Night Of The Living Dead DVD Retrospective

[JohnIan101]

PART I: THE 1968 CLASSIC - I P2

Tangent.

Since this entry is kinda short, I want to cover another mostly digital only movie, the sequel, "Dawn Of The Dead" (1978).

This past Halloween I rewatched the movie with new eyes. Indeed.



Posted on YouTube is a recut titled, "Extended Mall Hours" (in HD if you want).

It is a fan edit, produced by a fellow named OfficiallyUnofficial. Carved from the 139 minute version which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 1978; often called "Cannes Cut" and mistakenly labeled, 'Director's Cut'.

This version was released as a special edition laser disc box set (3 LDs), "Widescreen Director's Cut Special CAV Collector's Edition" from Elite Entertainment, Inc. in 1996. Which features among other extras; a commentary by Romero, his wife (assistant director) Christine, special effects make-up artist Tom Savini and Buster their dog. And is exclusive to the dead format. *sad panda face*

Anyhow, I suppose you could call the Cannes Cut more akin to a work print as it was rushed together for the festival.

Extended Mall Hours was also sourced from the 117 minute Dario Argento version. Why not include the 127 minute theatrical cut?

The Cannes Cut is the proto-version. That edition was cut down to create the theatrical release. So I guess in a roundabout way, all three editions were used. *shrugs*

Some back story.

After the success of "Night", a worldwide phenomena. He was approached by Italian filmmaker Dario Argento to make a sequel; because he heard a rumor that Romeo was toying with an idea for a new installment. Argento offered to co-produce the movie and paid for him and his wife to fly to Rome and stay at his home to write the script. There was a string, not a big one.

Argento wanted the foreign market rights and could recut the movie to his liking. Romero had the North American rights. The deal was shook and the rest is history. Argento took out lot of the dialog scenes and replaced it with more gore and action. His cut was re-named "Zombi". He also added new music, composed by Goblin (Romero used mostly existing library music to save money).



So in 2008 OfficiallyUnofficial released his mashup onto the webs, a fan cut that incorporated these editions as one - with more characterization and gore; a run time of nearly 155 minutes.

The question comes up often enough; 'which version should I watch?" The three were released in an awarding winning DVD box set, "George A. Romero's Dawn Of The Dead: Ultimate Edition" from Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2004.

My vote was theatrical for years. Argento had taken out too much for the sake of more blood.



I no longer feel that way - it is Extended Mall Hours. It's so much richer, quite somber at times and you get to know these people better.

This is an idea I’ve had for a fan edit for years. I first heard about the Argento cut having exclusive footage around 1999. It wasn’t until 2004 with the release of Anchor Bay's "Ultimate Edition" that I finally saw Argento’s version. I finally started working on this in fall of 2007 on a whim. Principal editing began around September/October, and was put on hiatus. Production resumed around December 2007 through January 2008. Like I’ve also said, while Romero's 126 minute cut is my preferred version, I still wanted to create this cut to piece together somewhat of a "glorified workprint".

Countless extra snippets throughout the Argento cut were added to the 139 minutes Cannes cut. These include a few extra head shots in the mall sequences, as well as various dialogue extensions, such as the bikers in the finale planning their "attack strategy" ("One by one, they’re gonna knock you off your little bikes").

One full scene which was previously cut and added back in is a bit of dialogue between Peter and Stephen after they return from "shopping" the first time. Stephen acts cocky while Peter wants him to realize just how lucky they were. This scene contains the line "Let's say the lady gets killed... you’d be able to chop off her head?" which was used in the English language Italian trailer.

- OfficiallyUnofficial



Should be noted this fan edit is on bootleg home video, a DVD-R; anamorphic widescreen, presented in 2.0 stereo with the fan edit teaser trailer. It comes with a printed wraparound, created by OfficiallyUnofficial. I want it! It's now on my radar, I hope to find it. There are three alternate wraparounds. I like the one on the far left, white text, above.

Now this should be addressed, the aspect ratio changes with the cuts, it's small and not a nuisance.

As for color, there is some minor hue changes as it switches, minor stuff, nothing so bad it takes you out of the movie.



A good example is color change with the TV. This scene in particular, the scientist on screen. On the close-ups of the television; you can see some differences as it changes from cut to cut - which by the was seamless. No jumps in the cuts. The color issue is minor.

The added visuals work great but this throws up numerous audio issues. This is mainly because of integrating the new shots with the existing score, so every so often a bar of music repeats. As a result the soundtrack has become slightly awkward with repeated musical bars, poor syncopation and at times odd audio jumps. Editing this audio must have been a major nightmare, considering the source material but at times

- Mollo

It's not a perfect cut; parts of it is a bit jumpy and as quoted above, there is some minor audio issues. But overall it's the better edition.

Some of the words in the dialog is stretched to make it fit the cut. Take the word "canopy" as an example. In the recut it would be like 'ca-ca-canopy'. It happens just a few times. But I'm okay with it.

The final product is good. You get lots of character moments and dread, plus more scenes of gore. The best of both worlds. Damn sway if you ask me.



I'm glad I watched this and think I'm gonna make this a new Halloween tradition. Just so you know, I didn't do any image work on those pixs.

- - -

A question asked in a different message board; 'why did Roger get all looney?'

Roger was a soft touch (as evinced by his attempt to stop the resident of the housing project from going out where he'd be shot). As the situation deteriorated, he just couldn't cope with what was becoming, in a wider sense, a no-win situation. No matter what they did or how many they killed, the dead were taking over the world, and Roger couldn't handle a reality where he couldn't win. As he died of his infection, he kept asking Peter, "we whipped them, didn't we?" Holing up in the mall wasn't a win, it was simply a break from the inevitable losing fight. Roger's mind snapped after his near-death fight with the blond chick zombie and he retreated into a fantasy where he was invulnerable and in control, and it proved to be fatal.

- OsborneDFormed

That's the best answer I've read.

- - -



Behind the scenes on the death blow at the cemetery; Bill Hinzman over Russell Streiner. Like he ate a browie before he died.

Okay, that's it. Come back here on December 22nd, 2016 for yet another look at the 1968 classic. Let me make it clear - it isn't. *wink* See you then.

One more bit...

Something I just noticed; on the film's Wikipedia page ('68), it says that siblings last name is "Blair". This is new news to me.