Night Of The Living Dead DVD Retrospective

[JohnIan101]

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)

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Audio:

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

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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.

[JohnIan101]

PART I: THE 1968 CLASSIC - C2



Anyhow, you can still find the regular release on Ebay and Amazon for five dollars or so. You just can't find it now in brick and mortar shops.

Granted, somewhere in the U.S., a Best Buy might still have their exclusive on the shelf.

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SOUNDTRACKS PART VI



Here's a true oddity, not really a soundtrack, but I'm gonna allow it. In 2009 400 Lonely Things released "Tonight Of The Living Dead". It was by pure accident that I learned of it. This is a concept album based off the library music used for NOTLD.

The CD was over a year in the making; pet project of 400 Lonely Things. A collage of treated audio from the horror classic. There is no dialog, just music and sound effects - remixed. The stuff is dark ambient, experimental music; sixty-five minutes.

The twelve page booklet has a foreword from actress Judy O'Dea; who was given an advance copy. The album has four dedications. The imagery to O'Dea. Audio to the late Karl Hardman. Music box to Kyra Schon. And the concept album to George A. Romero. I'm glad I bought this; originally sold for $10.00, now it goes for $12.00 from Pimalia records.

1. It Begins
2. Tonight
3. This Old House
4. No Answer
5. The Music Box
6. Cricket Window
7. Cellar Company
8. Another Fire Always Smiles

Wait, I'm not doing this justice. Here are two excerpt from the booklet:

Using mutated samples from the film itself (many with their excellent foley work intact) as the only ingredients, and weaving these treatments into a subtle and creepy, dialog-free, instrumental companion.

400 Lonely Things is Craig Varian.

Tonight Of The Living Dead is concerned with the more understated and haunting moments of this movie, focusing on the fragility of "Barbra" and drawing out the sense of bewildering relentlessness and hypnotic inevitability of waiting in an old farm house for the world to end.

In case you're curious, the album cover is a mixture of two frames from the film; the moment before Barbra runs inside the farm house. At first I thought that picture was something they snapped for the CD. Nope, two frames photoshopped together with light touching, looks creepy.

There is a music video for "Tonight" - not on the CD. Go to YouTube, type in "Tonight Of The Living Dead by 400 Lonely Things" in search. Or if you know how, "E8vWbIQbyXw". It's still there (as of writing), checked. Uploaded on January 25th, 2010 by 400LonelyThings. The video is 9:14 minutes long, quite phantasmagorical.

Continuing with the audio motif...

They don't make enough of these nowadays - audio dramas, the Golden Age of radio. Wait, GOOD audio dramas. Granted there are a few going on right now, like "We're Alive" (2009 - 2014; awesome zombie series/podcast - seek it out).



I still have this, bought back in the day from B. Dalton bookstore (long gone) in my local mall, "Night Of The Living Dead: A Fully Dramatized Tale Of Absolute Terror!" The cassette was released by Simon & Schuster under their Audioworks line in 1988 to cash in on NOTLD's 20th anniversary; retailed for $9.95. I still have the folded single sheet catalog inside the cardboard case. Well... the cassette holder is plastic.

There are three performers doing all the voices; Ed Bishop, Bill Hootkins and Linda Hayes. They needed either better voice talent OR more performers. The voices were not very different which can break a presentation like this. As you might expect, Hayes does all the female roles - all her voices sound the same. What makes it worse, Barbra now sounds like a cartoon character. *shakes head*

Man, I have complaints about this adaptation, the voice actors leave a lot to be desired. The word 'cheesy' comes to mind. And the biggest bitch, they altered the ghouls. Zombies do not talk and they don't take breaks from hunting people. One of them rest after chasing Barbra; leans against a tree. Not joking.

The revised story (fifty-three minutes) takes place in '88; Ronald Reagan is the President calling for calm as the plague escalates (bad Reagan impersonation too). All the characters sound weak.



