Really Surprised!

Expected more

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

(Classic movie quote) - "They're coming for you, Barbara!" To fully appreciate and enjoy this documentary (that takes an in-depth look at the 1968 zombie-flick "Night Of The Living Dead" and the vast impact that it has had on the zombie genre ever since), I think one really needs to watch said-movie first in order to remain interested in this DVD's content.Through interviews (with, among others, a 73-year-old George Romero), as well as vintage film clips and stills galore, the viewer gets a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this classic, low-budget horror film (whose costs totalled $114,000) that was solely responsible for rebooting the tired zombie-movie genre, and, to date, has earned itself over $30 million.Naturally, there are people out there who want to read hidden, political messages into this film's gruesome, little story, especially since its protagonist was a black man who, at one point, actually resorted to slapping the face of a white woman.For the most part - I did not feel, in any way, let down by this 76-minute documentary. In its generally good-natured way, it certainly delivered the goods on a truly haywire movie that literally terrified me silly when I first saw it on late-night TV as an impressionable kid.

It's 1968. Pittsburgh filmmaker George Romero introduces the world to the flesh eating zombie. He started working for Fred Rogers on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. Then Romero recounts how he gathered a group of people to develop and film the classic horror. It's a real indie at a time when indies had no money.It's a documentary and it's nice to have Romero tell his story. None of it is too surprising. It's like Romero doing the commentary for his movie. It's also a great underdog story of independent filmmaking. I could do without the modern influences and less of the talking heads dissecting the movie moves. I rather have more stories about the making of and the stories of the people around the movie. The social commentaries are fine but it's rehashing old territories. It takes up a lot of movie. I like the part after they finished the movie and I love the stories of the little kids watching the movie.

Birth of the Living Dead (2013) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Did we really need yet another documentary about NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD? Probably not but this one here is so entertaining and gives us some fresh looks on the subject that fans of the George Romero classic will certainly want to check it out. Director Rob Kuhns interviews Romero who touches on familiar subjects like his early career, how the story came up and the impact the film had once it was released. Where the documentary sets itself apart is that it focuses in on some of the more political moments in the film including what was going on in the world at the time. Vietnam and the Civil Rights are certainly discussed here. You might be saying that we've heard these stories before and that's true but this documentary manages to throw out some good information and even better is that we get some professional critics who discuss the impact of the film and their memories of seeing it as children. Elvis Mitchell has some great stories about the first time he watched the film and there's some great stuff dealing with how the distributor pretty much threw this film into kid matinées. There's even a great sequence where people discuss how everything zombie wise pretty much goes back to this film and Romero. Even more interesting is the talk of the lead black actor and the type of movies Sidney Poitier was doing at this thing. I really wish Romero would have commented on this part of the subject but he doesn't. With that said, this is certainly a highly entertaining documentary, although it does run a bit short at just 75-minutes.

It's not often that one can trace back the origins of an entire genre to one body of work, let alone have that seminal entity still directly influence all its successors in one way or another. We can from time to time point out overt homages to a keystone effort or see themes and imagery blatantly stolen, but in the case of George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, we've simply seen a genre organically (and sometimes brilliantly) evolve within the confines of the trendsetter's mould.Efficiently and entertainingly, Birth of the Living Dead takes us back to the late 1960's where times were tough, social divides were widening and where one nearly novice auteur dared to craft a horror film unlike anything audiences had seen before, and arguably, haven't seen since.In viewing the first entry in Romero's "Dead" series decades after its first release, not analyzing what it must have meant at the time is an easy feat. For most watching it now, they'll be struck by how well it holds up, rather than that it featured stark parallels to the climate at that time, both intentionally and otherwise. Race wars at home raged, and so too did the Vietnam War overseas – the symbolism of unstoppable, remorseless monsters laying siege to one's home rung far too true in some cases. Birth of the Living Dead strips away these layers and provides us with a capsule of time when a movie became more than just a movie.The film also intriguingly touches on the casting of African American lead Duane Jones, an addition to the crew that was purely based on skill, and who was not accompanied by changes to the script to address his ethnicity. This resulted in (at the time) a black man serving as the leader of a group of white folk who did not engage in slurs or anything of the like and instead played things out as it would between those of the same race, or if those prejudices did not exist at all. It was man versus the undead and man versus man at the same time, but not because of racism.All of this insight would of course be for nought if Mr. Romero himself were not to wryly chime in on his experiences, thoughts on the actors, the filmmaking process and everything around and in between. At age 73 he's still as chipper and sarcastic as ever, and frankly is just a blast to watch on screen. Furthermore, his commentary of things he would have changed today and things he wished could have been accomplished then, help to flesh out a man who has spent his life in the industry.If there was one major complaint I would have against Birth of the Living Dead it would be its slim runtime. While digestible in the best of ways, it could have dug a little deeper into the mythos of the film and the actual filmmaking process. It's a shame that many of the cast and crew have passed on since filming as their lack of insight into how the process went for them softens the bite of the documentary a tad, but of course I can't lay blame on something that cannot be altered, and as it stands it still paints a very vivid picture.While slight in areas, I would certainly label Birth of the Living Dead as essential viewing for fans of zombie films, Night of the Living Dead or of the man behind the magic. It's overall an immensely enjoyable watch that should leave most fans, save the die-hard, with something new to mull over about one of the greatest horror films of all time. If at the very least it makes you want to partake in another viewing of the iconic flick, then that's good enough in my book.