NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1990) (Umbrella Entertainment Blu-ray Review)

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1990)

Label: Umbrella Entertainment 
Region Code: Region-FREE
Duration: 88 Minutes
Rating: R
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen(1.77:1) 
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 with Optional English SDH Subtitles
Director: Tom Savini
Cast: Tony Todd, Bill Moseley, Katie Finneran, Tom Towles, Patricia Tallman

Synopsis: Fleeing from the legion of limping undead, a small group of survivors comprised of Barbara (Patricia Tallman, Army of Darkness), Ben (horror legend Tony Todd, Candyman) and Harry (Tom Towles, Halloween), hole-up in a remote farmhouse and prepare for a bloody onslaught. As the marauding zombies surround the house, tensions between the survivors flare up, desperate to do anything to survive the hideous battle that is before them.

Directed with flair and gusto by leading horror exponent Tom Savini (who provided make-up effects for Romero’s original Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead), Night of the Living Dead cuts to the chase and sets the splatter count high – leaving behind a grisly trail of blood and guts, like any good zombie movie should.

Much like the original Romero film the Tom Savini remake opens with siblings Johnny (Bill Moseley, The Devil's Rejects) and Barbara (Patricia Tallman, Army of Darkness) visiting their mother's grave at a rural cemetery - it's as picturesque a location as could hope for in an eternal resting spot with it's rolling green hills overlooking a lake. Johnny is an acerbic and witty sibling who takes pleasure in tormenting his more reserved sister about zombies, intoning the iconic line "they're coming to get you Barbara" with a ghoulish Boris Karloff affectation, while also referencing how horny the dead can be. On cue a disheveled man with a bloody wound on his head stumbles into the scene, you're thinking , there it is, that's the zombie, but in a nice bit of misdirection the man is only dazed and injured, he mumbles an vague apology before wandering off, and while we're watching him from screen left a zombie shows up, Johnny struggles against the fiend for a bit while Barbara screams her head off. Johnny then falls onto a gravestone at a weird angle, his neck snaps, it's a brutal fall that always makes me cringe. The panic-stricken Barbara flees the scene and eventually ends up at a rural farmhouse, where the rest of the film plays out. 

It's at the farmhouse that Barbara meets Ben (Tony Todd, Candyman) who  also finds the house while fleeing the chaos of whatever it is that's happening in the area, a radio informs them that people are turning violent and cannibalistic.  The two set about clearing the house of a few zombies, fortifying the entrances and windows in an effort to prevent the massing zombie hordes from entering the home. They remove doors from entry ways inside the home and barricade the windows, in the process of looking for lumber they discover the house is not as empty as it once appeared, in the basement they find hard-ass Harry Cooper (Tom Towles, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer), his wife put-upon Helen (McKee Anderson), plus their young daughter Sarah (Heather Mazur, TV's Pretty Little Liars), who it turns out was bitten by one of the flesh-hungry fiends. The young girl is deathly ill but no one realizes just yet how dire the situation really is for her and for them yet. Also taking refuge in the basement is a teenage couple Tom Bitner (William Butler, Ghoulies II) and his girlfriend Judy Rose Larson (Katie Finneran, TV's Wonderfalls).

Immediately Cooper rubs Ben the wrong way - both are strong headed men of action who have differing opinions on the best course of action in regard to holding off the zombies, which leads to a loads of hard-headed tension on both end with plenty of drama and physical altercations, with damning consequences. One of the most noticeable departures from the original is that Barbara as portrayed by short-coiffed ginger Patricia Tallman (Babylon 5) is quite the opposite of the nearly catatonic blond Barbara (Judith O'Dea) from the '68 original. Tallman is a red-haired fire-brand, she starts off a bit  on the prissy side but by the film's end she is a straight-up zombie-killing bad-ass, it's a great switch-up and makes for a better film. Tony Todd capably fills the shoes of Duane Jones as Ben - this just might be Todd's finest performance in my opinion, he's a likable guy with good intentions. Special mention goes out to Tom Towels (Stuart Gordon's The Pit and the Pendulum) as the abrasive Harry Cooper, a real bastard, super unpleasant and quite intense, there's a nice exchange of words between his character and Ben as they fight over control of the only TV in the house. I love it when Towles character heatedly calls people "lame brains" and "yo-yos", which he does a lot! 

