One, renamed the film without putting a copyright notice - making it public domain, right off the bat. The movie's original title was "Night Of The Flesh Eaters", but changed since it was too similar to the 1964 horror flick, "The Flesh Eaters". At the script stage it was then called "Night Of Anubis". Anubis being the Egyptian God of the dead (before Osiris took over, but that's another story).

    And two, they made trims to get to the action sooner. Roughly nine minutes worth, this occurred before Ben and Tom (with Judy) go out to refuel the truck. This can be noticed when Harry and Helen fight in the basement; there's a jump cut on Harry, his body abruptly changes positions (51:41 minutes).

    These moments were thought forever lost; gone by the deluge.

    Took weeks to go viral. The news came out (widespread) on October 19th, 2015.



    On October 4th, at the Monster-Mania [32] convention (Hunt Valley, Maryland); guest, director George A. Romero dropped major news. It's been found!

    Speaking to fans he said a 16mm work print was discovered. The event that propped the unearthing was Romero and fellow director Martin Scorsese working with NOTLD negatives for a restoration project. The print was found in co-writer, John Russo's collection.

    The missing moments = zombie horde outside the farm house, the biggest spectacle in the film; done with many extras and mannequins. And more of a tense fight between husband and wife at the bottom of the cellar stairs.

    - - -



    These edits are talked in Elite Entertainment's 2002 "Millennium Edition" DVD (taken from their "25th Anniversary Collector's Edition" laser disc set). That commentary carried over on Genius Products's 2008 "40th Anniversary Edition" DVD - which will be covered in the weeks ahead.

    Say thank you - I transcribed the relevant section. Man, typing this out was frustrating; practically two hours spent on 3:40 minutes. So much of what they said overlapped each other. Enough belly aching.

    Discussion with George A. Romero, John Russo, Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman.

    John: And our prop room was in this basement.
    Karl: Yeah, lots of nice stuff down there.
    Marilyn: That's where the famous flood was, is that right Jack [Russo's birth name]?
    Karl: That destroyed everything.
    John: Yeah. Later on the "Night Of The Living Dead" work print, a lot of the elements that went into the movie and a lot of our early films were destroyed by a flood.
    George: In this basement?
    John: In this basement.
    George: The old Monongahela River came up and...
    Marilyn: Mmm Hmm
    Karl: Yup.
    George: Took it all away.
    Karl: The argument - THE ARGUMENT!
    George: Has this jump cut coming up too, the real obvious jump cut.
    Marilyn: Oh the one that Walter's...
    George: We were trying to cut some time out, wasn't that?
    John: Well, the distributor...
    Marilyn: That's it. Yes.
    George: The distributor wanted some time out of the movie.
    Marilyn: Right.
    George: And I remember the biggest, my biggest problem I had with it was that BIGGEST widest shot we had of the zombies out in the field got cut out. And instead of being, instead were putting it in somewhere else it just got cut out.
    Marilyn: Lost.
    George: And that's the shot I wished we had back. I can remember it being a great looking shot - was a big wide shot. We had, stood some mannequins up, out - way in the distance. And we had...
    Marilyn: I remember.
    George: It was our biggest zombie shot.
    Karl: A great horror disservice.
    Marilyn: Woh [jump cut happens].
    George: And that shot never in... In here is the jump cut, right?
    Marilyn: Didn't we just see it?
    John: Didn't...
    Karl: I think we just past it.
    George: Oh did we pass it? I'm sorry, I was looking away.
    Marilyn: Yeah, that was it.
    Karl: Yeah.
    John: Yeah, they insisted...
    George: There was some dialog that came out, I don't even remember what it was. But...
    John: There was about six more minutes of basement scenes.
    George: But I remember, I remember Russ was in New York at the distributor and he said 'Well I can, I figured out where this place where I can get these few lines out of here.' And, and he; they didn't even have movieolas or anything, he was just looking at it [the negative] up against a light box or something. He said, 'I don't think you'll notice this. The head pretty much seems to be in the same position.' And they took it out.
    [laugher]
    George: We didn't have a lot of cutaways anyway. But...
    John: Well, I think there weren't any cutaways; now that you mention that wide shot and you know, if we were doing that now, we could've probably put some music in and actually taken the liberty of going outside to a zombie shot.
    George: Right.
    John: And that could've been the cutaway.
    Marilyn: How many minutes did we drop? In order to...
    John: I think...
    George: Not much.
    Karl: Six wasn't it?
    John: About six minutes I think...
    Marilyn: All together? Because it seems...
    John: And they insisted, they said 'the whole movie's too talky and this whole section and it has to go.' And you know it was our first dealings with a distributor and they were; they were in power position and we figured...
    Marilyn: The, the ohm, bonfire.
    George: I don't remember it being that much.
    Marilyn: The bonfire at the end, I know was trimmed. Remember that?
    John: Was it? That I don't remember.
    Marilyn: The credits roll and it goes back to the bonfire in the original. There were...
    George: That's still there.
    Marilyn: I think it was a minute.
    George: That's still there.
    Marilyn: A minute or two.
    John: That's still there, it's still ends on a live shot.
    George: It comes back to life at the end, the fire comes back on with that final spitz of music.
    Marilyn: But it was longer.
    John: They wanted more zombie shots in and they wanted the dialog cut. And we didn't have almost - all of our zombie shots were in. I think we came up with were just a few more seconds.
    Karl: Well there wasn't, yeah but...
    John: Short shots and then we had to put the jump cut in to get the; to shorten the dialog. And that's all we could do.

    - - -

    As understood, the work print is being restored by Scorsese's The Film Foundation, founded by the director.

    Later Romero stated he prematurely released the info. An official statement will be made soon.

    Things to consider...

    Could it be that Romero wants to re-release a remastered feature back in theaters?

    This may finally bring some closure to the public domain woe? A Director's Cut can be copyrighted. While this still leaves the theatrical version in public domain, does bring solid green backs to the filmmakers.

    No word on when this will come out or how long the restoration will take. Now if we can get the missing spider-crab sequence from King Kong (1933).

    - - -

    Earlier this month (October 7th, I'm that anal), popped my DVD and watched. Still catching new things all these years.

    Fleeing from the cemetery ghoul, Barbara runs into the farm house. The front door is locked so rushed towards the back - hoping the back door is serviceable, which it is.

    A quick shot of her running by the side of the house...



    WTF? Is that a cellar door on the side? Why wasn't Harry Cooper concerned about it? Was it blocked by something on the inside?

    Throughout the film; it's referred as the cellar, not basement.

    Just thinking out loud; among those deleted scene there is a reference to this other door?

    - - -

    Back to that convention, the other guests; not going to list their filmographies, too numerous...

    Actors:

    Matthew Lillard
    Keith David
    Meg Foster
    Seth Gilliam
    Brad Greenquist
    Dale Midkiff
    Andrew Hubatsek
    Denise Crosby
    Zach Galligan
    Terry Kiser
    Dee Walllace
    Thomas G. Waites
    T.K. Carter
    Joel Polis
    David Clennon
    Will Sandin
    Charles Cyphers
    Don Shanks

    Other Horror Celebrities:

    Roger Jackson - voice of Ghostface in "Scream" films
    Tony Moran - played Michael Myers (The Shape) in "Halloween" (1978)
    Nick Castle - played Michael Myers (The Shape) in "Halloween" (1978)
    Alan Howarth - film composer

    I'll keep you posted on news.
    Last edited by JohnIan101; 10-03-2018 at 05:38 AM.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    906
    Credits
    452
    PART II: THE REMAKES - A3

    Continuing...

