Righteous Recommendations
Other Releases Available:
Releases Reviewed:
Night of the Living Dead has even more options to sort than a lot of the other public domain movies I've covered. When getting this one you'll want to make sure that you are getting the version of the movie you expect to.
A search turned up a few different Blu options, but they are all either region 2 releases or not in print except for a Shockfest multi-pack.
On DVD there's an “uncut” release from Gaiam. A “Millennium Edition” offers a ton of extras. A Weinstein release offers a remastered transfer. Legend offers a colorized version. The “30th Anniversary Edition” also offers a number of extras. The “Special Collector's Edition” is digitally mastered.
There are plenty of others that I found that didn't seem to offer anything special not to mention a huge number of multi-movie packs (this is a main selling point of many of them). I'll cover a couple of those sets and a Halloween special package in detail.
I will be comparing a few copies of the movie. First is Horror Classics, a 50 movie set.
Video:
1.33: This is the TV standard “full-screen ratio. It's moderately fair quality but is still obviously dated. It can look slightly more green than black and gets jumpy at times. It has some trash in the image and is a little washed out. I had some trouble with my disc, but I think this is due to disc damage rather than a transfer issue.
Audio:
1.0 mono: The sound is marginally better than some of the other releases having less white noise though some is still present. It's dated but fair quality with a mix that isn't great.
Packaging:
This particular disc is housed in a cardboard sleeve contained in a Velcro-fastened box (more recently repackaged in plastic). You can read about the set as a whole in great detail in the Horror Classics (50 pack) guide.
This is the 96 minute run time of the film. None of the originally lost footage is included (I don't think that exists on any current release) and none of the detested newer additional footage is included.
Extras:
There are no extras of any kind.
Other Editions:
The best Blu listing I found mentioned a 1080p image, and though the audio is still mono it is Dolby digital. So it sounds like it might be a good quality presentation, but I couldn't find one actually for sale. I couldn't even find the name of the company that produced it.
The Ultimate Shockfest Blu collection seems to be part of a slowly growing trend (or perhaps attempt at a trend) of using Blu's storage capacity to fit a lot of movies on a single disc. 20 public domain films (some very common, some fairly rare) reside on a single disc in standard 480i definition (no HD here). The best I can say for these is that they seem to occasionally present the original image ratios and may be very slightly improved quality over some of the cheaper DVD budget packs. Otherwise they offer nothing special aside from being exceptionally self-space friendly. They offer no extras and can be somewhat hard to find.
Despite some of these DVD's saying they are “uncut” every single listing has the same run time in the specs which is the same run time as the versions that I own. All of them offer the same 1.33 “full-frame” ratio though the sound specs vary. Unless I specify something different expect mono sound. If I don't mention any extras it means none were listed for that version.
The Gaiam version mentions being digitally remastered so it might very well have decent quality though none of the comments I saw mentioned this specific release.
The same can be said for the Weinstein release.
The colorized version also includes the original black-&-white. It has been “restored” and includes a 5.1 surround sound mix. The description mentions “bonus features” suggesting there's more than one, but it only specifies a commentary by Mike Nelson (Mystery Science Theater 3000).
The Special Collector's Edition does not mention anything that makes it special or particularly geared towards collectors except for being digitally mastered. It may very well offer more, but details on it hide from me.
There appears to be 2 versions of the 30th Anniversary Edition with one being “limited” and the other not. The limited version is a 2 disc package while the other is 1 disc. They offer the original edit of the film along with the extended version that fans universally hate. It speaks of a new score for the original and remastering. There's a behind-the-scenes feature, a gallery of images, a scene from Flesheater, a music video, and a 32 page book. The limited edition also includes a soundtrack CD.
The Millennium Edition offers remastering and even 5.1 THX surround sound. The quality is said to be good though it didn't get as much praise as I had expected. Extras include a parody, a gallery of images, a history of Romero's company, scenes from a lost Romero film, interviews with at least 2 of the actors, looks at collectibles and props, the script, scrapbooks from cast members, liner notes from Romero and Stephen King, and some other looks at Romero's directorial work.