The film has atmosphere to spare, the rural farmhouse proves to be an claustrophobic setting as hordes of zombies arrive at the farmhouse until they end up falling through the boarded up windows like a mass of swarming insects. The sound of incessant hammering  as windows are boarded up and patched throughout the siege is unnerving, the zombies are slow-moving shamblers, it's creepy stuff, it worked in the original and it work with this one. 

Sadly, this would be the only feature length film directed by splatter-master Tom Savini - though a remake of Nightmare City is in the works -  he's directed some shorts both before and after but this is far and away his finest moment behind the camera. The extras reveal that Savini had some really elaborate Argento-esque gore gags and ideas that were vetoed by Romero and the producers, who apparently meddled quite a bit on this one, keeping Savini from adding his own stylish flair and keeping more to the look and feel of the original film, I still love this one though, but I have to say I really wanted to see some of Savini's ideas executed on film! 

The films is shot in color but like the black and white original it is propelled by chilling atmosphere and dread, not just gore, though there are certainly some great gore provided by the capable special effects make-up team of John Vulich (Re-Animator, The Hidden) and Everett Burell (Dolls) whom created some great zombie make-ups for the film, the undead in this one look fantastic, this is all pre-digital and everything looks wonderfully gruesome, with loads of memorable zombies, including a cool-looking autopsy zombie with the y-incision on his chest. 

The film pretty much sticks to the blueprint of the original Night of the Living Dead (1968) save for a few fun twists, one being the wickedly great finale, there's a delicious irony in Ben taking final refuge in the basement after disputing it so vehemently with Cooper, because as we all know after watching the original, Cooper was actually right about holing up in the basement. I've always said in conversation with my son, if there was a zombie outbreak I'd climb on the roof and lay low for a bit, no one ever seems to do that in movies, but at least temporarily the rood seem like a damn good option, right? Anyway, there's  a fun final twists with Barbara and Cooper that always blows me away with this one, great stuff from the beginning to the end, this is one of the best remakes ever. 

Reversible Artwork

Audio/Video: Night of the Living Dead (1990) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Aussie distributor Umbrella Entertainment in 1080p HD widescreen 1.77:1., the framing is slightly cropped compared to the TT Blu-ray, but only just slightly. Notably this is sourced from a different HD master than the now out-of-print 2012 Twilight Time Blu-ray, which was infamous for having the daylight scenes tinted a heavy blue to simulate dusk, which angered a lot of fans. This Blu-ray corrects that error with the original warmer tones without the blue-tinting, which is excellent news. This looks to be sourced from a theatrical print with the some dirt and minor print damage throughout, mostly by way of white speckling and not much else. Grain looks solid, it's not DNR-scrubbed to death and there's some pleasing fine detail, but the condition of the source is not as well-graded as the Twilight Time version, though I don't think anyone will much mind the slight step down in source quality versus having the original color grading. 
  
Audio comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1 with optional English subtitles, there's some nice atmospheric touches in the surrounds but the majority of the action is front and center, dialogue is crisp and the atmospheric score from Paul McCullough and effects sound great in the mix, robust and immersive. 

Umbrella carry-over all the extras from the previous DVD version, this includes the theatrical trailer, making of featurette and the audio commentary with director Tom Savini, it's a relaxed and scene-specific commentary covering many facets of the film, it's quite an interesting listen as he discusses the numerous splatter scene excised from the film by the MPAA and an alternate death scene for the character of Helen. The TT Blu-ray was missing the making-of piece, but did have an isolated score highlighting the score by composer Paul McCollough (The Majorettes), which this release does not, the TT release also had a booklet with liner notes from Julie Kirgo.  

Umbrella also offer up some new extras produced by Severin films, with the help of Red Short Pictures' Michael Felsher, beginning with a 28 minute interview with director Tom Savini who goes into how he was chosen to direct, his preparation for the film by creating over six-hundred storyboards, and his general unhappiness  during the making of the film, partly because he was going through a divorce at the time.He also discusses how Romero and producers keept him from executing some if his ideas due to tone and budget, and you can tell it really bothered him. He goes into some great detail about deleted and unfilmed scenes, some with accompanying storyboards. He also discusses the cast, and who auditioned for the role of Ben that didn't land the role, including Laurence Fishburn (The Matrix) and Eriq La Salle (TV's ER).