    The movie site had a post entitled "Cinematographer Frank Prinzi ASC Shares His Thoughts On Night Of The Living Dead (1990) Blu-Ray"; November 11th, 2012 (written by Chaz Lipp).

    The film's cinematographer took much of the blame at least from Twilight Time's point of view; Prinzi approved transfer.

    He dropped a bombshell...

    I have to let you know that I haven't seen the transfer on Blu-Ray, on a good screen, yet. I just saw [a] quick clip on the internet and what I saw looked bad. I was consulted verbally a couple of years back but was never given a "first draft" copy of the transfer to give my true feedback. It went from words to visuals. The range of interpretation is limitless. The words “cool” or “darker” can be taken in so many ways that without a visual marker to refer to, one can go in any direction. From what I hear the direction taken did not bring pleasing results to many.
    Who's blame?

    Some fellow at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, not Prinzi. More and more, feels like Sony just wanted to dump this new transfer on someone, get back some money from licensing.



    See that Sony? She's looking at you.

    Trust me, you do not want, nor the trowel little Ms. Cooper is holding.

    Fix this, do it right; DVD and BD.

    - - - - - - - - - -

    SOUNDTRACKS PART III



    "Night Of The Living Dead: Original Score From The Motion Picture". A limited CD was released in late August of 2002 from Numenorean Music (#NMCD 002). Only 3,000 was produced (I have it). Not a regular soundtrack, but a redo.

    CD is a re-recording by Paul McCollough (composer) utilizing most of the same equipment used during the scoring of the film. The original tapes were preserved, but McCollough believed he could improve upon their sound. I'm okay with that.

    The booklet (eight pages) contains liner notes from him. And original artwork commissioned exclusively for this release by Ron Pegenkoop and Cliff Cramp.

    Something missing - chase music where Barbara has abandoned the car and has gone on foot, two hungry graveyard ghouls pursuing. Don't have an answer why absent. There was room, the album is 62 minutes long.

    My favorite tracks are "Cemetary", "Passage To Normal" and "Pump Run".

    Numenorean no longer exit, only releasing three soundtracks before dying. The last CD was in 2003. NOTLD soundtrack is selling, used for $250.00 on Amazon! I paid twenty-four (when you count shipping and tax).

    - - -

    Tracks

    1. Cemetery
    2. Farmhouse
    3. Tensionizer
    4. Twin Geeks
    5. The Pity Of Angels
    6. Boarding School
    7. Talking Points
    8. Courage To Go
    9. Pump Run
    10. Zombies Win! Zombies Win!
    11. Passage To Normal



    Now a digital only release (March 10th, 2014) from BSX Records; download sells from $8.99. Track 01 was renamed, "Cemetery (Opening Titles) and the name was changed to "Music From The Motion Picture Score".

    - - -

    I'd like to add some more bits of '90 trivia.

    Columbia Pictures was the distributor, they had declined releasing the '68 film since it was black and white, they focused on color only. The 1990 film was offered to American International Pictures, but AIP demanded changes...

    1) A happy ending.
    2) A romance subplot.

    Changes Savini and Romero refused.

    Our next remake is often considered an atrocity/abomination (wait until next week). I don't; they went a different direction and was blunt, their intentions.

    - - - - - - - - - -

    PART II: THE REMAKES - B

    The second remake; "Night Of The Living Dead 3D" opened in limited release (145 screens) on November 12th, 2006. It was made with a budget of $750,000 (estimated) and grossed about $215,300 during its U.S. theatrical run. When including foreign receipts, the feature made $1.2 million (not including domestic home video sales). The movie opened number twenty-seven at the box office, the following week it dropped off the chart. Not kidding. The remake is known as "House Of The Dead 3D" in Argentina and "Zombie 3D" in Japan.

    The feature opened against "Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan", "Flushed Away", "Saw III" and "The Departed".



    Released on home video on October 9th, 2007 from Lionsgate (UPC# 0 31398 21889 0) for $26.98 in two separate editions, 3D and 2D. The anaglyph (3D) version came with four pairs of red/cyan glasses. There were reports that some 3D copies didn't have the glasses. Mine did, bought from Wal-Mart, fifteen bucks on release day.

    There is no insert/booklet. The DVD has sixteen chapters.

    In December of 2011, I picked up the 2D version (UPC# 0 31398 21891 3 00), used, mint off Amazon (reseller).

    The motion picture is eighty minutes long.

    - - -

    Extras:

    * Commentary: director/producer Jeff Broadstreet, screenwriter/assistant director/digital effects/editor Robert Valding, director of photography Andrew Parke and actor Sid Haig.
    * "Night Of The Living Dead 3D: Behind The Scenes" featurette (anamorphic, 18:48 minutes)
    * "Filming In 3D: A Behind-The-Scenes Special Look" featurette (anamorphic, 6:23 minutes)
    * "Q&A With The Filmmakers And Actor Sig Haig At The New Beverly Cinema" May 2007 interview (full screen, 11:54 minutes)
    * Blooper Reel (full screen, 5:32 minutes)
    * 3D Still Gallery (12 images)
    * Theatrical Trailer (anamorphic)
    * TV Spot (anamorphic)
    * Radio Spot
    * Home Video Ads: "Fido" (non-anamorphic, 2006), "Zombie Nation" (non-anamorphic, red band, 2004), "Return Of The Living Dead: Rave To The Grave" (full screen, red band, 2005), "Holla" (non-anamorphic, 2006) and "Captivity" (non-anamorphic, 2007).

    - - -

    Audio:

    * Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround

    - - -

    NOTES/REVIEW

    There are subtitles in English and Spanish.

    The DVD is not dubbed in any language(s).

    It is presented in anamorphic widescreen, but...



    Two screen shots (same frame from each). The 3D edition, though widescreen does not touch the sides/boarders, while the 2D version does. What makes things odder still is that while the 3D copy look smaller, it does in fact have more of the image then the 2D, that is weird.

    In the end credits (3D) the image does touch the sides. *shrugs*

    The remake wasn't made to out do or out class the original; made for one reason only - big coin. The man responsible, Jeff Broadstreet didn't bullshit about great cinema. No, he wanted to make a movie for direct to video that was in public domain, easy money.

    An early plan was to remake "I Bury The Living" (1958). But it was changed to NOTLD, more commercial; built in audience.

    Appreciate that honesty, damn refreshing. So many Hollywood films have this big spiel of how GREAT their movie is; it's a commentary on [fill in the blank]. C'mon, dude we know it's bull. Unless you're so full of yourself that you believe your own hype; Michael Bay - looking at you.

    A different take on the Romero classic. Broadstreet and Valding didn't stick too strongly to the source material; went their own direction, its own movie. I like that. The same way the "Resident Evil" movies are. Will admit, was upset with how they didn't follow the video games (could've very easily re-adapted the novel adaptations by S.D. Perry; good reads).