Final Thoughts:
The Millennium Edition sounds to me like the way to go for the best offerings for fans although the Anniversary Edition has a few goodies especially if you're curious about the new footage. I'd enjoy hearing the Mike Nelson commentary but don't think the other offerings on the colorized release can compare to some of the others. If you're not overly concerned with extras or the best possible quality you can get this in all sorts of cheap packs. You'll probably end up with a copy just by buying multi-packs like the ones I have sooner or later anyway. I own a few different copies without making any effort to seek the extra ones out. None of my copies are impressive even though they are cheap. The only reason to get any of them over a stand-alone option is for the benefit of the other offerings included. Even the “Halloween Collector's Edition” isn't worth it if you really want a decent quality version especially since the extras are unimpressive (I can't find that one available for purchase on the internet, by the way, so there will be no link for it).
Want to get your hands on something you read about? Click the links below.
Next is the 20 pack called “Chilling.”
Video:
1.33: There is a good bit of trash in the image and the pixels seem to shift around like water. Being produced by the same company as the 50 pack I expected the print to be the same, but this one is far harder on the eyes.
Audio:
1.0 mono: The sound has persistent white noise and some loud pops here and there. The volume level is good, and the dialogue is easy to follow.
Packaging:
The disc comes in a paper sleeve that lives in a plastic case. You can get more details about the set as a whole by checking out the Chilling (20 pack) guide.
This is also the 96 minute version.
Extras:
There are no extras for this one, either.
Next is a bare-bones stand-alone DVD by UAV/Image.
Video:
1.33: While the quality is very similar to the 50 pack version the black looks more black here.
Audio:
1.0 mono: The audio is not terrible but does have more white noise than the other version.
Packaging:
It comes in a standard plastic case.
It's the 96 minute version once more.
Extras:
Still no extras here.
Lastly is a “Halloween” Collector's Edition set by Madacy that includes a book and some CD's all unrelated to the movie.
Video:
1.33: It is about on par with the 50 pack with perhaps a bit more trash. The image shifts a bit but not as bad as the 20 pack print. It's a tad washed out. So, in other words, it's far from great but not as bad as some.
Audio:
1.0 mono: It has a little white noise but a marginally better mix than the 50 pack.
Packaging:
This version comes in a DVD folder that comes inside a metal box with the other stuff.
The interface features some Halloween themed graphics that are amusing and a looping score segment.
And if you think you're getting anything other than the 96 minute version, you're not.
Extras:
OK, some of these aren't truly movie “extras” (it's more like the movie is an extra for the set), but I'll list them here anyway.
-Music CD: 12 tracks of spooky themes like “X Files,” “The Shining,” selections from “Psycho,” “Tubular Bells” from The Exorcist, “Friday the 13th,” and others. These are not the original recordings but are reproduced in better quality than a lot of these collections that I hear.
-Sound Effects CD: This is a disc of random sound effects mixed together in an hour-long background soundtrack. I would be more impressed if it had different types of effects (maybe a “haunted house” track followed by a “haunted graveyard” track, etc.) instead of a mishmash of random looping effects some of which are very annoying.
-Book: “Urban Legends & Ghost Stories” is a 23 page book with spooky images and very brief summaries of various creepy tales.
-Quiz: Starting off the DVD extras is a quiz game - multiple choice questions about the movie with a loop of the score in the background. A correct answer rewards you with a short clip of the movie. There is no final score or any kind of reward at the end.
-Ouija Board Info: This is a written history of the Ouija board. It's too short to be very interesting and is of questionable accuracy since the concept of communication with the afterlife is documented at least as far back as the Old Testament which I'm pretty sure existed before 1850.
-Voodoo Religion Info: This is a written history of Voodoo and is a little more interesting than the Ouija board but still very short.
-Romero Bio: This is a short, written bio of George Romero.