There's also an interview with special make-up effects supervisors John Vulich and Everett Burrell who touch on a few excised scenes and visiting a morgue in Pittsburgh   to do research on corpses, going into detail how they strived for authenticity in the undead, not just a coll artists rendering of the undead, notably the yellow fleshtones. They also go into the ideas like a cool sound bullet POV shot that was dreamed-up by Savini that he was not allowed to film.

Next up is star Patricia Tallman who recounts auditioning for the role, being a Romero fan from way back, being drawn-in by the characters shift from meek in the original to a total bad-ass woman and her experiences on-set with Savini, Tom Towles and the rest of the cast. 

The single-disc release comes housed in an over-sized Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork, the a-side featuring the original movie poster illustration, the b-side a good-looking illustration from Umbrella's in house designer Simon Sherry. The disc itself featuring an excerpt of the a-side artwork. It's nice to finally have a NOTLD '90 release with some decent looking artwork, past releases have been not-so-great, including the TT release. 

Special Features:
- Audio commentary with Director Tom Savini
- The Dead Walk Featurette (25 min) 
- NEW! Tom Savini Interview (28 min) HD 
- NEW! Return to the Living Dead: Interview with Special Make-Up Effects Supervisors John Vulich and Everett Burrell (21 min) HD 
- NEW! Being Barbara: Interview with Lead Actress Patricia Tallman interview (17 min) HD 
- Behind the Scenes featurette (8 min) SD
- Trailer (1 min) HD 

Night of the Living Dead (1990) is a chilling and poignant take on George A. Romero's '68 original, with Romero himself penning the screenplay the film follows the sketch of the iconic black and white classic with precision with but a few nice surprises. I will offer up that when I take in Romero's trilogy of the Dead I actually throw this on instead of the '68 original oftentimes - which might be heresy - but I think it's that good. As remakes of classic horror films go this is right up there with The Blob (1988), The Thing (1982) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) in my opinion - definitely one of the better horror entries of the 90's. The Blu-ray from Umbrella looks and sounds great with the correct color grading and the extras are super-cool, highly recommended. 

Blu-ray Review: George A. Romero's KNIGHTRIDERS (1981)

KNIGHTRIDERS (1981) 

Label: Shout! Factory 
Region: A
Duration: 145 Minutes 
MPAA Rating: R
Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono with Optional English SDH Subtitles 
Cast: Ed Harris, Patricia Tallman, Tom Savinni, Ken Foree, John Amplas
Director: George A Romero
Tagline: Ride to Love. Live to Die.

The members of a traveling Renaissance Faire, who saddle up on motorcycles instead of horses, ride from town to town to stage medieval jousting tournaments with combatants in suits of armor and wielding lances, battle-axes, maces and broadswords. The spectacle of this violent pageant soon garners national attention, much to the dismay of the current king of this Camelot. A challenger to his throne arises as they try to maintain their fairytale existence in a world wrought with corruption.

I remember watching this follow-up to George A. Romero's undead-epic Dawn of the Dead (1978) for the first-time and the immediate disappointment that set in afterward. The weird fantasy-action film just left me cold, I wasn't sure what I had just watched or why Romero would stray from zombie film-making to create such an offbeat movie. I was about 15 at the time and just could not appreciate what George had put onscreen, I was very unhappy with the movie, I guess I needed more zombies and guts, I was fifteen after all.

Having revisited Knightriders years later with a fresh set of eyes it was quite a different experience for me, I could more appreciate the film's "chasing the dragon" themes more clearly and how King Billy (Ed Harris) and his troupe of jousting motorcycle carnies paralleled Romero's own long fought battles as an independent film director against commercialism in an industry built on hype and commercial success at all costs, it was a more satisfying experience.