    I was entertained, not gonna argue if was necessary - an entertaining piece of fluff. Zero social commentary, nothing wrong with that.

    A back-up plan; should the film's title need to be changed for legal reasons. A working alternative was "Curse Of The Living Dead".

    This wasn't even going to be 3D, but the financier changed his minds and wanted it in three dimensions (same amount of money), so it could have a limited theatrical release before going to home video. They had to create new technology to do it.

    This is the very first feature to utilize a hand held 3D camera system. Neat. Two custom built 3D rigs; cameras A and B.

    It opens with footage from the original film; the beginning, the road - then pulls back revealing the movie is playing on an old black and white TV; we're now in color (and in 3D). The television is playing at an abandoned gas station.

    More footage appears at the Copper home, the family is watching the movie; the moment before Barbara (Judy O'Dea) is killed, Johnny (Russell Streiner) returns. I thought that was inspired. It recognizes what it is - a zombie movie.

    Folks need to lighten up, stop being so cynical. I suppose at this time, I'm the minority.

    Didn't watch with the supplied glasses, still sealed. I'm anal. What I used was something I already had - a pair from 1987; "Eye On L.A." red/blue glasses from their "Hawaiian Swimsuit Spectacular" in 3D! Remember that? (May 16th, '87). You got your glasses from participating 7-Elevens. From boobs to ghouls.

    The 3D gags? They were okay. Some were too blatant. As for the zombie effects, they're okay, nothing extravagant.

    Make a swift return, next Thursday we get into the meat of this review. *stares at you unblinking*
    Last edited by JohnIan101; 04-30-2019 at 03:37 AM.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    906
    Credits
    452
    PART II: THE REMAKES - B2

    Continuing...

    How different?

    Lets say everything from this point forward are spoilers.

    The film still has Barbara 'Barb' (Brianna Brown) and Johnny (Ken Ward) going to a distant - rural cemetery. Not the burial of their mother, but an aunt; their mother (Marcia Ann Burrs) is already there awaiting her kids.

    Tom (Andrew Yost) and Judy (Cristin Michelle) do appear, but limited screen time, sex in the barn - their orgasmic moans sounding like they've being feasted on, soon becoming fact...

    The main character here isn't Ben (Joshua DesRoches), it's Barb. We see the nightmare through her eyes. Unlike O'Dea's portrayal, this Barbara isn't dazed or cowering. She's more like the Patricia Tallman's evocation; proactive (and more feminine). What can I say? Brianna Brown is a hottie.



    When I first saw this - for awhile I thought Brown was adult film starlet Briana Banks. Their faces kinda look the same, plus they both have a mole near their left eye. Perphas Ms. Banks was trying to break into mainstream films? No a different woman.

    Some XXX stars actually use their real names, such as Lisa Ann; Briana/Brianna sound alike. Anyhow, some might remember her from "Spider-Man 2" (2004), she had a bit part as the train passenger with baby when Doc Ock (Alfred Molina) attacks; single line of dialog: 'Is he still alive?'

    Of all the changes the biggest one is Ben, he is not black here, he's white. Not going to make a big deal about this, nor should you.

    At the graveyard, Johnny is attacked, bitten and flees in his car without Barb; great family love. Their mom is already undead. Barb takes off and runs into Gerald Tovar, Jr. (Sid Haig) the owner of the local funeral parlor, he's no help as there are more walking dead here as well.

    Ben saves Barb on his motorcyle and take her to the Coopers. The farm house does not belong to Tom's uncle Regis. The Coopers own this farm. Harry (Greg Travis), his wife Hellie (Johanna Black) and daughter Karen (Alynia Phillips) - from his first marriage.

    The next big change is the introduction of a new character to the mythos; Owen (Adam Chambers), the handyman. He's mostly here for comic relief. Owen gets bitten and slowly dies through the film.

    New Harry isn't like classic Harry (Karl Hardman). He's a laid-back kind of fellow, a pacifist. Hellie is a hippy chick (recovered addict).

    The Coopers don't believe Barb's fantastic story. She want to call the police, they are reluctant to make that call. You see, the Cooper Farm is a marijuana one!

    This isn't a fractured fairy tale. And Ben... is a dealer who was coming back with the cash from selling their weed. That's original! I can understand why some have a serious problem with that. Ben is supose to be the good guy. And he is - he just so happens to be a seller too, he only deals pot; hubcap diamond-star halo.

    Before Barb can convince them, the siege happen - the dead have arrived. Tom and Judy are the first to go, she spends the rest of the film as nude zombie. The phone line is pulled, isolation.

    Karen is killed, resurrects and bites Harry. Tovar comes to the house, the nearest home. His business was ground zero. He never cremated the bodies (afraid of fire). He inherited his job from his dead father, Tovar senior. All the bodies meant for cremation were just pied piled up and stored near chemicals. Junior offset his cash flow by allowing illegal storage, exotic materials. He fled from work, it became overrun.

    Hoping to get help since the phone is down; Barb, Ben and Tovar leave. Harry and Hellie stay behind. They die. Out on the road, Tovar betrays them and knocks Ben unconscious, abducting Barb. He want to retake his mortuary... and to silence Barb. He plans to have her embraced.

    I've explained too much and will stop here. You'll have to watch to see how it comes together. The only real problem I had was with the surviving character, that person just gave up, that person had a good thirty seconds to run - anywhere! There was still a chance to survive. Granted a lot happened, perhaps it was all just too much. But still, an awful way to die.

    The original ending was to have Ben and Barb reaching the gas station seen at the start before falling to their fates. It wasn't filmed - not enough time, not enough money.



    For a low budget feature it has a good collection of extras. I like the behind the scenes footage of Brown reacting to something that scared her then realizing it was stupid. So cute, great smile.

    And the on set antics of the actors and crew.

    Wish she was part of the commentary, Brown is the star after all. I know Sid Haig got top billing, but she had far more screen time.

    If you got it, put on your glasses - you're welcome.



    Movies collide, there is a stinger at the end credits. The background for the crawl is the opening shot from the original; the road leading to the cemetery. In the last few seconds, Barb re-appears, now lost inside the '68 classic being chased by a zombie coming up the road, nice.

    The 2D version omits the 3D Still Gallery. And the Home Video Ads for both are not a menu choice, a single long clip.

    This Is A New Motion Picture Filmed In 3-D That Is A Re-Imagining Of The 1968 Public Domain Motion Picture "Night Of The Living Dead". George A. Romero Is Not Affiliated In Any Way With This New Film.
    - disclaimer on the back of the DVD

    Oh yeah, I can not confirm, but suspect the voiceover guy on the trailer/TV spot is none other than Tony Todd. He has a distinctive voice.

    The idea behind Gerald Tovar, Jr.'s character not cremating the bodies was inspired by an actual police investigation in Georgia. A son had inherited his father's mortuary, but was unable to cremate the bodies.

    The crematorium broke down and for whatever reason he procrastinated on getting it repaired. Authorities found corpses littered everywhere, stacked and stored on any available space on the property in various states of decomposition. The man was changed and sentenced to prison. Can you imagine the smell?

    The mortuary scenes were filmed in a real, defunct one; "Conner-Johnson Mortuary" (4700 Avalon Blvd.) in Los Angeles, California.

