Night of the Living Dead (2014) Reviews

• You've Got to Be Kidding.

  Jonny-ironica2015-01-21

  Unfortunately, a long-standing grave mistake with the original Night of the Living Dead was the accidental failure to copyright the prints, thus putting the film into public domain to be remade. Fortunately, it took quite a long while before people used this as an excuse to churn out things to the general public so horrible that no one should want to see them. But it seems that beginning with the 2006 3D remake, the Night of the Living Dead story is going to become a piñata for terrible "filmmakers" everywhere to ruin. *This* particular "film" takes that idea and doesn't just destroy the story, it runs it into the ground with poor directing, acting, writing, editing, sound mixing, etc. Now I have nothing against an amateur film company that wants to make a name for themselves by experimenting, growing, and eventually satisfying movie-watching audiences by the dozens(maybe hundreds if they can put up something that can hold with great indie-classics that never got mainstream attention they deserved). However, this film shows such disrespect for George Romero's masterpiece that everyone involved owes a written apology to everyone involved with the original, starting with Romero. They have taken a horror icon's beautifully flawed masterpiece and turned it into a steaming pile of... yeah, you know what I'm saying. Then even further than insulting the original and it's team, people involved with this film have taken it upon themselves to write positive reviews for the film on IMDb and rate it fairly high in order to promote it as something worth watching, no, worth PAYING to watch. That should count as theft with how horrible this film is, and I am incredibly happy that I did not pay to see it. And not only do they insult the original, they insult the noble remake in 1990. Everyone knows the Tom Savini version from 1990 was an amazing effort to add something new to the original while staying true to the spirit, the ideas, even the flaws of the original. Whether people genuinely liked it or not, it held its own as something that at least had the utmost respect for it's source material. I sincerely hope the people responsible for this remake are not benefiting(or even making their budget back) with any amount of money. Everything they do make from selling this should be doubled from their pockets, refunded to the movie-watchers they ripped off and sent to Romero himself. Avoid at all costs. And if you find a copy lying around somewhere, burn it.

• Is this a worthy remake?

  stubanker85052014-11-01

  I am a major fan of Night of the Living. This was one of our main movies we studied at University of Kansas. I have seen every single Night of the Living Dead. I absolutely hated Reanimation 3D. That was such a terrible movie. I was a somewhat skeptical of this movie. I'm not really a fan of low budget independent movies. But I bought the DVD, because I'm a huge fan of the franchise. Even though the movie had a very low budget. I think it was around $2,000. I LOVED THE MOVIE! I had a great time watching this movie. You will see a lot of new things, that took a lot of guts. I really couldn't believe the twists that hit you during the movie. You get SOMETHING NEW! How about that? You get something brand new to a remake. The movie does scream indie, but it really adds to the movie. It has a certain charm, that you don't want to turn away. I don't know any of the actors, but no one knew any of the originals either. The acting was pretty impressive. Rebekka Daniel was OUTSTANDING! The role seemed off with her though, but I really enjoyed her performance. Gad Holland was a new style of Ben, but he was a great as the role. This is a different Ben, not the one you are used to. The other actors were fantastic as well. Sarah Thomas really came off like she was Marilyn Eastman from the original. She was pretty good. I've never seen any works from Chad Zuver before, but I think I'm jumping on that bandwagon now. He did a really impressive job with the movie. He surprising made a worthwhile remake. This isn't anything close to the original or even the 90s remake. But in my opinion, this was the best remake since Tom Savini. Even though this a totally different movie than the 1968 one. You still see some touches of the original. Gotta respect Chad Zuver for that. If you are a fan of the original movie. You will really enjoy this movie and appreciate it, compared to the original. It was truly like watching a modern day telling of the original. You will enjoy this movie!!