At the heart of this fantasy actioner we have King Billy, played by a youthful Ed Harris, the self-styled King Arthurian idealist whom leads a troupe of anachronistic medieval-styled jousters whom dress in armor and sit atop motorcycles in place of armored horses. The troupe travel the country performing their Renaissance-esque show to the delight of redneck locals. Billy is a charismatic and lives according to a  strict code of honor and integrity but problems arise when the cash-strapped troupe come to a divide when a sleazy promoter Bontempi (Martin Ferrero) lures the troupe's star performer, Morgan the Black Night (80's splatter master Tom Savini) with the promise of fortune and fame. That's pretty much the story of the film, the corruption that plagues the troupe when the lure of commercial success infiltrates it's ranks in the face of King Billy's idealistic and unbending ways.

It's quite a sight when the film opens with a scene of Billy sitting nude in the picturesque forest knelt in front of his sword in a silent moment of prayer, it's a gorgeous scenario that might have you believe it's a Medieval period piece until he straddles his motorcycle with his Queen (Amy Ingersoll). Harris is striking as King Billy, an ardent and stoic idealist in a reality that crushes idealism, it's not easy and you can feel him bend while swearing never to break. It's easy to admire his strict code in the face of financial woes and adversity but we also see the hardships his idealism forces upon the rest of the troupe. Example, when he refuses to give corrupt cops a payoff they beat the snot outta the character of Bagman (Don Berry) until a financial arrangement's can be agreed upon, the incident is one of several factors that drive a wedge between Billy and Morgan, whom felt Billy should have just paid the cops off, but his code of ethics forbid him from doing so and others must pay the price.

There's a great cast of Romero familiars, notably John Amplas from the underrated Martin (1976) as the mime Whiteface, Romero's future wife (Christine Forrester) appears in a small role as do Dawn of the Dead (1978) alumni Scott Reiniger, Tom Savini and Ken Foree. Some not so familiar faces include the wonderful Brother Blue as a tattooed medicine-man Merlin and Patricia Tallman (Army of Darkness), whom would go on to feature in Savini's Night of the Living Dead (1990) remake, as the local-girl love interest of Sir Alan (Gary Lahti). We also have a sweet Stephen King cameo is author Stephen King as a rather slovenly drunken spectator at one of the jousting events, Joe Pilato from Day of the Dead (1985) even makes a cameo here.

At over two and a half hours in length the film is overlong but certainly entertaining, the tone is off-kilter but the subverted Arthurian lore really comes through, there's a great cast of characters and some fun action-packed jousting sequences,and dazzling motorcycle stunts. Not a perfect film but it's the very definition of a cult-classic, a weird anachronistic fantasy action film from a true master of horror, George A. Romero.

Blu-ray: Shout! Factory give George A. Romero's Knightriders (1981) a AVC encode on 1080p in it's original widescreen aspect ratio (1.85:1). Colors appear accurate and nicely saturated, a few scenes appear softer than others probably owing to the source material. The 1080p hi-def upgrade affords the film some minor depth, it's a definite upgrade over the previous DVD that I would call impressive but not quite stunning. The Blu-ray is equipped with an English language DTS-HD Master Audio Mono 2.0 with Optional English SDH Subtitles, a basic stereo track with some moderate channel separation, dialogue and effects are balanced and free of distortion  clicks and pops, very nice.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include the audio commentary with George Romero, Tom Savini, John Amplas, and Christine Romero ported over from the region 1 Anchor Bay DVD edition, it's also featured on the 2-disc Blu-ray from UK distributor Arrow Video (review HERE). It's an entertaining and informative track, it's very chatty as the crew point out the myriad of actors onscreen and recall various production notes and anecdotes, a typically fun Romero commentary.

There are also three brand-new Red Shirt Pictures produced interviews with star Ed Harris, Tom Savini and director George A. Romero. Harris recalls his time on the film coming off of only two previous films, learning to ride on an episode of TV's CHiPS, the stunt work and thoughts on his character Billy, he seems to enjoy looking back at the project.

Romero speaks of a meeting with American International Picture's Sam Arkoff and pitching a medieval King Arthur film, it was Arkoff's negative response that planted the idea for what the the film would become. He also speaks about casting Savini as the Black Knight, the crazy stunt work  which resulted in a few injuries, passing up more commercial projects in favor of films be believed in and the difficulty making this particular film which wasn't easy to market.