    Anyhow, I have both editions in a double disc, transparent DVD case with the 3D version as outside wraparound.

    - - - - - - - - - -

    SOUNDTRACKS PART IV



    I own this too, "Night Of The Living Dead 3D: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". As with the other remake, this was a limited CD. Released by Lakeshore Records (#LKS 33882) on October 6th, 2006, only 1,000 copies produced. This is composer Jason Brandt's first CD release.

    Brandt has a cameo as the ghoul Gerald Tovar strikes in the head (twice) with a shovel when he first meets Barb.

    The CD booklet is two pages, no liner notes, just track names and times. Even though this is a limited edition the price currently from $0.97 to $11.31 (Amazon info).

    This was the movie/soundtrack that introduced me to the band, Radford - their song, "Control". Have bought their self-titled album (2000), "Sleepwalker" (2003) and digital EP, "Black Out The Sun" (2006).

    - - -

    Tracks

    1. Black & White World/Main Title
    2. Graveside And The Mortuary
    3. Road Attack And Rescue
    4. Karen's Curiosity
    5. A Warning & The Assault Begins
    6. The Barn And Resignation
    7. Alone In The Truck/Zombies Everywhere
    8. Where's Karen?
    9. Bullet In The Brain And The Showdown
    10. God Didn't Cause This And Ben's Money
    11. Attack On The Stairs
    12. Please Let Me In!
    13. Gerald Tovar, Jr. And The Undead
    14. Who's Dead? And Shovel Work
    15. Leaving The Farm And Two Bullets
    16. Family Reunion
    17. Betrayal And The Tovar Family
    18. The Beginning Of The End/Barb & One Bullet Left
    19. Control
    20. Night Of The Living Dead 3D Trailer Music

    - - - - - - - - - -

    ADDITIONAL NOTES

    This something I never really thought about - for me, self-explanatory. But I guess some are confused. Ghouls in the Romero universe don't speak as in talk. This is about the 1990 remake.



    The first person that Barbara and Johnnie (Bill Moseley) encounter in the cemetery wasn't a zombie. He was traumatized and injured, bumping into and speaking to Barbara, "I'm sorry." Makes you wonder what kind of horrors he witnessed. Actor Pat Reese is listed in the credits as The Mourner.

    Here are a couple of quotes to settle it - not a zombie (both from the DVD, the same making-of featurette)...

    Tried to manipulate you in the remake - to believe that the first guy you see is a zombie, just like in the first film.
    - director Tom Savini

    He scares us, we think he's gonna be the zombie; turns out, he's just a freaked out old guy.
    - actress Patricia Tallman

    - - -

    Just so you know, there is a bootleg Blu-Ray (region free) that includes the workprint as well as the commentary with making-of featurette from the DVD.

    You're being warned...

    Get your arms ready for some vigorous fisting shakings? Next Thursday we'll devour the bad side of Uncle Regis' farm, the reworked editions. That ain't my zombie movie - is it?
    Last edited by JohnIan101; 10-03-2018 at 05:26 AM.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    906
    Credits
    452
    PART III: ANTIPATHY - A1

    Got your 'Hater' t-shirt on? Go ahead, I'll wait.

    Yeah buddy, this week's "Living Dead" rumination waddles onto our darling like a tipsy hobo (like there's any other) and tries to clean a car's windshield - only making the once clear glass, murky. Good job bro.

    NOTLD stinkers; DVD releases which manipulated or if you so choose, tampered with the 1968 horror masterpiece.

    Lookout for the darkness.

    Our title is the recut with then newly filmed footage re-do, "Night Of The Living Dead: 30th Anniversary". Man, I could've sworn this had a limited theatrical release in 1999. The date I found was August 24th, but that's the DVD release date. My archives and confirmed the home video street.

    A glitch in the Matrix, maybe. So in lieu of any stats, I'm going to dive in...



    Mentioned a moment ago, this was released on DVD (a gold disc, before the standard silver) on August 24th, 1999 from Anchor Bay Entertainment (#DV10951) in two separate editions; single disc $24.95 (#DV10889) and a two disc, Limited Edition (only 15,000 produced) for $34.95. I have the latter, bought new off Ebay dirt cheap - for good reason.

    Looking at my archive, this happened sometime in 2004, can't isolate it further.

    I'm covering the "Limited Edition". There were two inserts, a mini thirty-two page booklet. And a chapter listing (printed on card stock), thirty for the 30th and twenty-four for the remastered 1998 version. The other side of that is what appears to be the poster for the re-do.

    The single disc version omits the booklet. The LE case is an Alpha, the thick kind of case that has two openings. I hate these, it's designed for scratching. You need to use your finger under the disc to pry it, there event a slot that reads "Lift Here". Planned obsolesce, if you ask me.

    The motion picture is ninety-six minutes long (both editions).

    - - -

    Extras:

    * Newly remastered print
    * Fifteen minutes of new film footage
    * New score by Scott Vladimir Licina
    * 1998 Edition, original cut, remastered with new score
    * Commentary: writer/director John A. Russo, executive producer Bill Hinzman, producer Russell Streiner and art director/associate director Bob Michelucci (30th Anniversary)
    * Behind The Scenes Featurette (30th, full screen, black and white, 9:14 minutes)
    * Scene From The Bill Hinzman Film "Flesheater" (1994, full screen, black and white, 1:04 minutes)
    * "Dance Of The Dead" music video by Scott Vladimir Licina (full screen, color tinted, 3:37 minutes)
    * Slide Show Gallery (30th, full screen, 4:09 minutes, 40 images)
    * Trailer (full screen)

    - - -

    Audio:

    * Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (both editions)

    - - -

    NOTES/REVIEW

    There are no subtitle options.

    The DVD is not dubbed in any language(s).

    This is the first time the film has received a DD 5.1 remix.

    The second disc is the CD soundtrack.



    The booklet features interviews with John Russo, Bill Hinzman, Debbie Rochon and Licina. Since there is no CD track listings, the last page has the track names. Man, reading this is amazing. Either they really believed their own hype; thought they made a truly awesome film or... lots of drugs.

    Dark-sided!!!

    Where to begin?

    *long deep sigh*

    How about with a quote...

    He [John Russo] has butchered, defaced and ruined one of the greatest horror films of all time.
    - Harry Knowles

    Russo (Washington Military Reporter in the 1968 film) wrote and directed the new scenes. Originally Romero was to have co-written and directed the new material, but it failed to happen.

    Why? Zombies. George was working on a screenplay for Capcom, the aborted "Resident Evil" adaptation. It also went in a different direction as did the final film, Google it.

    In the end, Romero DID NOT participate in the re-do. The only thing that can be said is that he gave Russo his blessing to try and that he did liked the new score.

    The new footage include:

    * The grave diggers Danny (Grant Cramer) and Mike (Adam Knox) brings the coffin of a child killer/molester from prison (where he was executed) to the cemetery; same pick-up truck Ben (Duane Jones) finds and drives from Beekman's Diner.