For collectors this is a curious piece of history, which is why I re-purchased it on CD. It was re-released on compact disc in 2004 also for $9.95 (you can find this cheaper on Ebay). Would I recommend this to non-die hards? HELL NO! This reworking suck balls then comes back for seconds. It could've been good - even great. What we got here is bad radio. Shame on you, M'Lou Zahner (executive producer) and Michael Brooks (audio adaptation), you're not fans.

The CD has 22 tracks, the last one has fifteen seconds of silence. And the new cover sucks too! At least with the cassette they tired something different. The original release came with a cardboard slipcover which mirrored the jewel case art, not many CDs do that.

The cover? Hands rise from the gave and hold on to? Is that suppose to be lightening as seen in the background? There is some kind of distortion in that sphere. Is it a metaphor? The dead eating the souls of the living?

The cover makes no sense, just added frosting to this crap cake.

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PART IV: THE 1968 CLASSIC RELOADED - B

BLUE CINEMA

Nudies! You've been waiting for this mention. There have some parodies, but few XXX ones. I can name off the top of my head just two. Before you ask, sorry, both covers feature nudity so I won't post them. Just made you sad in the pants. It did me too, I had to read the detailed review for the one below.

Released in April 2005 from Metro Studios under its Loaded Digital line was "Porn Of The Dead", directed by Rob Rotten.

Oh man, this is messy and disgusting, take a real Hollywood zombie splatterfest then mix it with a porno. I'm glad I've never seen this. The stills were bad enough, gory sex. NO. I'll pass. There is no central plot, this is a gonzo release; five unrelated scenes featuring the undead with little to no dialog.

There two scenes that I'm lightly going to mention as examples. Think oral sex, now make that member a bloody one. Take the reverse situation - now make that bloody too. Sick sad world, Daria. Sick, sad world.

What I can tell you is that this DVD features an all death metal soundtrack (why of course), behind-the-scenes featurette (forty-eight minutes), trailers and slide show gallery. Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. Retails for $25.99. The runtime is 101 minutes.

This repulsion stars Sierra Sinn, Hillary Scott, Trina Michaels, Ruby Knox, Nikki Jett, Dirty Harry (not that one - Clint isn't that hard up; oh a double entendre), Alec Knight, Buster Good, Trent Tesoro, Joey Ray, Jenner, Rob Rotten and Johnny Thrust. As mentioned this is a Rotten film (another one - zing!).

Let me make this crystal clear. Rotten is the kind of director that Christian groups rally against porn to, lumping his movies with the rest. The man makes extreme videos. Not the normal, happy-fun porn (Tori Black).

The kind that very, very, very few people are into. The sick stuff as in this case; dismemberment, necrophilia and some serious religious blasphemy. Look, I'm an atheist and I'm offended. I put Rotten in the same camp as Rob Black. I don't need to explain him further than two words - "simulated rape". Stay away. It's a blight on the industry.

Next up is "Night Of The Giving Head", released in October of 2008, a clever title from Exquisite; directed by Rodney Moore. Oh noes! I'm scarrred!!! Run for them there hills, Linda Lovelace has returned from the dead! *smiles*

The runtime is 101 minutes too.

This story driven blue movie stars Amber Rayne, Caroline Pierce, Nikki Rhodes, Rucca Page, Samantha Sin and Christian. The DVD has a slide show gallery, bloopers and making the soundtrack featurette; presentation in anamorphic widescreen. It retailed for $29.95.

Due to Global Warming, holes are popping in the ozone layer. This environmental woe is making some semen wonky. Ladies who get *cough* a treat become effected. They crave non-stop man salsa. That the set-up; four girls are now trapped in a hilltop house with THEM lurking and horny outside. The horror! It's up to the local sheriff to save the day. Not gonna to leave you hanging (zing!), a cure is eventually found.

[JohnIan101]

PART I: THE 1968 CLASSIC - C3

I'm gonna guess... unaffected semen. Now you may be pointing, 'hey that's a plot hole'. Don't finger that, it's porno logic, it right up there with horse sense. Have I seen this? No, pass. I've seen stills, it looks very amateurish - like a bad high school play. Why see it when I can watch a better blue flick? Maybe something with Alexis Texas, Holly Michaels, Dana Dearmond or Gage (remember her?).