The interview with actor/director and infamous 80's make-up effects master Tom Savini recalling how he came to meet Romero while he was in high school  auditioning for the lead in Martin (1977), the camaraderie onset and pranks with the cast. Finishing-up the features we have some raw behind-the-scene VHS footage contributed by Savini of the motorcycle stunts,a theatrical trailer and TV Spots for the film. 

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with George Romero, Tom Savini, John Amplas, Christine Romero and film historian Chris Stavrakis 
- Conscience of the Kin with Ed Harris (8:11) 
- Code of Honor with George Romero (17:20) 
- Memories of Morgan with Tom Savini (10:15) 
- Behind the Scenes - The stunts of "Knightriders" (8:16)
- Theatrical Trailer + TV Spots (3:08)

Verdict: While not top tier on my list of favorite George A. Romero movies I do enjoy Knightriders (1981) a bit more with each subsequent watch. It's a fun watch with a strong performance from Ed Harris as a man out of time, chasing the dragon as it were. It's great to see the film receive a quality Blu-ray release from Shout! Factory, a definite recommend for fans of Romero and carnies, it gets a cautious endorsement for the more causal viewer, as a weird, anachronistic fantasy actioner it might be a bit hard to swallow for the less adventurous out there. 3 Outta 5

Blu-ray Review: KNIGHTRIDERS (1981)

KNIGHTRIDERS (1981) 

Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD

Label: Arrow Video
Region: B/2
Duration: 147 Minutes 
Rating: 15 Certificate 
Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: English Mono 2.0 PCM with Optional English SDH Subtitles 
Cast: Ed Harris, Patricia Tallman, Tom Savinni, Ken Foree, John Amplas
Director: George A Romero
Tagline: Ride to Love. Live to Die. 

I remember watching George A. Romero's follow-up to the zombie epic DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) for the first-time and the immediate disappointment that set in immediately afterward. The weird fantasy-action film left me cold, I wasn't sure what I had just watched or why Romero would stray from zombie film making to create such an odd film. I was about 15 at the time and just could not appreciate what George had put onscreen, I was a very unhappy teen. 

I revisited Romero's film as the new Millennium came and went with the Anchor Bay DVD with fresh eyes and it was quite a different experience for me, I could see the film's "chasing the dragon" theme more clearly and how King Billy (Ed Harris) and his troupe of jousting motorcycle carnies paralleled Romero's own long fought battles as an independent film director against commercialism in an industry built on hype and commercial success at all costs.

At the heart of the hard-to-categorize film is King Billy, played by a very youthful Ed Harris, the self-styled King Arthurian idealist whom leads a troupe of anachronistic medieval-styled jousters who dress in armor and sit atop motorcycles in lieu of horses. The troupe travel the country performing their Renaissance-esque show to the delight of drunken locals. Billy is a charismatic and lives according to a  strict code of honor and integrity but problems arise when the cash-strapped troupe come to a divide when a sleazy promoter Bontempi (Martin Ferrero) lures the troupe's star performer, Morgan the Black Night (80's splatter master Tom Savini) with the promise of fortune and fame. That's pretty much the story of the film, the corruption that plagues the troupe when the lure of commercial success infiltrates it's ranks in the face of King Billy's idealistic and unbending ways. 

It's quite a sight when the film opens with a scene of Billy sitting nude in the picturesque forest knelt in front of his sword in a silent moment of prayer, it's a gorgeous scenario that might have you believe it's a Medieval period piece until he straddles his motorcycle with his Queen (Amy Ingersoll). Harris is striking as King Billy, an ardent and stoic idealist in a reality that crushes idealism, it's not easy and you can feel him bend while swearing never to break. It's easy to admire his strict code in the face of financial woes and adversity but we also see the hardships his idealism forces upon the rest of the troupe. Example, when he refuses to give corrupt cops a payoff they beat the snot outta the character of Bagman (Don Berry) until a financial arrangement's can be agreed upon, the incident is one of several factors that drive a wedge between Billy and Morgan, whom felt Billy should have just paid the cops off, but his code of ethics forbid him from doing so and others must pay the price.    