    * The parents (Arthur Krantz played by George Drennen and Hilda Krantz by Julie Wallace Deklavon) of the slain child are at the gave - making sure he's dead, a final look before he's buried. Rev. Hicks (Licina) says a pray before leaving the diggers to their business. The body re-animates and attacks Mike; they drive off. This is the same ghoul who attacks Barbra (O'Dea) and Johnny (Streiner) later.

    * The aftermath of the dinner massacre is shown, feasting on a car crash victim. Hinzman's daughter Heidi, plays Rosie, the waitress from Beekman's.

    * Additional footage of zombies coming to the farm house.

    * Footage of the ghouls eating the remains of Judy (Judith Ridley) and Tom (Keith Wayne).

    * A television reporter, Darlene Davis (Debbie Rochon) and camera man back at the cemetery the following day, interviews Reverend Hicks (Appalachian much?). While the locals kill off more zombies.

    * Hicks confronts patient zero (who returned to the graveyard) with his bible and is bitten in the face. The ghoul is killed by the posse.

    * One year later at Ormsby Medical Center, Darlene interviews Hicks again. He didn't turn, the preacher is still human; Hicks attributes his survival to God. The man is under constant observation, fearful that he may one day change.

    He has a guard dog, a tiny canine, "Mushu". The critter isn't for his protection, but ours. Should he turn, the dog will be the first one eaten and its screams will give notice to that fact. Hicks goes on a rant that the undead are possessed by demons and must be spiked. This frightens Ms. Davis and she leaves.

    The End.

    - - -

    Let me make this clear.

    Fifteen minutes of new footage at the expensive of fifteen minutes of original footage. *head shakes* Gone is various character development.

    Gone is Ben searching for wood and nails to fortified the house. Barbara's recap of what happened to her and her brother is shortened. Gone are the marital problems of Harry (Hardman) and Helen Cooper (Eastman), they don't bicker. Harry's ego is in check too.

    The mention of the Venus probe is abbreviated, probably since the new cause is supernatural; taking a cue from "Dawn Of The Dead" (1979), "When there is no room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth."

    All that's left of Barbra is hysterics; the pieces of her mind are thrown.

    As noted previously, there is no official explanation why the dead have risen; people has latched on to the exploded satellite (strange radiation). But that may NOT be source. For this iteration, the cause is a vengeful God.

    Others have mentioned that society began to collapse weeks after the dead rose ("Dawn Of The Dead"); one year later things are pretty much normal in this new ending.

    - - -



    The biggest tripe is expecting us to believe the cemetery ghoul is the same. Hinzman was thirty-one when he did it the first time, he was sixty-two when he reprised his role. It shows, c'mon who are we kidding? And the grave diggers are far too goofy.

    The idea is cute, but should've been executed with an actor who looks like Hinzman (maybe with a mask involved).

    Some have complained that the radio announcer is a bad impersonation of the original. Sorry folks, that's the same guy, reprising his voice - Charles Craig (also the TV news anchor).

    The broadcast IS different since it was modified for the new footage.



    A nice bit; when the grave diggers leave the prison in the background a tanker truck is seen driving by; the same tanker Ben describes to Barbra that was on fire. A nice touch - I will give them that.

    You gotta love these quotes from the commentary, both from Russell Streiner...

    It's important from a filmmakers stand point, to, that we - in approaching this 30th anniversary edition. We as filmmakers wanted to keep the integrity of the original film.
    Anybody who appreciates the craft of filmmaking will appreciates how this, the new footage is integrated with the old footage without tampering with the content of the original film at all.
    Sir, you failed.

    You can understand why so many people hold this in contempt. Try to imagine - learning that pandas don't naturally have those dark circles around their eyes. And there's a guy in the zoo whose job it is punch them in the face every few days to keep up appearances; that's a close approximation, emotionally speaking.

    I know, you're picturing it too; poor, poor Ling-Ling.

    Original music appears when Barbra and Johnny search for their father's grave. When the first zombie attack happen in the house, before we met the rest of the players in the basement. When Ben goes up stairs to take care of eaten corpse.

    Come back next Thursday for the next installment and prepared to be disappointed.
    Last edited by JohnIan101; 10-03-2018 at 05:25 AM.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    906
    Credits
    452
    PART III: ANTIPATHY - A2

    Continuing...

    When the second wave of ghouls attack the house. When Ben, Tom and Judy leave to get gas and subsequent explosion. When Ben gets back to the house. When all hell breaks loose, Ben shoots Harry; ghouls almost get Helen. When the zombies finally get in. And lastly when the posse is close to farm house.



    Amazon reviewer, Bill Robinson noted a flub. At the car crash, one of the kids who got killed. Her shoes are contemporary, what appears to be Sketchers. A product that didn't exist in the late 1960s.

    Another by commenter, XQuester; how come the passeners of that car crash are 'perfectly seated' even though none wearing seatbelts? The car impacted into a tree.

    They would've shoot through the windshield, like those clowns blasted out of cannons.

    A good example; the opening credits of "Zombieland" (2009), the woman who crashed (that's reality based, not pretty).



    I think it's on purpose that Rev. Hicks looks like Anton LaVey; founder of the Church Of Satan. At least I hope so.

    That featurette isn't - false advertising, it's just home video clips edited together. The only thing interesting is an on set visit by none other than Karl Hardman, smoking a cigar.

    For an abomination, the picture quality is good. Even though this is full screen, the image does not touch the sides, fuzzy black boarders. The audio was good to okay, I don't have a sound system so I can't give a better review here. But what I caught immediately was the simulated stereo. I remember hearing this on episodes of "MASH" when it aired on channel 11 here, Fox, Los Angeles.

    After viewing it (bought a copy), Harry Knowles, webmaster of Ain't It Cool News made the following edict on September 19th, 1999:

    I will ban anyone that likes this piece of **** from my talkback. WHY? Simply because If you like this piece of **** abortion of a product, I could really give a **** if you ever read my site. No nice words will be spoken about John Russo or that Reverend Big Teeth in any place that I have created. Those intellectually deprived, artistically bankrupt hacks should be shunned from society. ANY magazine that has promoted this festering pussbucket of a product should be BURNED! It is terrible in the ways that ... I don’t know what way. Cause I’ve never experienced anything that sucked this hard.
    - - -

    My thoughts?

    It's superflatulistichalitosis or excrementainment.

    BUT I am okay with the overall notion. It would make a cool expanded motion picture, like the paperback novelization by Christopher Andrews (Rising Star Visionary Press, 2009.

    What happened is they had a high concept; carried out on a limited budget and a talent pool who couldn't execute it proper. Add to the mix bad actors, hamming it up and the gumption to believe they improved on the original. A bad combination.

    Plus they took out what gave the film its flavor - what made it feel true and not hokey. We all know people like these characters, it's not so removed from real life. Well, minus the dead rising to feast on the living of course.

    As written in The Seattle Times on August 20th, 1999 (Mark Rahner, reporting); the production had a budget of $300,000. It needed at least twice that much. There is one dead body in the new footage, mentioned car crash. The corpse looks like a puppet; NO weight to it. And quite fake. Why did it look like Hardman?

    - - - - - - - - - -

    SOUNDTRACKS PART V

    The "Limited Edition" came with a CD soundtrack. The tracks are a mixture of music and film dialog. It contains a bonus track.