• Interesting take on the original

  mcdawg67772014-11-06

  After seeing all the other remakes. I really thought I seen it all with the Night of the Living Dead name. After watching "A Night of the Living Dead". I can really say I was totally surprised at the twists. I didn't see any of those coming and I am thankful to see something new. Before seeing this, I thought it was just going to be some cheap remake and ruin the Night of the Living Dead name. But it was different and I really enjoyed it. Without question this is the CLOSEST remake to the original. One of the biggest negatives I have with the movie was, that it showed its low budget. I'm not sure how that can be corrected, but something needed changed. The story is interesting and plays off the original. I'm not going to give out to much. But the new twists involved in the remake keeps you entertained. Especially the characters involved. I loved Gad Holland as Ben. He was one of the biggest highlights of the entire movie. Didn't expect to see that from the character at all. The other actors did a fine job. I wanted to see more of Lisa Marie and Sarah Thomas. This isn't the first movie I've seen with Lee Godwin and Kayla Elizabeth together. Their movie Frankenstein was just god awful. Don't even waste your time watching that movie. But they have an intriguing chemistry between the two of them. Kayla does have one dramatic scene that will give you goosebumps. I did like Rebekka Daniel's character Melanie. Something did seem off about her character though. You will literally be BLOWN AWAY by the ending. I had to watch the ending three times and I still didn't see it coming. Outstanding job with that! Also loved the old style zombies. Besides the indie look to the movie. There isn't a whole lot of negatives against the movie. I wish the gory effects were done a little better. Those two are the only things keeping this movie from a 10. I really had a blast watching this.

• Avoid this useless and poorly made remake

  theromanempire-12016-01-27

  I watched it online out of curiocity as there is no DVD available yet and i was glad that there was no DVD so i saved money and watched it for free online. 1) this was exactly the same as the original only it failed in every way. the actors acted badly the music was newtral and the movie had none of the magic the original had. 2) Really when u have seen the original u have seen it all and try to make another one trying to do it like the original was done it makes no sense. romero did a little miracle back then. this is not easy task and i don't think anyone can make a remake as good as the 1968 original was. Even the great savini 1990 remake was very good but still nowhere near the original and that remake was the only really worth remake to own together with the original....(1998 version is not essentially a remake) 3) this amateur effort is not worth it and is as bad as the latest NOTLD Resurrection movie was and as bad as mimesis movie also was. Even the mediorce 2006 3-d remake was better than this crap which just tried to use the original's formula but failed in every aspect. Conclusion So avoid it and let's hope the new announced sequel to the romero dead movies will resurrect the franchise to it's former heights. we don't need those cheap and bad imitators. we want the real thing.

• Well done a remake

  dealwzimmer2014-10-26

  I am an absolute fan of the original Night of the Living Dead. It is one of my favorite movies. I am also a fan of the 1990 remake as well. Then remakes started to come out of the woodwork. Everyone started to remake the movie and they just started to get worse and worse. Then I heard a local director in my area, was making a new "revision of the movie". I checked it out at their premier and I was overly impressed with the work. Chad Zuver, who directed the movie did show off a lot of the original's style. But he also included a new twist into the story. The twists were amazing and gave Night of the Living Dead fans something new to see. You WILL be blown away by the ending. You don't see it coming at all and took me by surprise. The movie does have a low budget and I'm not faulting the movie at all for it. The story and drama keep you entertained in the movie. You really felt the drama involved in the house. The acting was up and down on some levels. Rebekka Daniel, Gad Holland (UNBELIEVABLE AS BEN!!), Kayla Elizabeth, and Sara Thomas were pretty good in their roles. Kayla Elizabeth is without a doubt one of the best actresses I've seen in the area. Her emotion literally pulls you into the movie. One of the biggest hit/misses on the acting part was Lee Godwin. He was great in certain spots and wooden in others. I wish he showed a lot more emotion in his role. But overall the acting was fairly good for a small time movie. With the lack of a budget, the movie did have some creative ways for their gore scenes. I was truly impressed with their special effects. Overall, Toledo's Night of the Living Dead is a pretty good remake. A lot better than some of the mainstream others. Chad Zuver is a very talented director. He told an amazing story and it showed on screen. Someone in Hollywood needs to give him at least one chance of a movie with a decent sized budget. Everyone needs to see this movie at least once. Don't compare it to the original. Just sit back and enjoy the movie. You will have a blast.