BIRTH OF THE LIVING DEAD

(A.k.a. YEAR OF THE LIVING DEAD)

In 1985, Roy Frumkes made the cult documentary DOCUMENT OF THE DEAD. Although it focused primarily on the making of DAWN OF THE DEAD, it also took time to - for possibly the first time on screen - explore the story behind the creation of its classic predecessor, 1968's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.

The early '90s saw the release of the feature-length NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: 25TH ANNIVERSARY REUNION in which various genre luminaries looked back on the enduring influence and appeal of George A Romero's seminal zombie film. This shot-on-video account of a convention gathering from Heaven received a VHS release in the UK thanks to the sadly missed Screen Edge label.

Not long after that, a couple of audio commentary tracks were recorded for NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD's Laserdisc and subsequent DVD releases from Elite Entertainment. Between them, they included just about every surviving participant - director Romero, screenwriter John A Russo, actors Karl Hardman, Judith O'Dea, Bill Hinzman etc.

Then came along 2008's 88-minute ONE FOR THE FIRE, a documentary timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of NIGHT's release. Interviewing all concerned who were still breathing at the time, unearthing new archive stills from the shoot and branching out to take in the thoughts of genre contemporaries such as Greg Nicotero and Bill Moseley, this really did do a grand job of living up to its claim of being "definitive". It can be found on Optimum's UK blu-ray release of NIGHT.

Little over a year later, Jeff Carney's AUTOPSY OF THE DEAD attempted to pry even further into this classic movie's making, proffering a bum-numbing 144-minute probing of the folk who played the film's ghouls.

Surely, the subject has by now been exhausted?

Not according to Rob Khuns. His BIRTH OF THE LIVING DEAD grabs hold of Romero one last time (?) for detailed insight into how the film actually came to be in the first place.

Touting it as "the greatest guerrilla shoot of all time", this slickly edited documentary attempts to place NIGHT into the social-political context of its time. We open with clips of race riots, Vietnam war footage and a hippy soundtrack which urges "don't tread on me".

Romero then graces the screen, looking even slimmer than he has in recent years. He offers a quick, well-humoured talk through his beginnings as a partner at a Pittsburgh broadcasting company called The Latent Image. It's here that he struggled to make ends meet in the '60s filming local commercials and children's TV shows. Amusing early footage of one kids' show he directed details a character's trip to hospital to have his tonsils removed: "still the scariest thing I ever directed", Romero wryly smiles.

The director than speaks of how he attempted to branch out and acquire funding to make a feature film along the lines of Ingmar Bergman's THE VIRGIN SPRING. This was viewed upon as being commercially unviable - and so Romero hatched a second plan: create a new company (Image Ten) and raise money to direct a more marketable venture. A horror film, no less.

And so it was that NIGHT began shooting at a local farmhouse as soon as an initial sum of $600.00 had been raised. Romero roped in local businessmen, farmers, friends and even the owner of a nearby roller skating rink.

Romero expands from thereon in about how the shoot, completely devoid of permits, grew as more financing became available and more locals flocked to get themselves involved. No-one really knew what they were doing or whether a watchable film would ever be completed. Romero simply went for broke with his idea to helm a low budget riff on Richard Matheson's cult novel 'I Am Legend' - a yarn that the director read as being about revolution, much in keeping with the vibe being felt by young Americans of the time.

Rue Morgue's Gary Pullin's striking monochrome artwork relives scenarios of the young Romero directing his actors on location, with the odd splash of lurid red here and there helping to bloody up his graphic novel-style sketches. Elsewhere we get more newsreel footage to greater demonstrate the air of discontent growing in middle America at that time, and of course we're even treated to the odd clip from NIGHT itself.

Best of all are the contributions from Romero himself. He's as sly and as witty as ever here, and not beyond cursing in good humour when it's called for. Alongside him, we also get onscreen musings from the likes of actor/director Larry Fessenden, film historian Mark Harris, prolific producer Gale Anne Hurd (ALIENS, THE TERMINATOR, TV's "The Walking Dead") and critic Elvis Mitchell. In honesty, they chip in opinions which do little but confirm that which you already know (the film retains its power; its influence can be felt far and wide; a black lead in a genre film was a bold move in 1968, etc).

The graphic style of BIRTH, along with its editorial choices of accompanying music and newsreel clips (both old and new - such as the zombie convention footage), help carve it out as something different from NIGHT's pre-existing documentaries. And yet, for all Romero's presence and fascinating insights - the screenplay didn't call for a black actor, Duane Jones just happened to give a good audition - there's still a sense that most of what's being presented here has been heard before.

Add in the fact that this has the feel more of a TV production (a very polished one, a la Sky Arts) than a commercial film, along with its 73-minute running time, and it's hard not to think that BIRTH would be better received as a bonus feature to play alongside NIGHT on whatever re-release inevitably awaits the film in the next year or three.

The screener DVD from Solo Media offered a basic presentation of the film itself: no extras, menus etc. As such, BIRTH looked pin-sharp during the new interview footage and boasted strong colours, detail and so on. Obviously there's a fair bit of archive materials used here too but they all fair well - even clips from NIGHT look sharp and with strong contrast.

BIRTH is given the 16x9 treatment, while the clips from NIGHT retain their original pillar-boxed 1.33:1 form.

The English 2.0 audio is reliable throughout.

No word as yet on what the UK DVD will proffer in terms of bonus features (if any), but if it's the same as the US release from First Run Features, you can expect an extended interview with Romero, and a couple of zombie convention-based featurettes.

BIRTH OF THE LIVING DEAD does, in fairness, offer some new detail for hardcore deadites. But it also begs the question: how much more does this admittedly landmark horror film need to be dissected and discussed?

Review by Stuart Willis