There's a great cast of Romero familiars, notably John Amplas from MARTIN (1976) as the mime Whiteface, Romero's future wife (Christine Forrester) appears in a small role as do DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) alumni Scott Reiniger, Tom Savini and Ken Foree. It's a real treat to see so many familiar faces from Romero's own troupe of performers. Some not so familiar faces include the wonderful Brother Blue as a tattooed medicine-man Merlin and Patricia Tallman (ARMY OF DARKNESS), whom would go on to feature in Savini's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1990) remake, as the local-girl love interest of Sir Alan (Gary Lahti). We also have a sweet Stephen King cameo is author Stephen King as a rather slovenly drunken spectator at one of the jousting events. 

At over two and a half hours in length the film is overlong but certainly entertaining, the tone is off-kilter but the subverted Arthurian lore really comes through. there's a great cast of characters and some fun action-packed jousting sequences, the motorcycle stunt work is pretty dazzling. It's not a perfect film but it's the very definition of a cult-classic, a weird anachronistic fantasy action film from George A. Romero.  

Blu-ray: Arrow Video bring George A. Romero's KNIGHTRIDERS (1981) to 1080p Blu-ray with an MPEG-4 AVC encode and it's a damn sight better than my old standard def Anchor Bay DVD (2000) but it's not quite eye-popping either. Colors are strong, black levels are decent and the 1080p upgrade affords the film some minor depth. Overall it's a sharper image with some scenes being a bit sharper than others, it's a definite upgrade that I would call impressive but not quite stunning. The audio presentation consists of  quality English Mono 2.0 PCM with Optional English SDH Subtitles. It's clean and suffices, it's a basic stereo track with some moderate stereo channel separation and depth, Donald Rubinstein's folky score sounds quite nice and dialogue and effects are balanced and free of distortion  clicks and pops, very nice. . 

Reversible Artwork 

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include the audio commentary with George Romero, Tom Savini, John Amplas Christine Romero and film historian Chris Stavrakis ported over from the region 1 Anchor Bay DVD edition. It's an entertaining and informative track, everyone is is in fine form as they point out the myriad of actors onscreen and recall various production notes and anecdotes. 

We also get a selection of brand new High Rising Productions produced special features by way of three interviews with the principle cast. The Genesis of a Legend (13:08) features star Ed Harris reminiscing about his first leading role as King Billy in the film, he seems quite fond of the strange little film. 

A Date with Destiny (12:03) features 80's splatter master Tom Savini recalling his role as Morgan the Black Knight. If you don't already know Savini has acted quite a bit through the years including appearances in William Lustig's MANIAC (1980), Robert Roqriguez's PLANET TERROR (2007) and Kevin Smith's ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO (2008). He's also a director in hos own right, helming the fantastic 1990 Romero-penned remake of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1990) also featuring  KNIGHTRIDER'S co-star Patricia Tallman

Medieval Maiden (17:43) features actress/stunt woman Patricia Tallman discussing moving to NYC just after college only to come back to her hometown of Pittsburgh to work with Romero on what would be her screen debut. She has very kind words for Romero from the perspective of a new actress, she also touches on becoming a stunt woman. 

Separate from the Blu-ray features we get an exclusive 35 page booklet with new writings on the film by author/critic Brad Stevens who does a great job framing the oddball fantasy film in context of Romero's filmography and sussing out the "chasing the Dragon' theme of the film. Calum Waddel offers up an interview with composer Donald Rubinstein, brother of producer Donald P. Rubinstein who worked on several Romero films including BRUISER (2000) and MARTIN (1976). Dan Yakar's archival interview with George A. Romero from American Film (1981) is great, he speaks of a meeting with American International Picture's Sam Arkoff and pitching a medieval period set King Arthur film, it was Arkoff's negative response and Romero's sarcastic quip in response that planted the seed for the film. 