- - -



Okay, not home video, not even adult - mature, yes. Published from 2007 - 2008 from Image Comics under their Crawl Space line was a four issue zombiesploitation mini-series called "XXXombies"...

The year is 1977. Porn director Wong Hung Lau has two days to film on location, a rented house. He's under a lot of stress and serious debt. Hung Lau has locked his talent and crew inside to keep them from being distracted. You can pretty much guess what happens next.

Things go bad as they find Los Angeles quarantined because of an undead plague. Things get worse, not so much from the zombies, but from Italian mobsters who have come to get their money owed from Hung Lau. More trouble and possible salvation comes from a pissed off dad of the one the girls - who is responsible for turning his princess into a whore???

I do not own them, but these puppies are on my list.

- - - - - - - - - -

VARIOUS BITS

Just gonna briefly mention this; the 1968 movie was presented in 3D on home video. But the print they used was not so great. The '68 movie was never in 3D, so the final effect is so-so at best.

Released from Slingshot Entertainment on August 1st, 2004 was "The Ultimate 3D Horror Collection: Vol 2" - inside were two wired shutter glasses, the Video Synchronization Controller box and three (public domain) movies. The films (DVDs) were "Dementia 13" (1963), "Little Shop Of Horrors" (1960) and NOTLD. It originally sold for $99.99, now it can be found for $38.99. The 3D effects had some depth perception, but that's it. As you may have expected, I don't own this nor do I have interest in buying.

- - -



This is something I would love to have as a poster hanging on my wall. A tribute to artist Patrick Nagel by Matt Busch. The cover to the comic book annual #1, L.A. convention variant (250 at the convention; 1,500 copies for the reprint) from Avatar Press, 2008.

How friggin' cool is that? If you grew up in the late 1970s and early '80s you've seen his work, Nagel. The man had the eye for the female form. His artwork has appeared on album covers and in Playboy plus many others. For some bizarre reason his art adorn hair and nail salons' windows. You've seen them.

Such wicked irony.

Nagel died of a heart attack in his car in 1984; died after making an appearance at an American Heart Association celebrity fund-raising event. Not joking.



Busch did second Nagel inspired cover, same comic book annual, but for the Wizard World, Philadelphia convention (same year). A limited edition of 1,500 copies. *sigh* I'll be honest, it didn't have the same umph as the West Coast cover.

- - -

There's a short (six minutes) out there called, "Night Of The Living Dead Mexicans" (2008), a parody. I would like to see that, couldn't be any worse than "Night Of The Living Bread" (1990).

- - -

April 25th, 1968

What's that? The historic date, the date the world ended - the fall of mankind.

Barbara: They ought to make the day the time changes the first day of summer.
Johnny: What?
Barbara: Well it's eight o' clock and it's still light.
Johnny: A lot of good the extra daylight does us, you know we've still got a three hour drive back, we're not going to be home until after midnight.

Taking the film's release 1968 as the event year; Spring Daylight Savings (gaining one hour) fell on the last Sunday of that April, the twenty-eighth. But why does it say 25th? Glad you asked.

The whole ghastly story began developing two days ago with a report of a slaying of a family of seven in their rural home near Gallpark, Louisiana. Since then, reports of senseless killings began snowballing in a reign of terror which has hopscotched in an erratic disconnected pattern throughout much of the eastern and midwestern United States.

- radio announcer

The NOTLD take place on Day Three! It took three days for the virus to explode onto the populace; from outbreak to epidemic.

And patient zero is from Louisiana.

Nighttime's on fire
We are the heat
The flame is desire, burns in the street
Know it's gonna strike, again and again
Hold on to the Night, hold on till the end...

- Johnny Steele

Have we reached the half way point in these post?

No, we haven't. I even bought a new one for a later review.

Next Thursday I'm take a break from DVDs and focus on some relevant books, including a phantom novel!