Review: 'Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated'

Title: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: REANIMATED
Year: 2009
Director: Mike Schneider
Starring: Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: REANIMATED is one of the most interesting movies I have ever seen. In a nutshell a bunch of different artists, animators, and filmmakers from around the world got together to basically re-create George Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Each filmmaker used their own style to duplicate a scene from the classic horror flick. There’s puppets, CGI, Claymation, stop motion, hand-drawn animation and a ton more. All these scenes were placed together and the audio track from Romero’s original film was placed over the final product. Thus NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: REANIMATED.

The idea is so unique and experimental that you can’t even properly describe it. I just tried up above here and I’m not sure it’s an accurate description, but it sort of gives you an idea. NOTLD: R is something that truly has to be seen for you to fully realize what has been done.

The idea here is brilliant. I think it’s a really fantastic concept and a great way to take a different look at a beloved horror film. I think it could be fun to do this with other movies. Mike Schneider, who is credited as director on IMDB but I believe actually supervised the entire process with each filmmaker directing their own piece, did a great job of piecing this all together.

The movie jumps from style to style but does it with purpose. This could have easily turned into a big mess but it flows with a nice rhythm. Not every style works for me and not every style will work for you, but I think there’s a little something here for all fans of NOTLD. There’s a few animation styles I found to be a bit too abstract. I’m sure they all serve a purpose, but to me some were just weird.

If you’ve yet to see NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, I wouldn’t recommend starting here. Yes the story is the same, it’s the same audio and what not, but the visuals are so striking that you may get caught up with them rather than what’s actually going on. In your typical movie, this could be a problem. NOTLD: R isn’t your typical film. This is movie by NOTLD fans, for NOTLD fans. Watch the original first and then circle back to this one.

At the end of the day this is another great piece to add to the legend that is NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: REANIMATED is a loving tribute to not only one of the greatest horror films ever made, but to one of the greatest genre directors to ever live.

Rating: 4/5

Own NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: REANIMATED- http://www.amazon.com/Night-Living-Dead-Duane-Jones/dp/B003GUGB8G