Birth of the Living Dead (2013)

Dir: Rob Kuhns

BIRTH OF THE LIVING DEAD is a documentary about the classic film NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Sadly, most of the cast and crew have passed away and do not make an appearance here. The saga of the forming of The Latent Image to releasing the ground breaking zombie film is told from the point of view of director George A. Romero in a series of interviews conducted by documentary film maker Rob Kuhns. Interspersed with Romero's commentary are observations on the culture at the time of filming and the film's impact by Larry Fessenden (also a producer of the documentary), Gale Anne Hurd (a producer on THE WALKING DEAD) and film critic Elvis Mitchell.

As I've seen the film scores of times on television, VHS, laser disc and DVD and have read countless interviews and books about the film there was not much about the film that I hadn't heard / read / seen previously. It's always a treat to watch an interview with Romero but the most fascinating part of this documentary is a teacher in a low income neighbourhood using the film as a teaching aid to poor black and Hispanic students. He even has them act like zombies! Odd that this film went from being warned about by Roger Ebert when he sat in a matinee showing filled with children to being shown uncut on broadcast television (where I first saw it) to being part of the curriculum for a class for young children.

It's a good watch for those that might not know much about the making of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD but I found enough entertainment to have enjoyed the documentary as well.

*** out of ****