Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Night of the Living Dead Blu-ray Movie Review

It isn't easy being blue.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 3, 2012

Soooo. . .tell me, have you heard anything about this new Blu-ray? And have any of you been posting lately on any internet forums devoted to home video releases of films you’ve memorized since time immemorial? Of course I jest, but the fact remains that Night of the Living Dead is but the latest example of rampant hysteria breaking out among longtime fans of any given film when they allege (sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly) that things aren’t what they’re “supposed” to be. The problem with some of these allegations (not necessarily in this case) is that some people (not all, mind you—some) base their conclusions on experiences that go back to their childhoods, meaning their memories may not exactly be pristine, or (just as likely) to earlier home video releases, none of which sported Blu-ray’s potential for greater resolution and many of which were (to just give one example) very poorly color timed on those initial releases to begin with. Those of us who work for and/or frequent Blu-ray.com can probably recount at least two handfuls of such brouhahas that have broken out over the years, with films both great (The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy) and small (Mad Monster Party ) coming in for whole strings of commentary about editing, sound effects, aspect ratio or color grading being off. (There is in fact a fantastic summation of issues very similar to the color grading issues on this release in my colleague Martin Liebman's review of the latest Blu-ray edition of The French Connection. I highly recommend that everyone, no matter what their disposition is vis a vis this particular release, check out Marty's nicely articulated comments in the video section of that review.)

Twilight Time experienced one of its fastest ever sell outs with the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead. The original 1968 version of Night of the Living Dead is credited with reinvigorating the zombie genre for a new generation, and in fact it has regularly been lauded as one of the all time greats in the horror genre. (I was first introduced to the film in a college level Film Theory class, where it ran alongside such films as Citizen Kane and 8½ , perhaps at least somewhat indicative of the critical esteem in which the film has been held despite its obviously low budget and lo-fi ambience.) George Romero, who had written and helmed the original, went back to the zombie drawing board and recrafted a screenplay that Tom Savini directed for this remake. Rather strangely, this 1990 version, which was almost universally panned upon its theatrical release, has developed its own rather rabid fan following, something that no doubt helped this Twilight Time release sell out so quickly. But many of those same fans were storming the figurative battlements once they received their Blu-rays, as they insisted the film had been intentionally color graded inaccurately and was also missing some foley effects. No small amount of these fans have been burning up forums here at Blu-ray.com and elsewhere across the internet decrying these supposed "errors". But are they "errors", or something else entirely?

The funny thing about these all too regular controversies is that they often overshadow the very film they swirl around. So before we actually get to some cursory comments about this Night of the Living Dead, let’s meet this latest hullabaloo head on. Has Night of the Living Dead been altered from both its theatrical exhibition and previous home video releases? Undoubtedly. Does that constitute an “error”? The answer to that question is a bit more problematic, but the bottom line is, when the film’s director has approved the transfer, changes and all, it’s hard to mount a convincing argument that it’s a mistake, unless by mistake you mean that it isn’t the way it was before. Now Tom Savini is certainly no George Lucas or Steven Spielberg, and there are legions who have decried those two titans for altering things both large (in the Star Wars: Original Trilogy films) and small (in Jaws ) in their various home video incarnations. So while it’s certainly fine to notice (and, yes, even complain) about changes, it seems overreaching to insist that these changes are “errors”.

Part of what’s at play here is that film, especially once it’s transferred to the digital domain, has taken a lesson from the internet age and become malleable. Anyone who’s frequented virtually any site on the world wide web knows that things get changed rather rapidly and that same idea has now become prevalent in the media as well, and it obviously bothers a lot of people. Many of us grew up when films (and television) were static affairs—if you saw The Wizard of Oz broadcast one year, you knew it was going to be more or less the same (minus any edits due to commercials) the next year. That simply isn’t the case anymore and everyone simply needs to get used to this “brave new world”, whether we like it or not.

In terms of what exactly has been changed on this release, it boils down to two major elements, one relatively large, the other relatively minor (at least by comparison). The more noticeable change is the new color grading in the opening sequence of the film, which ostensibly takes place during the day. Things are now filtered with a dusky blue cast (see screencap 2 for a good example). Director Savini is now on record saying he approves of the change; others will obviously disagree. The second, relatively inconspicuous, difference is the absence of some foley effects in a couple of moments of the film (effects which in one instance at least are still audible in the Savini commentary, funnily enough—but the commentary was evidently recorded in 2000 for a previous home video release).