    - - -

    Tracks

    1. "This Radio Station Will Remain On The Air"
    2. The Dead Walk
    3. "I Gotta Get Back To Beekman's"
    4. Night Of The Living Dead
    5. "That's The Lord's Way Of Punishing Sinners"
    6. Resurrection
    7. "Boy, You'll Be Damned To Hell"
    8. They're Coming To Get You
    9. Heads
    10. Sanctuary
    11. "They Know We're In Here Now"
    12. The Congregation Gathers
    13. "Is There A Key?"
    14. The Beginning Of The End
    15. "We Have To Go Out & Get Johnny"
    16. Ashes To Ashes
    17. "Your Brother Is Dead"
    18. Music Box
    19. "You Know A Place Back Down The Road Called Beekman's?"
    20. Ben's Tale
    21. "The Unburied Dead"
    22. Tension
    23. "In The Cold Room"
    24. Window Into Hell
    25. Isolation
    26. "The Killers Are Eating The Flesh"
    27. Feast
    28. Isolation Reprise
    29. "The Dead Are Rising"
    30. The Secret Door
    31. "I'm Boss Up Here"
    32. The Siege Begins
    33. "The Cellar's The Safest Place"
    34. The Safest Place
    35. "We'll See Who's Right"
    36. Tragic Love
    37. "Helen"
    38. Alone
    39. "I Oughta Drag You Out There & Feed You To Those Things"
    40. Rhapsody In Crimson
    41. "The Scream"
    42. Mother's Milk
    43. "The Posse"
    44. Hell On Earth
    45. "They're Dead"
    46. Decay
    47. "Shoot 'Em In The Head"
    48. Dawn
    49. "Somebody Had A Cookout Here"
    50. The Hunt
    51. "Hit Him In The Head"
    52. The Killing Stroke
    53. Innocent Blood
    54. "He's A Dead One"
    55. Tragedy
    56. "The Dead Must Be Spiked"
    57. Descent Into Madness/The Dead Walk: Movement Two
    58. The Dead Walk: Movement Three
    59. Dance Of The Dead
    60. Night Of The Living Dead 1968 (bonus unlisted track)

    - - -

    Bought the Limited Edition in 2004 - that was the first time I saw the 30th Anniversary. I read various reviews, which condemned it. So I knew going it that this was going to be a train wreck. Personal info, I surfaced online in the Spring of 1999, dial-up (still on it). I've always been collecting soundtracks, before CDs it was cassette tapes.

    DVDs didn't enter my life until November of 2003. At this time in '99 I was actively pursuing laser discs. To my surprise, the company which produced the new score, Screem Jams Productions had a website which was selling the soundtrack by itself, no DVD attached.

    I've been a fan of Ain't It Cool News since my early days of internet. But that website kept crashing my browser, Netscape. So my ability to read content/reviews was very limited; surfing the web on a 14K modem on a computer with a 75 MHz processor.

    Dared to dream!



    I found out that I could buy this soundtrack (by itself) by check or money order, got a postal money order and sent it off. A week or so later the above came to my home. This was released in 2001.

    The CD has a different disc image than the one used in the "Limited Edition". It came in a printed cardboard sleeve (cover art by Alex Ross) with a flap to seal/re-seal. The back of the sleeve listed the track names - minus one. I remember emailing them since track 60 was a mystery and received a reply with name.

    This soundtrack was mostly exclusive to that DVD set and had a far lesser release individually, less than 15,000.

    Like what I heard - wanted more.

    - - -



    Available in even limited numbers was the enhanced CD single, "Dance Of The Dead".

    Sent over a postal M.O. and shortly received this too. The enhanced part is the music video (same on the DVD), presented as an MPG. This too came in a printed cardboard sleeve with flap (cover by Talon Nightshade). The difference here is my copy, under the flap is autographed by the composer.

    I can barely find a couple mentions online; like it never existed, making this one of the rarest CDs in my collection. Even the website Soundtrack Collector doesn't have a listing.

    Once again I emailed to learn the bonus' name. Both CDs were released in 1999. I have no catalog numbers (or UPC), they are absent. Both are now inside that Alpha case in near mint condition; sleeve and discs. Sorry, I don't remember what I paid for them.

    Tracks

    1. Dance Of The Dead ('They're Coming To Dance With You, Barbara' Mix)
    2. Waltz Of The Dead (Featuring Russ "Johnny" Streiner)
    3. Dance Of The Dead (Album Version)
    4. Waltz Of The Raving Dead (Featuring Russ "Johnny" Streiner) (bonus unlisted track)

    - - -

    So many people complain about the Licina score. As you can tell, I'm not among them. It works (mostly); needs to be more subtler.

    I like atmosphere music, fan of the genre. Bands like Midnight Syndicate, Nox Arcana and Buzz-Works. The odds are if you have been to Knotts Scary Farm or Universal Studios' "Halloween Horror Nights" you have heard their music. The first two have created music for Halloween attractions, both have been doing it for nearly a decade. I suppose it's an acquired taste.

    - - -

    Quick mentions.

    In 2001 there was a sequel to this balderdash, "Children Of The Living Dead". I remember a comic by that name in 1998, but didn't know there was a real flick. The movie is different. Pure crap from the reviews I've read. They must've had some kind of compromising photos of Tom Savini for him to star in that direct to video flick.



    In 2013 The Andrew Alden Ensemble released both a CD ($10.00) and digital download ($7.00); fan made soundtrack to the classic, meant to be played in sync with the film. Five tracks; five acts. Gave it a listen - not all impressed; heavy emphasis on violin and viola. They were going for a gothic sound.

    Be here next Thursday for more NOTLD history.
    Last edited by JohnIan101; 10-03-2018 at 05:24 AM.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    906
    Credits
    452
    PART III: ANTIPATHY - B



    Released on September 7th, 2004 from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment for $14.98 was the colorized edition (UPC-A# 0 24543 11970 8). It came in a regular DVD case. I believe this is still in print.

    The DVD streeted against "The Island At The Top Of The World: 30th Anniversary Edition", "Resident Evil: Deluxe Edition", "Alias: The Complete Third Season" and "Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles" (NBC mini-series; January 27th - 29th, 1980).

    Bought in December of 2011 from B]Ebay[/B] for this project. Well... an excuse. It's been on my list for a few years, now part of my collection.

    There is a double sided insert; chapter listing (with colorized stills), sixteen of them; the other side is a variant of the DVD cover. There's something about the chapters, I'll cover it later.

    The motion picture is ninety-six minutes long.

    - - -

    Extras:

    * Newly colorized print
    * Black and white version
    * Commentary: Mike Nelson of "Mystery Science Theater 3000"
    * "Separated At Death" non-game
    * Theatrical Trailers (colorized)
    * Additional Trailers: "Carnival Of Souls" (full screen, colorized, 1962) and "The Flesh Eaters" (full screen, black & white, 1964)

    - - -

    Audio:

    * Dolby Digital 2.0 (mono, both editions)
    * Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (colorized)
    * DTS (colorized)

    - - -

    NOTES/REVIEW

    There are no subtitle options.

    The DVD is not dubbed in any language(s).



    Frowned by purists. Not by me.

    The big question... how's the colorization? I would say, impressive. If you are expecting some kind of technicolor experience, you WILL BE disappointed.

