Back in 1968, an obscure Pennsylvania commercial director named George A. Romero, got some friends together, raised $114,000 and set out to scare people with his first feature, ‘Night of Annubis.’
When the feature was released, under the title ‘Night of the Living Dead,’ critics didn’t know quite what to make of it. Vincent Canby in the New York Times called it, “a junk movie” but Rex Reed observed, “If you want to see what turns a “B” movie into a classic … don't miss ‘Night of the Living Dead.’ It is unthinkable for anyone seriously interested in horror movies not to see it."
Like ‘The Thing,’ a generation before, had tapped into the fears of the Cold War (“Look to the skies…”), NOTLD was seen as Middle America at war in what seemed a “grotesque echo of the conflict in Viet Nam.”
Viewed today, the Viet Nam references may be blunted but Romero’s little horror still has the power to creep us out. His undead just keep on coming.
The Walter Reade Organization, the releasing company, apparently forgot to copyright the picture and it has gone into public domain.
So, the credits for ‘Night of the Living Dead 3D’ are Romero free although the original film plays a part in the plot.
Jeff Broadstreet’s herky jerky little film begins in exactly the same manner, as a brother and sister, Johnny (Ken Ward ) and Barb (Briana Brown), are off to attend the funeral of their aunt at an out-of-the-way cemetery. When they arrive they find the dead are unquiet.
In fact, they are roaming the countryside looking to feast on the flesh of the living.
Johnny runs off before he can get to say his famous line, “Coming to get you Barb,” but he does get to telex it to her on her cell.
Once again Barb finds temporary haven in a local farmhouse – which turns out to be a den of ganja-growing neo-hippies. But the shambling creatures loom out of the night - the living dead attack the dead heads - get it? The dialogue runs to, “When the dead begin to walk it is time to phone the police.”
No, there are no societal references here. Just your basic, rather ordinary, horror film with the occasional by-the-numbers fright. I suspect the 3D was added because, in this day of ‘The Grudge’ and ‘Saw’ this mundane little flick would be un-releasable.
The 3D process, which apparently Robert Rodriguez used for his ‘The Adventures of Sharkboy’ and ‘Lavagirl in 3D,’ is so dark and murky that if you want to follow the action (if action is the operable word here) you have to take off those damn, cheap, headache inducing glasses anyway.
The acting is at about the level of Miss Dever’s Grade 12 Graduating Class although the creep- content gets considerably better when horror icon Sid Haig (‘The Devil’s Rejects’) appears about half way through. Sid is Gerald Tovar Jr., a deranged mortician who seems suspiciously at home with the zombies.
Broadstreet is no Romero but, as a product of our times, is able to ratchet up the gore considerably and feature some graphic nudity. Nothing like a couple of teens having it off in the hayloft to attract a zombie or two. The re-animation makeup by Dean and Starr Jones is redolent of the grave and certainly a step up from Romero’s staring eyes with heavy mascara.
Horror connoisseurs will be, um, horrified and lovers of the original will decry the desecration of a classic, but c’mon – what do you expect from a film called ‘Night of the Living Dead 3D?’
Limited release November 10. MPAA Rating: R for horror violence and gore, language, sexual content, nudity and drug use.
Editor's Note: Keep watching M&C movie page for an exclussive interview with director Jeff Broadstreet.
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