With regard to the film itself, some may wonder why all the sturm und drang over a film that is by all accounts not exactly a masterpiece. The original Romero version at least had a freshness and disarmingly unkempt approach that made it both fun and terrifying at the same time. This “new, improved” Night of the Living Dead is undeniably a lot of fun, and some of Romero's revisions are indeed improvements (the character of Barbara, played by Patricia Tallman, most notably), but this is a considerably more glossy affair than the original was (at least relatively speaking), and that unfortunately does not work completely to the concept’s betterment. Let’s face it: zombies are unkempt (to say the least), and gussying up the proceedings (including I would argue the decision to shoot in color) tends to put a veneer (some would say a shellacking) of distance on the proceedings. Still, the film is often extremely funny, and the gore element is if anything even more pronounced than the 1968 version offered.

For anyone who has managed to escape having seen any of the many Living Dead films through the years, the plot is really simplicity itself: Barbara, visiting her mother's grave, is accosted by zombies, manages to escape (barely) to an isolated farmhouse, and is soon joined by a gaggle of other survivors who are trying to figure out how to keep from being turned into zombies themselves. Meanwhile all sorts of undead keep knocking at the doors and attempting to burst through windows to get their evening meal of human flesh. This brief summary doesn't really capture the film's rather piquant sense of humor, though, and the 1990 version does earn kudos for effectively walking a pretty thin line between silliness and terror.

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

Night of the Living Dead is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Twilight Time with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The issue of the filtering has been debated now ad infinitum, and my two cents on the subject is probably neither here nor there, but here goes: as far as I'm concerned the opening few minutes of the film in the cemetery look fine, as a quick comparison to the trailer (also included on this Blu-ray) proves. The filtering kicks in and is quite noticeable after the credits sequence (which is quite long with several gaps) ends and Barbara runs to the farmhouse. At that point the film grows darker, though once Barbara enters the farmhouse, things are dark anyway, somewhat mitigating the filtering. There are some anomalies even within this filtering, however, including one sequence at around 27:50 that strangely seems not to have been filtered at all (see screencap 4). If you can get past these changes (which it's obvious many people are having a hard time doing), the transfer actually boasts quite good clarity and color. Contrast is also very strong, making the nighttime sequences (the bulk of the film) pop quite well with very good shadow detail and a lack of crush. Fine object detail is also very good in close-ups, with some of the gruesome makeup work looking spectacularly gory and bloody, though midrange shots tend to look a bit soft and fuzzy quite a bit of the time.

I've docked the score a full one and a half points for the filtering; I'm sure some will complain that isn't enough. My reason for doing so is I tend to be more in the "purist" camp that Marty Liebman talks about in his French Connection review linked above, i.e., I want my Blu- rays to accurately recreate the original theatrical exhibition. But viewed at least semi-objectively (I've never claimed to be a rabid fan of either the 1968 or 1990 versions of the film), I think the transfer's positives are as obvious as its negative(s). One has to separate how one prefers a film to look from how it actually does in assessing the quality of the transfer. Those who are upset about the changes are going to focus on that element and tend to ignore the rest of the film; those who either don't care or have no baseline reference for how the film "used to look" will probably have a decidedly more favorable overall reaction to this transfer. The fact is that despite the filtering detail is still well above average and the film retains an overall level of clarity that is at the very least decent, and often a good deal more than that. There's still very natural looking grain structure and despite the filtering Night of the Living Dead retains a cinematic appearance.

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

Night of the Living Dead features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix which offers excellent fidelity and fairly consistent surround activity, at least when the zombies are attacking. In fact a lot of the sound effects are rather widely splayed around the side and rear channels, adding to the incipient feeling of being surrounded by nasty undead folks. Dialogue is cleanly presented, and the film's rather fulsome LFE (not necessarily limited to shotgun blasts, although there are those in abundance) rings out loudly and forcefully. The mix here may be just a tad front heavy for some, but there are several standout sequences that really immerse the listener in the all encompassing mayhem.

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

• Audio Commentary by Director Tom Savini. This is an informative if awfully dry commentary. Savini may not be reading his comments, but he speaks in a monotone that may put some listeners in a trance after a while. He talks about the filming in Pittsburgh and a lot of the effects shot (his background was largely in VFX before this film). Interesting, but kind of a chore to sit through.


• Isolated Score by Paul McCullough is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.


• Original Trailer (HD; 1:05)

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

No matter what side of this dispute you come down on, the grenades being lobbed at Twilight Time are largely unfair in at least one regard—as has been discussed repeatedly, Twilight Time licenses these transfers from the studios, who bear full responsibility for what they look and sound like. The good news is that Fox and (especially) Sony – Columbia tend to put out superior product, as the overall consistency of Twilight Time's releases easily proves. Should Twilight Time have known about these changes and alerted people beforehand? Probably—but people have to remember that not everyone has such a devoted love of each and every film and may in fact not know what it looked like before any given release. That said, Twilight Time has obviously learned from this experience and publicly stated they will do a better job in the future of forewarning consumers about any changes. The most salient piece of information here is that this transfer has been approved (whether before or after the fact) by the film's own director, so arguing that it's a "mistake" is probably pointless. Savini has approved, but that of course doesn't mean you have to.