Special Features:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary with George Romero, Tom Savini, John Amplas, Christine Romero and film historian Chris Stavrakis
- The Genesis of a Legend (13:08)
- A Date with Destiny  (12:03)
- Medieval Maiden (17:43)
- Theatrical Trailer (2:27)
- TV Spots (:42)
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nat Marsh
- 35 Page Collector’s Booklet featuring new writing on the film by author and critic Brad Stevens, an archival interview with Romero and a new interview with composer Donald Rubinstein, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Verdict: KNIGHTRIDERS (1981) does not enter the top-tier of George A. Romero for me but I do enjoy it a bit more every time I watch, which is not to say I love it. Arrow Video's 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD does the film justice with very nice picture and audio quality and a decent array of special features, a recommend for fans of the film and a cautious endorsement for the uninitiated, it's an odd one. 3 Outta 5

 

Blu-ray Review: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1990)

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1990)

- The Limited Edition Series -

Label: Twilight Time DVD
Region Code: ABC
Duration: 88 Minutes
Rating: R
Video: 1080p 16x9 Widescreen(1.85:1)
Audio: Englisg DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 with Optional English SDH Subtitles
Cast: Tony Todd, Bill Moseley, Katie Finneran, Tom Towles, Patricia Tallman

Director: Tom Savini
Synopsis: Night of the Living Dead (1990)—a George Romero-approved remake of his 1968 cult horror classic, directed by makeup wizard Tom Savini—tells once again the chilling tale of seven people holed-up in a farmhouse besieged by armies of the un-dead. As the terrified little group fights for their lives, they begin to find themselves as plagued by the evil lurking within as by the ravening flesh-eaters battering on hastily boarded-up windows and doors. “Splatter King” Savini keeps things moving—and the blood flowing—as the survivors dwindle one by one.

The Film: Much like the original Romero-directed film we open with siblings Johnny (Bill Moseley, The Devil's Rejects) and Barbara (Patricia Tallman, Army of Darkness) visiting their mother's grave at a remote, rural cemetery - it's a picturesque location with rolling hills covered in green grass overlooking a lake. Johhny is an acerbic and witty and takes great pleasure in tormenting his sister about zombie, intoning the iconic line "there coming to get you Barbara". On cue a man stumbles into the scene, you're thinking it's a zombie but we get a fake out as the film deviates from the original. The man is dazed and injured, mumbles a warning and stumbles off, confused. It's now that we've been lulled into a false sense of security that the undead show up and attack, Johnny struggles against the fiend while Barbara screams her head off, he falls onto a gravestone at a weird angle, his neck snaps, it's brutal. The panicked Barbara flees the scene and eventually ends up at a rural farmhouse. It's here that she meets Ben (Tony Todd, Candyman) a man also fleeing the chaos of whatever it is that's happening in the area, it seems people are turning violent and eating people. We the audience of course realize this is the beginning of a zombie outbreak but remember the characters don't really know what the Hell is going on, they're panicked and stricken with fear. The two set about fortifying farmhouse in an effort to prevent the massing zombie hordes from entering the home. They remove doors from entry ways inside the home and barricade the windows, in the process of looking for lumber they discover the house is not as empty as it once appeared, in the basement they find Harry Cooper (Tom Towles, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer), his wife Helen (McKee Anderson), their daughter Sarah (Heather Mazur, TV's Pretty Little Liars) , who was bitten by one of the fiends. She's deathly ill but no one realizes just yet how dire the situation really is. Also taking refuge in the basement is a young couple Tom Bitner (William Butler, Ghoulies II) and his girlfriend Judy Rose Larson (Katie Finneran, TV's Wonderfalls).

Immediately Cooper rubs Ben the wrong way - both are strong headed men of action and have differing opinions on the best course of action to follow which leads to a lot of tension, drama and altercations, some with damning consequences. One of the most noticeable departures from the original is the character of Barbara portrayed by Patricia Tallman (Babylon 5) who is quite the opposite of the blonde, meek and nearly catatonic Barbara (Judith O'Dea) in the '68 film here is a red-haired fire-brand, she starts off a bit  on the prissy side but by the film's end is a zombie-killing bad-ass,  it's a great switch-up . Tony Todd very capably fills the shoes of Duane Jones as Ben - this just might be Todd's finest performance. Special mention of Tom Towels (Stuart Gordon's The Pit and the Pendulum) as the abrasive Harry Cooper, a real bastard, super unpleasant and quite intense, there's a nice exchange of words between his character and Ben as they pretty much fight over a TV - great stuff.