    The colors are muted, but defined. No edges, quite nice.

    I'm old enough to remember in 1986, Hal Roach Studios released the first colorized attempt on home video - cassettes.



    It was rather BIG news at the time.

    NOTLD was one of the first films to be injected with color. Rented from a store that no longer exist, the pharmacy next door bought up the space - now their storeroom.

    That was amateurish; all the colors bled, no rotoscoping - early digital. Plus the pigment sucked; all the zombies were this green, pea soup hue. Now look decent; gray wth a slight green tone.

    There was an alleged second color release in 1997 from Anchor Bay Entertainment. Have not seen nor can I find any information. I had been to their website. Their catalog only goes back to March of 1998 (in 2011). Everybody appears to have copied the info from Wikipedia.

    Checked my archives - squat. As far as I can tell, no DVD released in '97, dead end. There is a minor possibility; this colorized release could be VHS only.

    They did release a couple titles, on cassette. One of them was "Curse Of The Black Widow" (ABC TV movie; September 16th, 1977; a Dan Curtis production). So until I read different - alleged.

    The 2004 color job was done by Off Color Films. But the print used... Don't know; the video appears to have contrast problems, maybe this is because of the colorization process. But even then, the black and white version shouldn't have that affliction. There are some specks here and there. A dark vertical line across the screen from time to time.

    Grain, not so much.

    Fine details are missing, washed out, bleached.

    The stuff that happens at night have a surreal, violet appearance. This might be part of the process, perhaps it can't handle the lack of color.

    Would love to see this redone with the print from the 40th Anniversary. Plus the technical advancement since '04, could look incredible. And yeah, the TV reports are still in black and white.



    There is an instance of a bleed, not color, but over lapping images; little Miss Barbra's coat was an algorithm victim.

    Video appears to be zoomed in, one reviewer called it a 10% video loss. I've seen the comparisons, I agree.

    What's curious is that the framing changes throughout the film; for some scenes there are boarders around the picture, some times not, sometimes just the sides.

    Very odd indeed.



    The color scheme was up to them. As you can see in Part I - A (bts photos), there were some color photos that could've been used for reference. Different colors were used on clothes. Ben's shirt was slightly pink, not light blue. Tom's tee isn't red, it's light blue. Harry shirt was light blue, not gray; his tie is sort of the correct color though.

    As previously mentioned, I don't have a sound system. So my audio review is basic. What I can say is the sound is a big improvement over the 30th Anniversary - which sounded artificial. The first time NOTLD presented in DTS.

    Commentary?

    Lame. Not funny, if you're into dull humor, then this is a winner. I couldn't get through the whole thing; maybe a quarter, then gave up.

    "Separated At Death" game isn't. It's a ghoul still, then a picture of a celebrity who looks like that zombie. There is no choice OR anything game related. ???

    Both trailers are colorized, the first was altered for the new colored feature, the second is the original - in color. The reason; "The Flesh Eaters" trailer is here is because Bill Hinzman had a role in the feature.

    - - -



    '04 was re-packaged in 2009 by Legend Films (UPC# 8 44503 00134 4) for $9.95. The new cover still showcases the '04 cover without "The Classic Is Now In Deadly Color!" text on the top. The re-release has a new commentary by Mike Nelson with Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy; now called "Rifftrax: Night Of The Living Dead".

    All the extras from the '04 release was cut. The DVD came with a free voucher to download a podcast from Rifftraxs website. The film is presented in black and white. Haven't heard, might be better than the first time around.

    There was another re-do, released in 1991.

    All the audio was removed and redubbed by James Riffel. The project was titled, "Night Of The Day Of The Dawn Of The Son Of The Bride Of The Return Of The Revenge Of The Terror Of The Attack Of The Evil, Mutant, Alien, Flesh Eating, Hellbound, Crawling, Zombified Living Dead Part 2: In Shocking 2-D" (quite a mouthful).

    Does not have an official DVD (some bootlegs out there), it had a limited VHS release back in the day, some 500 copies. Quite politically incorrect. Watched a couple scenes recently - weak humor.

    I like this quote from Enemycoke:

    This movie is like that tape in "The Ring". Sitting on a shelf in an abandoned hotel in the middle of the woods, Unlabeled, and deadly.
    One more bastard.



    Apologise for the image quality. Did my best, a composite of two images; same one, broken up to fix the distortion - from the best pix I could find online. What you can't see (very well) is that there are dark veins on his head. The fellow has been deceased for a few days.

    As you know NOTLD is in public domain; when they were forced to change from "Night Of The Flesh Eaters" (since a varient was already in use - "The Flesh Eaters") and forgot to include the copyright notice. Boom! Anybody can copy and sell this movie, legally.

    The film makers have seen very little profits from what is the most successful independent film in cinema history.

    There are TONS of crappy copies out there (VHS, DVD and Betamax) - what do they all have in common, regardless of format?

    Awful covers; artwork done by someone who got a C- in art class. A few have the poster with added junk. Some are a potpourri of random film images slapped together like a kindergartener's collage. Hell, I've even seen art that is best described as stick figure theater. So when I ran into this, took notice.

    Guarantee this DVD is off a poor print; too dark, too scratchy and/or washed out with bad audio - barely watchable. But... I would like a copy, would pay no more than a dollar - as a novelty.

    Whoever released this did something special; gave it an original cover. While that dead guy does not appear in the film (kinda looks like the cemetery autopsy zed from the '90 remake), good job on a crappy product. Release year or company? *shrugs*

    So when the world has fallen to those damn dirty apes and Man is rendered a mute savage; among the long forgotten relics WILL BE public domain copies of NOTLD - take comfort or despair in that.

    Back to the '04 colorized DVD; the insert has names for each of the sixteen chapters, thought it was cute.

    1. One Way Trip
    2. They're Coming To Get You Barbra
    3. Zombies Hate Clotheslines
    4. Fun With A Tire Iron
    5. Let The Board Nailing Begin!
    6. Barbra Wigs Out
    7. Nothing Like A Loaded Gun
    8. Enter Scuff Head
    9. Ben The Alpha Dog
    10. Barbra's Still Out To Lunch
    11. Willard
    12. Barbra's STILL Out To Lunch
    13. Einstein At The Gas Pump
    14. Feast Of The Living Dead
    15. Dad, Your Arm Taste Great!
    16. Ending Credits

    Return here next Thursday for more NOTLD goodness. Not to worry, this week's taste will wash away.
    Last edited by JohnIan101; 10-03-2018 at 05:23 AM.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    906
    Credits
    452
    PART I: THE 1968 CLASSIC - C1

    This outing I'm covering a remastered (once again) DVD - 40th Anniversary Edition. *jazz hands*

    You're getting three parts this week!



    It was released on May 20th, 2008 from Genius Products (#81174WRP1) for $19.98. It came in a regular DVD case.

    The DVD streeted against "George A. Romero’s Diary Of The Dead", "Killing Zelda Sparks" and "24: Season One - Special Edition".

    This release originally came with a cardboard foil slipcover which mirrored the case's wraparound. It also came with a single sided advertisement for this very release and "Diary Of The Dead".

    The motion picture is ninety-six minutes long.

