As a massive fan of cult horror film Night of the Living Dead there was no way I wasn’t going to enjoy this documentary but as a film studies academic there was a small chance I would know most of it already.
As there’s no narrative to clarify (if you haven’t seen Night of the Living Dead stop reading this right now and do that before you do anything else) I’ll cut straight to the chase; Birth of the Living Dead isn’t like most movie documentaries; this isn’t an interviews with cast members thing or a chance for celebrities to gush about how much they loved the original, instead it is a retrospective in which the film maker, the now seventy-something George A Romero, offers audiences an insight into not only his own directorial decisions but also an understanding of historical and social significance of the film.
There are some great stories and anecdotes shared here, as well as some very interesting revelations made, all of which is pulled together perfectly with a frank and almost friendly conversational tone. As an academic I was reminded of many a late night getting off on discussing films and taking pleasure in the sheer knowledge and insight of others, which made the tone of Birth of the Living Dead even more wonderfully nostalgic.
There was nothing here that blew my mind and maybe that’s because I am an academic, yet I’m not so sure this is the sort of piece that would appeal to your run-of-the-mill horror fan. All I can offer in conclusion is then my personal opinion, I thought this was great, entertaining and interesting although I hardly feel as though my DVD collection is incomplete without it.