The film has atmosphere to spare, the rural farmhouse proves to be an claustrophobic setting as hordes of zombies try to break-in until they eventually fall through the windows like a mass of insects. The sound of incessant hammering  as windows are boarded up and patched throughout the siege is unnerving, the zombies are slow-moving shamblers, it's creepy stuff. 

This was the first of only four features that splatter-master Tom Savini directed and it's far and away his finest moment behind the camera, the most recent being the "Wet Dreams" segment of The Theatre Bizarre, the weakest of that anthologies vignettes. Perhaps what we have something akin to a Spielberg-Hooper situation on Poltergeist (1982) here with Romero-Savini... it's not likely but apparently Savini's directorial debut will remain his most well-regarded effort. 

The films is shot in color but like the black and white original it is propelled by chilling atmosphere and dread, not gore, though there are certainly moments of grue provided by the capable effects team of John Vulich (Re-Animator, The Hidden) and Everett Burell (Dolls, Castle Freak) whom created some great zombie make-ups for the film. 

The film pretty much sticks to the blueprint of the original save for a few twists, one being the wickedly great finale, there's a delicious irony in Ben taking final refuge in the basement after disputing it so vehemently with Cooper, the final twists are fantastic and the final few shots of the film are eerie and chilling

Blu-ray: Twilight Time offer up Tom Savini's chilling remake of George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead in a very nice looking MPEG-4 AVC encoded transfer in it's original theatrical widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 (anamorphic). It's sourced from a very nice print, most likely the same Columbia master used for the DVD, I saw no print damage whatsoever, there's a fine layer of grain and while the 1080p image didn't exactly leap off the screen with fine detail it is absolutely an improvement over the previous Columbia Pictures DVD edition.   

The English language DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sounds great with some nice atmospheric touches in the surrounds but the majority of the action is front and center, dialogue is crisp and the score and effects sound great. There is an optional English SDH subtitle option.

Special features are culled from the previously mentioned DVD edition and include a theatrical trailer plus an audio commentary with director Tom Savini, it's a relaxed and scene-specific commentary covering many facets of the film, it's quite an interesting listen as he discusses the numerous splatter scene excised from the film by the MPAA and an alternate death scene for "Helen". Something noticeably missing from the Blu-ray is the "The Dead Walk" (24:52) making-of featurette. Not sure why that was not included but I believe for one reason or another not all bonus materials from Columbia are made available to third-party distributors, it would have been a sweet inclusion but it was not to be, however, we do get Twilight Time's signature isolated score track (DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0) featuring the original score by composer Paul McCollough (The Majorettes) which is not found on the DVD. The last item is a 8 page color booklet with color pictures and wonderful writings by  Twilight Time staff-writer Julie Kirgo who always offers interesting insights that put the film in perspective. I must compliment Twilight for the inclusion of a booklet in every release, it's a nice touch and something that's all but disappeared, such a shame. 

Something I never really comment on with releases is the Blu-ray box art and I gotta say that this film has ever really had great artwork associated with it's releases. The Columbia DVD was pretty lame I hate to say it but this Blu-ray is worse, it's just uninspired, worthy maybe of Diary of the Dead maybe but not this. The backside of the booklet features some great original theatrical poster art, that would have been fantastic.

 Special Features:
- Isolated Score Track by Paul McCollough
- Audio Commentary with Filmmaker Tom Savini
- Original theatrical Trailer
- Julie Kirgo liner notes

Verdict: Night of the Living Dead (1990) is a chilling and poignant take on George A. Romero's '68 original, with Romero himself penning the screenplay the film follows the sketch of the iconic black and white chiller with precision with but a few nice surprises. I will offer up that when I take in Romero's trilogy of the Dead I actually throw this on instead of the '68 original - it's that good. As remakes of classic films go this is right up there with The Blob (1988), The Thing (1982) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) - definitely one of the better horror entries of the 90's and a high recommend. 4 Outta 5 

NOTE: This release was limited to only 3,000 units and is sold out and fetching upwards of $100 on eBay :( 

www.screenarchives.com