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Released by: Wild Eye Releasing
Released on: 8/24/2010
Director: Mike Schneider
Cast: Duane Jones, JudithO'Dea
Year: 2009
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The Movie:
In 1968 George A. Romero made horror movie history when he released Night Of The Living Dead. He also forgot to include the 'copyright' notice on the film and as such, it fell into the public domain where anyone who wanted could release their own version of it. This has lead to a glut of horrible quality low budget releases on pretty much every home entertainment format known to man, alongside respectable director approved and authorized editions as well. Since the film is public domain, however, it's also let anyone who wants to play with it. Enter Mike Schneider and his oddball art project, Night Of The Living Dead: Reanimated, in which 150 different artists offer up brief animated snippets of the film over top of the picture's original audio.
Sounds like an interesting idea? It is, and the results, as scattered as they may be, are simultaneously amusing and impressive. With so many different takes on the same source material crammed into the film's running time, however, we never get to spend enough time with any one style to warm to it. The end result is a sort of animated ADD theater, but not to the point where it necessarily hurts the project. Once you get used to it, in fact, it kind of adds to the fun and you'll find yourself wondering not what happens next in the movie (odds are pretty good that if you're reading this you've seen Night Of The Living Dead) but what quirky animation style is going to show up next. There's even a Superstar style Barbie doll segment.
Wildly varied, we see some seriously different interpretations of the source. Everything from claymation to stick figures to sculpture to pen and ink to what look like charcoal illustrations are used. If you can think of an illustration or animation form, odds are pretty good that it's used here - there are even CGI renderings and puppet interpretations thrown in for good measure. The supplements examine how Schneider went about digging up all these different artists to collaborate with (it won't surprise those familiar with Deviant Art that he contacted a lot of people through that site but hey, he even used good old Craigslist as well!) and the sheer quantity of styles employed ensures that as choppy and disjointed as it can feel, Night Of The Living Dead: Reanimated is never dull.
Had there been a bit more of a steamlined approach here, this could have been a bit of a masterpiece but that didn't happen. With that said, and the fact given that there's no consistency in terms of tone or style, this is still absolutely worth seeing, particularly if you're a fan of Romero's original classic. It's certainly a Hell of a lot more interesting than the remakes and retreads and half assed rip offs that have been churned out over the years, and flawed or not, it's a incredibly fresh and original take on some very familiar (and admittedly still creepy and effective) source material.
Check out the trailer below for a pretty good idea of what this one is all about...
Video/Audio/Extras:
The transfer is a tough one to grade not because of any problems with the disc but simply because the style switches so often that it winds up being all over the place. That said, there aren't really any issues here to complain about save for some minor compression artifacts here and there - the animation styles used for the feature are reproduced nicely.
The Dolby Digital Mono track, in English, is also fine. The levels are well balanced and the sounds of the original NOTLD cast members overtop of their bizarre cartoon counterparts come through without any problems. With that said, it seems that those involved have opted to keep the low-fi feel of the film alive. There are a few spots where the audio could have been a bit cleaner and a bit cleaner, but all in all it's fine for what it is.
Extras are plentiful, with over two hours of extra material included on the disc. Count Gore De Vol starts things off with an intro, but aside from that look for a commentary track from Jonathan Maberry and director Mike Schneider that lends some insight into the historical importance of NOTLD and the artistic intent behind this recreation. A second commentary track offers input from a bunch of people who worked on the film and lends more technical insight into the production. There's also a 'call-in' commentary track where some of the artists who worked on this project provide input on their respective chunks.
Aside from that, there's a bunch of deleted and alternate scenes, a collection of short horror films done by some of the contributors, a behind the scenes look at the animation process employed by the filmmakers, and if that weren't enough, there's an hour long panel discussion called The Zombie Encounter that lets a bunch of the artists talk about their work and the finished product. Still galleries, animated menus and chapter stops are also included.
The Final Word:
While longer segments with each style might have helped even out the tone of the movie, Night Of The Living Dead: Reanimated is otherwise a cool and creative recreation of a horror classic. Wild Eye's DVD looks and sounds okay even if the source material can be iffy, and there's a load of extras on here to delve through. An odd one to be sure but definitely worth seeking out!
