Review: Night Of The Living Dead With Mike Nelson Commentary

Sorry to say, but this DVD, the 473rd edition of Night Of The Living Dead to hit the market, isn't worth the money. Maybe it is for the restored film and enhanced sound, but the commentary is weak. I enjoyed this one much better with its informative commentary by director George Romero and cast. Mystery Science Theater 3000 host Mike Nelson talks over this new color version and while he is clever, intellectual and a swell guy, he's grasping for things to say and what he does say is at best mildly whimsical.

There's a certain War Of The Worlds feel, as a solid hour deals with little besides radio and television news coverage of the unfolding horror. The tension in this is much higher, and the horror gore pretty rough for 1968. In the early to mid 70s Night Of The Living Dead would play on television in New York and I remember being around 12 or so, flipping back and forth between the movie and professional wrestling, both of which made me run around and scream scared poopless and excited beyond all measure. Even then I couldn't believe they were showing it on tv.

Contrary to the claim on the box this isn't the first colorized version, a process they might as well call Pastel-A-Vision. The B&W version is of course better but a lot of people won't watch B&W just like they prefer full screen over wide screen. I'm so superior to anyone who likes colorized full screen versions of films.