    - - -

    Extras:

    * Newly remastered print
    * Commentary 1: director/co-writer George A. Romero, co-writer/actor/film editor John Russo, producer/actor/make-up/electronic sound effects/still photographer Karl Hardman and actress Marilyn Eastman
    * Commentary 2: producer/actor Russell Streiner, director of photography/actor/assistant camera Bill Hinzman, actress Judith O' Dea, actor Keith Wayne, actress Kyra Schon and production director/actor Vince Survinski
    * "One For The Fire: The Legacy Of 'Night Of The Living Dead'" documentary (anamorphic, 83:48 minutes)
    * "Speak With The Dead: A Conversation With George A. Romero" August 26th, 2007 interview (anamorphic, 15:48 minutes)
    * "Ben Speaks: The Last Interview With Duane Jones" December 13th, 1987 (audio only with stills from the movie, 16:46 minutes)
    * Still Gallery (68 images)
    * Theatrical Trailer
    * Additional Trailers: "George A. Romero's Diary Of The Dead" (non-anamorphic, 2007), "Halloween" (non-anamorphic, 2007) and "W∆Z" (anamorphic, 2007 - also known as "The Killing Gene")
    * Home Video Ads: "Inside: Unrated" (non-anamorphic, 2007) and "Automaton Tranfusion" (non-anamorphic, 2006)
    * DVD-ROM: Original Screenplay (PDF)

    - - -

    Audio:

    * Dolby Digital 2.0 (remastered mono)

    - - -

    NOTES/REVIEW

    There are subtitles in English and Spanish.

    The DVD is not dubbed in any language(s).

    Some bits before we get to the meat (as it were) of the review.

    There was an early misprint when the 40th was announced - having Dolby Digital 5.1. Not true. If you want that kind of audio you need to seek out Elite Entertainment's "Millennium Edition" or 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment's 2004 colorized version (also came with DTS).

    The commentaries are once again from the 1994 laser disc special edition, not a bad thing. Both were very thorough, nothing to complain. It could be a statement of how great they were. *nods*

    The gallery here is abbreviated. Elite Entertainment's 2002 "Millennium Edition" has 159 pictures. Both releases (this and that) are dwarfed by the "25th Anniversary Collector's Edition" LD ('94) also from Elite Entertainment; some 400 images. Just a reminder for those keeping track.

    - - -

    When I first reviewed this in 2008 I wrote that the film has an 'ever so slightly blue hue'. I wish to recant.

    As I cull the specs for the disc I'm viewing it on my portable DVD player. I don't see any of that indigo, looks very black and white. I may have been tired at the time of writing, I'm a night owl so it may have effected my viewing.

    The film has never looked as good as it does now. I mean NEVER. The release prints (1968) were done on out of date film stock and left overs, Walter Reade (distributor) went the cheap route. This 40th outshines the previous best, the "Millennium Edition".

    All the fine details are now to be seen, like the very lite stripes on Ben's shirt. While its true this edition has more grain, it doesn't get in the way. Double edge sword, some are bothered by that sort of thing. As I wrote, this was never printed on grade-A stock.

    Okay. This is a hot topic among die hard fans - framing. The presentation on the "Millennium Edition" is actually window boxed; fuzzy black frame around the screen. This boarder was taken out for the 40th. A lot of people are claiming it's digital zoom. I don't think so. I believe they struck a new master from a better print. Here an example...



    Left is the 2002 release, the righ is 2008. As you can see there is a boarder on the ME. The boarder is gone in the 40th, but there is MORE of the image shown! That's a moth flying across the camera on the lower, right hand side.

    Before this new master, people were claiming that was a goof; some guy's hand waving slightly across camera, telling the actor to move (the edge of his fingers).

    Nope - it's a moth.

    Here's another example...



    When Barbra (Judy O'Dea) first enters the farm house she's freaked out by the stuffed boar head. This is a real goof, there's a hand in front of the camera moving it into position (it's there for four frames). Once again, left '02, right '08. You can see the specks in the ME that are gone in the 40th.

    But there two specs in the 40th (upper center) that are not present in the ME.

    There are some scenes like where Ben (Duane Jones) disassembles a table that looks like a digital zoom. Not so much, that zoom is also in the "Millennium Edition" - caught my eye when I was comparing, it's present.

    There you have it. The 40th edition is from a newer master, struck from a better print. This is a non-issue and should be celebrated if anything - we're getting a little more of the movie than the past three decade of home video (re-)releases. You don't need to lug around Dr. Theopolis to know this is a very good thing. *nods*

    The biggest extra present is the near, feature length documentary. Damn impressive. Minus a few who are no longer with us, the doc has interviews with all the cast members. It was nice to see it dedicated to the late Karl Hardman (1927 - 2007). Well, minus O'Dea. For some reason she has really shunned her participation, but then again so did the late Jones. I suppose she wants to be known for something other than NOTLD.

    The documentary features the very last interview with Hardman.

    Anyhow, as I wrote weeks ago, if you really want all the extras (well... most); you need to have both the 40th and "Millennium Edition" DVDs. If you are just interested in the best looking version, then you only need the 40th.

    The Home Video Ads and Additional Trailers are not a menu choice, it's a single long clip that runs at the start of disc play.

    - - -



    The "40th Anniversary Edition" from Genius Products (#81174WRP1) as seen above in 'The 1968 Classic Reloaded - A' was re-released as an exclusive from Best Buy for the 2009 Halloween season. Sorry, I do not know the actual street date; checked my archive, couldn't find a listing. I can tell you it retailed for $14.99.

    The DVD was given a new slipcover (cardboard), replacing the original cardboard foil slip. Important, the image you see here is a reproduction I made. I found one pix online for it, but the picture was low res. So I used it as a reference. Anyhow, I don't own this. Why would I? It's not as nice as the red foil one.

    What is it?

    It's the very same DVD release with a new slipcover masquerading as a new title. In short, Best Buy pulled a Wal-Mart (retail giant does this for its movies all the time).

    Sure, there is a second possibility.

    NOTLD 2008 special edition had a limited pressing. I recall reading some folks were having a hard time finding a copy in stores, only X amount were made. Best Buy made an agreement with Genius Products to sell the DVDs at their stores only.

    You may be asking, 'why not just re-release in a small amounts to all stores?' True, it's for Halloween, most retail shops have a holiday movie rack (even grocery stores) - it would make a perfect fit. I agree.

    This is conjecture; perhaps they still have some copies which hadn't sold, but not enough for all stores to order. So Genius came up with the idea to sell their surplus with a new slipcover to a single chain. I can tell you that when I ran into it, I only saw two DVDs at my Best Buy, limited quantities.
    Last edited by JohnIan101; 10-03-2018 at 05:18 AM.

Page 1 of 7 123 ... LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
    By jacques1400 in forum VOB's
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 08-19-2014, 06:38 PM
  2. Night of the Living Dead (1990)
    By jacques1400 in forum VOB's
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 12-18-2012, 05:45 AM
  3. Night of the Living Dead 3D (2006)
    By htitos in forum Trailer News
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 10-23-2006, 02:40 PM
  4. Forsaken Halloween #4: Night of the Living Dead
    By editman in forum Trailer News
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 05-15-2005, 12:54 PM

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •