Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Night of the Living Dead Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 28, 2018

George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" (1968) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers; multiple archival interviews with cast and crew members;' two archival audio commentaries; previously unseen footage; and lot more. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet/poster featuring critic Stuart Klawans' essay "Mere Anarchy is Loosed" and technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The hunters

The zombie horror genre does not begin with George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, but it is an indisputable fact that this film has been the classic blueprint for other films whose goal has been to be part of it. Without Romero and his film, the entire genre would have been something profoundly different.

The story is hardly original. A young girl (Judith O’Dea) and her brother (Russell Streiner) are somewhere in the countryside to lay a wreath on their father’s grave. A deranged man attacks them and kills the man while the girl barely escapes and hides in an abandoned house. Later that night, another man (Duane Jones) appears and urges the girl to help him barricade them inside the house because the entire area has gone berserk. But he ends up doing just about all of the work because the girl is in a state of shock and does not seem to understand the words that are coming out of his mouth. While more deranged men and women begin to gather in front of the house, another survivor (Karl Hardman) and his wife (Marylin Eastman) emerge from an underground cellar where they have been hiding together with their sick daughter. A few hours later a second couple reaches the house and joins the survivors. As the group tries to come up with a good strategy that would allow them to leave the house alive, a government official goes on national TV and announces that a bizarre event has created a giant army of dangerous “things” and that the president and his advisors have begun developing a plan to wipe them out.

What is most interesting about Night of the Living Dead is the easiness with which it turns its supposed negatives into major positives. For example, the tiny budget that Romero had at his disposal made conventional special effects unaffordable, but instead of appearing vulnerable because of their omission, the film uses the void to strengthen its claustrophobic ambience. The magic trick is this: all of the horror action is basically locked in an authentic environment, which instantly makes any over-the-top special effects redundant. The characterizations are done in a similar fashion. Notice that the acting is quite uneven and rough and that the film makes it difficult for the audience to embrace any of the major characters. Once again, however, all of this actually helps the tension grow even stronger as it makes the horror appear very authentic.

The visual style blends noirish contrasts and shadow nuances with documentary simplicity and fluidity. It emerges naturally rather than being carefully crafted for optimal effect, which is why some of the shifts that occur in the final act are hard to forget. (The closing sequence alone would have been enough to ensure the film’s 'classic' status).

The film’s Achilles’ heel is its sound design. There is quite a bit of footage where the limitations of the recording equipment and the pre-recorded stock music are very noticeable and they tend to hurt the ambience a bit.

*Romero’s working title for the film was not Night of the Living Dead, but Night of Anubis. Criterion’s upcoming release features an alternate opening title with it from a vintage work print which is introduced by Streiner, who was also one of the film’s coproducers.

Night of the Living Dead Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, George Romero's Night of the Living Dead arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This restoration by the Museum of Modern Art and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation and the Celeste Bartos Fund for Film Preservation, was undertaken from a new digital transfer created in 4K resolution on Cineric's wet-gate film scanner, primarily from the original 35mm camera negative. For the few seconds that proved impossible to scan from this element -- approximately 1 percent of the feature film -- a 35mm fine-grain from 1968 was used. The transfer was supervised by director George A. Romero, coscreenwriter John A. Russo, sound engineer Gary R. Streiner, and producer Russell W. Streiner. After the evaluation of eighteen separate source elements, the original monaural soundtrack was remastered under the supervision of Romero and Gary Streiner from the original quarter-inch mix masters, quarter-inch premix audio tape, a final composite 16mm magnetic track, and the 16mm magnetic mix units. The restoration was performed at Audio Mechanics, led by John Polito.

Transfer supervisors: Eric Nyari/Cineric, New York; George A. Romero; John A. Russo; Gary R. Streiner; Russell W. Streiner; Katie Trainor/Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Colorist: Daniel DeVincent/Cineric."

The film boasts the type of consistently pleasing delineation and fluidity that very high-quality 4K restorations are known to deliver. Even the tiny portion of footage that was sourced from the fine-grain will be practically indistinguishable to trained eyes because density levels remain very solid. The biggest improvements are introduced by the wide range of vastly superior nuances, which make both the darker indoor/nighttime and daylight outdoor footage look terrific (see screencaptures #2, 4 and 18). Rather predictably, grain exposure is excellent and there is an overall tightness that comes with it that gives the film an excellent organic appearance. There are no traces of compromising sharpening adjustments. The grading is very convincing -- the blacks are very stable and lush but not boosted, while the grays and whites have wonderful ranges of rich nuances. Additionally, it is clear that extensive cleanup work was performed to remove all traces of age-related imperfections because the film looks spotless. Image stability is excellent. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Night of the Living Dead Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I think that some of the native limitations of the original sound design are quite easy to hear, but this is how the film was put together and the end result reflects precisely that. The dialog is still clear and easy to follow. All age-related imperfections have been fully removed as well.

Night of the Living Dead Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

BLU-RAY DISC ONE

• Night of Anubis - presented here is an uncorrected 16mm work print of Night of the Living Dead which features the initial working title for it, Night of Anubis. Also included is a filmed introduction by Russell Streiner.
  
  1. Introduction. In English, not subtitled. (8 min).
  2. Work print. In English, not subtitled. 1080p/Dolby Digital 1.0.(86 min).

• Commentary One - this archival audio commentary features George Romero, producer/actor Karl Hardman, actor Marilyn Eastman, and cowriter John Russo. It was recorded in 1994 and it has appeared on other home video releases of Night of the Living Dead.
  
  1. Production value
  2. Ghoul switch
  3. Permission required
  4. Gobo shadows
  5. Black and white
  6. Good action
  7. Death twitch
  8. Readying the house
  9. Duane's soliloquy
  10. Missing music box
  11. Explaining the window
  12. Faking the basement
  13. Blood and squibs
  14. A great lost shot
  15. Mixing without picture
  16. Memories of Duane
  17. Stone target
  18. Clients chow down
  19. Filling a gap
  20. Unpredictability
  21. Separate shots
  22. The real villain
  23. Mezzotint screen

• Commentary Two - this archival audio commentary features producer/actor Russell Streiner, production manager Vincent Survinski, and actors Judith O'Dea, S.William Hinzman, Kyra Schon, and Keith Wayne. The commentary was recorded in 1994 and has appeared on other home video releases of Night of the Living Dead.
  
  1. "My mother's car"
  2. Genuine fear
  3. Breaking the glass
  4. Goodwill furniture
  5. Poor prints
  6. Remote location
  7. Blood differences
  8. A useful kitchen
  9. Evans City
  10. "That is a neat radio"
  11. Library music
  12. "Cooper was right"
  13. Introducing the head shot
  14. Stomach rumbling
  15. Keith the powerlifter
  16. A slow scene
  17. John on fire
  18. Silly Putty
  19. Best lines
  20. Upsetting scene
  21. A second ending
  22. Taking risks
  23. Wonderful people

BLU-RAY DISC TWO

• Light in the Darkness - in this brand new featurette, directors Guillermo del Toro (The Devil's Backbone), Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn), and Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) explain what makes Night of the Living Dead a very special film and discuss its lasting impact on the horror genre. The featurette was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (24 min).

• Dailies - presented here is a silent 16mm reel with never-before-seen footage and alternate takes that were not used in the final cut of Night of the Living Dead. Also included is a video introduction by Gary Streiner.
  1. Introduction. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).
  2. Silent reel. (19 min).

• Learning From Scratch - in this brand new video interview, cowriter John Russo recalls how he was invited by John Romero to be part of the production unit behind Night of the Living Dead and discusses some unique obstacles that had to be resolved before and during the shoot. There are also some very interesting observations (with original video content) about the smaller commercial projects that eventually helped make the cult film a reality. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

• TV Newsreel - presented here is a VHS recording of silent, B-roll 16mm film shot for Pittsburgh broadcast news, which has the only surviving raw footage from the shooting of Night of the Living Dead. Original ambient music by Jeff Carney is included with it. (3 min).

• Walking Like the Dead - this brand new program contains clips from archival interviews with ten actors who recall what it was like to play the zombies in Night of the Living Dead. The interviews were conducted in 2009. The program was produced by Jim Cirronella for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (14 min).

• Tones of Terror - in this brand new program, producer Jim Cirronella discusses the stock music that was used to enhance the claustrophobic ambience in Night of the Living Dead. The program was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

• Limitations Into Virtues - in this new visual essay, filmmakers Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos (Every Frame a Painting) address some of the technical obstacles that the creators of Night of the Living Dead faced during the shooting process and discuss the film's unique visual style. The essay was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

• Tomorrow - presented here are edited excerpts from an archival episode of NBC's Tomorrow show in which George Romero and Don Coscarelli (Phantasm) discuss the evolution of the horror genre and the creative enthronement in which horror films were made during the 1970s, as well as the expectations that most people have when they go to their local theater to see a horror film. The episode was broadcast on July 3, 1979. In English, not subtitled. (19 min).

• Higher Learning - presented here is an archival interview with director George Romero which was recorded at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012. The late director discusses the unusual production and distribution history of Night of the Living Dead. There are also some very interesting comments addressing the popular myth that the film supposedly carries important social/racial overtones. In English, not subtitled. (46 min).

• Duane Jones - in this archival audio interview, Duane Jones discusses his involvement with Night of the Living Dead and explains why he decided to distance himself from the film despite being grateful that George Romero gave him the opportunity to be part of it. The actor also addresses the film's enormous popularity during the drive-in era. The interview, which is illustrated with stills and clips, was conducted and edited by journalist Tim Ferrante on December 13, 1987. In English, not subtitled. (22 min).

• Judith Ridley - in this archival interview, Judith Ridley recalls how she became involved in the production of Night of the Living Dead and shares a few funny stories from the actual shoot. The interview was produced by Elite Entertainment in 1994. In English, not subtitled. (11 min).

• Venus Probe - this 1967 newsreel details the real-life findings of the Mariner 5 space craft in Venus' atmosphere that precede the crash that unleashes the zombie plague in Night of the Leaving Dead. In English, not subtitled. (1 min). In English, not subtitled. (11 min).

• Trailers - two original trailers for Night of the Living Dead. In English, not subtitled.
  
  1. Trailer One (1968). Vintage trailer. (2 min).
  2. Trailer Two (2017). New trailer for the 4K restoration of the film. (2 min).

• TV Spots - in English, not subtitled.
  
  1. Twenty Seconds.
  2. Sixty Seconds.

• Radio Spots - collection of vintage radio spots. In English, not subtitled.
  
  1. Thirty Seconds (1968).
  2. Sixty Seconds. (1968).
  3. Re-release One (1970).
  4. Re-release Two (1970).
  5. Re-release Three (1970).

• Leaflet/Poster - an illustrated leaflet/poster featuring critic Stuart Klawans' essay "Mere Anarchy is Loosed" and technical credits.

Night of the Living Dead Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This truly groundbreaking film has had a pretty rough history that has rightfully frustrated its creators as well as many of its countless fans. However, I think that the recent 4K restoration that was supervised by George Romero and this upcoming Blu-ray release will effectively end the frustration because the film now looks simply astonishing. (To put things in the proper context and actually grasp just how lucky you are to be a film enthusiast during the Blu-ray era, listen to the archival audio commentary with producer/actor Russell Streiner from 1994 that is included as a bonus feature). Criterion's technical presentation of the 4K restoration is excellent and as usual there is an impressive mix of exclusive new and archival bonus features. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.