Night Of The Living Dead DVD Retrospective

[JohnIan101]

PART I: THE 1968 CLASSIC - N P2


Lets begin with a quote...

Cannibalism is a taboo that is ingrained in us to reject because in order for the human mammal to evolve into society; I think, this is my own theory. That the myth of werewolves and vampirism and certainly in the case of George. It comes from us rejecting our cannibalistic ape past and saying we're can live together without eating each other. He did have actors chewing on raw organs, they bought at the butcher shop. And to see that image is horror at its most profound - can tap into the deepest taboos and shake you to the core. And nobody had shown viscera in movies, so you have George showing something absolutely unseen. It was a frontal punch in the face, brutal attack at good conscience and morality.

- Gullermo del Toro

As you may have guessed those pair of commentaries are from the Elite Entertainment 1994 LD set. Yes, they have been repeated in various 'Night' releases with good reason, it's damn good.

Too bad Criterion didn't include the other cast reunion - that was the Joe Bob Briggs' "Drive-In Theater" program, where he screened the remake of 'Night' (1990) with cast members from the 1968 film; aired December 19th, 1992. Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne were present along with Tom Savini.

You see, this might have been Wayne's final on camera interview. He's no longer with us, a suicide.

You can read a bit more on the reunion here with screen cap.

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This has something I have not seen before. Or maybe, I did, but as a young boy and have forgotten, maybe. I would've have had to been up real late to seen it. And as the TV was in the living room (I was in elementary at the time), it would've been hard for me to watch, since my parents bedroom was next to the living room. So long ago, can't recall.



The set includes a vintage interview with Romero along with director Don Coscarelli (looking like the Wolfman in a leisure suit) on "Tomorrow" show, hosted by Tom Snyder. This aired after "The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson" on NBC, 1AM on week nights, an hour program (1973 - 1982).

"Tomorrow" was canceled for "Late Night With David Letterman" if curious.

Sadly none of their film clips are presented in the program (edited out), nor are period commercials here. That would've been so very sway. The thing was shot on video and as you can see above - has aged, but still very watchable.

In it Romero and Coscarelli talk about tapping into primal fears; state of horror in 1979 - how audiences need more (shock/gore) to be captivated and if there will come a day when the zombie films becomes passé. It was most interesting.

Would've been made better had the movie clips talked about were actually kept in. Plus seeing old TV commercials would be fun and foreign to folks who wasn't alive at the time. No - I'm guessing that was done for licensing issues. Too bad. And yeah, so 1970s the fashion.

Beyond technique - I mean, it's also something, I think - there's a great deal of humor in "Phantasm". That is so necessary today, because to take yourself seriously when you're making a horror film; unless you're making a pure horror exercise, like Carpenter's "Halloween" [1978] - which says okay, lets go all the way back to basics and you are going to be scared for these reasons. We are going to give you - the ultimate evil person. And he sets it up and that's straight horror. But how can we really be scared about ghosts and things like that when SkyLab is going to hit us. We have a lot of other problems. So I think, it's very hard for today's audiences to get intellectually into the horror experiences the way we used to when we were watching early science fiction or watching the Frankenstein movies and we could really be scared.

- Romero on "Tomorrow"

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There are two extras here which were repurposed with added photos and clips not used the first time around. Trying to masquerade them as new.

As written above, the featurette "Walking Like The Dead" is excerpts from "Autopsy Of The Dead", the 2009 documentary. Interesting, but you're only getting a tiny sample of the one hundred forty-four minutes long program. You can read that review here; "Part I" and "Part II". Solid extras too.

The second was also from the Elite Entertainment laser disc set, but with a twist - it's expanded by five minutes - "Duane Jones" interview. The original (audio only) is nearly three hours long. I'm guessing, what is presented is the discussion involving 'Night'. Jones died seven months later.

Should be noted that Criterion does give credit that "Walking Like The Dead" is part of a larger documentary and that "Duane Jones" was from the laser disc edition.

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It was nice that they included the Romero interview from Toronto International Film Festival, "High Learning". Romero was happy to be there as with "Tomorrow" they talk about the current state of horror movies. Good stuff.

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Both the "Judith Ridley Interview" and "Venus Probe" are self-explanatory. Nice touches for those who haven't seen them before.

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The new stuff...



"Learning From Scratch: The Latent Image And Night Of The Living Dead" featurette feel almost bittersweet. How Russo and conspirators all participated in making the movie, many had more than one role; hands on approach to filmmaking. Plus a history of The Latent Image with commercials made.

"Light In The Darkness: The Impact Of Night Of The Living Dead" was fascinating. All three directors has stuff to say, not fluff...

It almost feels like real time, like we're experiencing the movie with those characters as it's happening to them. And as they are learning what's going on. The stuff on television, even that winds up being nerve racking because some of the stuff they're saying cruises the tone of the movie.

- Frank Darabont

That was something that hadn't occurred to me. He's right. The shots inside the house have no time reference, might as well be in real time.

Simple and historical like watching PBS; "Tones Of Terror: The Night Of The Living Dead Score" featurette, a mini doc on where and how the now iconic music came to be used on the movie. Yeah.

The last new addition is - how can I be nice? It stays a notch below pretentiousness, "Limitations Into Virtues: The Image Ten Style" featurette. It tired to dissect the movie and their early TV commercials. It is just as you imagine it would be. Something I would only watch once.