I had a film in mind to watch for my instant watch selection this time around, but I ended up watching Birth Of The Living Dead (2013) instead. I wasn't sure I was if I was going to bother with a review for it, but I figured I might as well since I watched the film. I'm in a movie group on Facebook and someone there mentioned this film. Since George Romero passed away recently, I decided I would go ahead and give this movie a watch. It is about one of his most famous films, and my favorite, so it seemed like a good way to honor his memory in a way.
Birth Of The Living Dead is a documentary that centers around George Romero, how he got started in making movies and his film Night Of The Living Dead. Things start off with Romero remembering how he got his start in Pittsburg working for Fred Rogers of Mister Roger's Neighborhood. As Romero put it, you didn't work in Pittsburg without working with Fred at some point. Romero was also doing commercials during this time. For one commercial, the client wanted it shot with a movie camera. Romero says that he decided to not worry about any profit and got the camera. It was shortly after that he started to get the idea of making an actual movie. Pooling some money together with others, they came up with their own production company. Their first idea for a film was out of their range, so they decided to try their hand at a horror film.
I liked that Birth Of The Living Dead delved a bit into what was going on prior to Night Of The Living Dead being made. For me, this was probably more interesting than talking about Romero's film. While I know a lot about his film by now, I didn't know what Romero was doing prior to that. Also, Romero was basically the only person from the film that was interviewed. While I did enjoy hearing Romero's stories about the film, it was have been nice if others had been included as well. There are other talking heads from people who were in the film and/or helped work on it, but they are mostly there just to confirm something that was being discussed about the film. Like Romero mentions that a lot of the zombies in his film were clients from his days of making ads. Then we get a couple of people who confirm they were in the film and once a client. That is pretty much all they are there for. I don't know how much they could have added. I mean, the life of a zombie can't give you too many stories to share I wouldn't think. Still, that is what I thought that downfall of this documentary turned out to be, not enough of the cast. I still enjoyed this movie, but it could have been so much better at the same time.
Outside of Romero, there is also a good deal of experts in various fields and just some people who share their thoughts about the impact that Night Of The Living Dead had at the time of its release and on their lives. The main thing talked about, of course, had to do with Duane Jones. Not so much about the man himself, but more to do with the impact it had on movies and people seeing a black man cast in the lead role and not being treated differently in the story. Romero says that everything you see in the film was already scripted before Jones was cast in the part. He didn't see the point of changing anything just because a black man was hired for the part. Looking back, Romero does wish that he had explored the race issues of the time a little bit. It is hard to say if that would have made the film better or worse, or as memorable. If Night Of The Living Dead had explored the race issue, I think that would have taken away what a lot of people remember and are proud of the film for, treating a black man the same as everyone else. Of course, by exploring the race issues of the time, it could have been done in a way that would have gotten people to talk about the film in an equally positive way.
One of the things I liked about Birth Of The Dead was the stories about how everyone came together in order to make Romero's film. Most of the cast did more than just act. Local police came out to be just that in the film, Friends and former clients came out to be the living dead. Romero said he basically let his zombies do whatever they wanted, so they chowed down on entrails all on their own. A local newscaster agreed to do a few scenes so we would know that what is happening is going on all over. Romero said the guy wrote all the scenes himself which Romero thought added a lot of realism to the scenes. It was things like this, even though the information wasn't anything new, that was interesting. I do feel that Birth Of The Dead falls short because it doesn't involve more people from the film. If feels like an extended DVD extra really, but it is still a fun watch. If you have Amazon Prime, you can watch it for "free" through that service. I may not have been overly impressed by this documentary, but it was still worth the watch.
3 out of 5 We will miss you Mr. Romero
Birth Of The Living Dead is a documentary that centers around George Romero, how he got started in making movies and his film Night Of The Living Dead. Things start off with Romero remembering how he got his start in Pittsburg working for Fred Rogers of Mister Roger's Neighborhood. As Romero put it, you didn't work in Pittsburg without working with Fred at some point. Romero was also doing commercials during this time. For one commercial, the client wanted it shot with a movie camera. Romero says that he decided to not worry about any profit and got the camera. It was shortly after that he started to get the idea of making an actual movie. Pooling some money together with others, they came up with their own production company. Their first idea for a film was out of their range, so they decided to try their hand at a horror film.
I liked that Birth Of The Living Dead delved a bit into what was going on prior to Night Of The Living Dead being made. For me, this was probably more interesting than talking about Romero's film. While I know a lot about his film by now, I didn't know what Romero was doing prior to that. Also, Romero was basically the only person from the film that was interviewed. While I did enjoy hearing Romero's stories about the film, it was have been nice if others had been included as well. There are other talking heads from people who were in the film and/or helped work on it, but they are mostly there just to confirm something that was being discussed about the film. Like Romero mentions that a lot of the zombies in his film were clients from his days of making ads. Then we get a couple of people who confirm they were in the film and once a client. That is pretty much all they are there for. I don't know how much they could have added. I mean, the life of a zombie can't give you too many stories to share I wouldn't think. Still, that is what I thought that downfall of this documentary turned out to be, not enough of the cast. I still enjoyed this movie, but it could have been so much better at the same time.
Outside of Romero, there is also a good deal of experts in various fields and just some people who share their thoughts about the impact that Night Of The Living Dead had at the time of its release and on their lives. The main thing talked about, of course, had to do with Duane Jones. Not so much about the man himself, but more to do with the impact it had on movies and people seeing a black man cast in the lead role and not being treated differently in the story. Romero says that everything you see in the film was already scripted before Jones was cast in the part. He didn't see the point of changing anything just because a black man was hired for the part. Looking back, Romero does wish that he had explored the race issues of the time a little bit. It is hard to say if that would have made the film better or worse, or as memorable. If Night Of The Living Dead had explored the race issue, I think that would have taken away what a lot of people remember and are proud of the film for, treating a black man the same as everyone else. Of course, by exploring the race issues of the time, it could have been done in a way that would have gotten people to talk about the film in an equally positive way.
One of the things I liked about Birth Of The Dead was the stories about how everyone came together in order to make Romero's film. Most of the cast did more than just act. Local police came out to be just that in the film, Friends and former clients came out to be the living dead. Romero said he basically let his zombies do whatever they wanted, so they chowed down on entrails all on their own. A local newscaster agreed to do a few scenes so we would know that what is happening is going on all over. Romero said the guy wrote all the scenes himself which Romero thought added a lot of realism to the scenes. It was things like this, even though the information wasn't anything new, that was interesting. I do feel that Birth Of The Dead falls short because it doesn't involve more people from the film. If feels like an extended DVD extra really, but it is still a fun watch. If you have Amazon Prime, you can watch it for "free" through that service. I may not have been overly impressed by this documentary, but it was still worth the watch.
3 out of 5 We will miss you Mr. Romero
