BIRTH OF THE LIVING DEAD (2013) ***1/2 Documentarian Rob Kuhns' valentine to George A. Romero's seminal zombie horror film 'Night of the Living Dead' gets the richly deserved revered treatment by dissecting the cult classic 45 years after its unleashing to an unsuspecting populace and influencing cinephiles for future generations and filmmakers everywhere. Interviewing fellow pundits like executive producer (and fellow filmmaker) Larry Fessenden, critics Mark Harris and Elvis Mitchell, producer Gale Anne Hurd (who admits echoes of NOTLD in her post-zombie-apocalypse sensation THE WALKING DEAD), and Romero himself who recollects the shoe-string budget, lack of initial general interest upon the film's release and the tidbits of giddy fanboy insider info on how he got the chiller made. Kuhns wisely incorporates film footage of the 1960s political ongoings and social strata that the film more-or-less unintentionally evoked as themes/messages to show just how timely/less it truly was. Fun and insightful and perfect for those die-hard fans of the undead.
Review of Birth of the Living Dead
Birth of the Living Dead
(2013)
Documentarian Rob Kuhns' valentine to George A. Romero's seminal zombie horror film 'Night of the Living Dead'
14 November 2013
Warning: Spoilers