NIGHT of the LIVING DEAD articles

[DubiousComforts]

Here's a slew of Night of the Living Dead articles that I recently stumbled across while online:

PopMatters' Night of the Living Dead 40th Anniversary (http://www.popmatters.com/pm/special/section/night-of-the-living-dead-40th-anniversary/)

There's a preface from George Romero (http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/the-zombies-and-i/) while another article convincingly argues the case for Harry Cooper (http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/the-trouble-with-harry/) (though I still don't agree that Harry was "right.")


Spot-on review of the problems with the colorized Night of the Living Dead DVD (http://filmfreakcentral.net/dvdreviews/nightofthelivingdead.htm)

Best quote in the review: "I don't know what sort of mouth-breather would actually prefer to watch a black-and-white film in colour (probably the same mouth-breathers who would prefer to view pan-and-scan versions of 'scope productions), but I'd say to them that when folks do stuff like this to old movies for people like you, they're not doing it because they respect your intelligence and taste."


Finally, here is a great article which covers Romero's entire career: The George Romero Guide (http://www1.phillyburbs.com/romero/)

While the info contained isn't 100% accurate, there is an interesting viewpoint in regards to "selling out" over the ending to Night of the Living Dead: "And if you could go back in time, tell Romero that Reade was going to screw them, how they were going to screw them and show him a stack of pie-graphs showing exactly how royally they were going to be screwed, he still wouldn't have taken the AIP deal. This was his film, and this is the way it goes. Take it or leave it. Even early on, George was fighting his dragon, putting integrity over cash value even when the situation was fairly desperate." :D

[bigmonkey2582]

He would have attempted to do something to avoid that copyright issue, anyone would want to make money from their work.

[DubiousComforts]

He would have attempted to do something to avoid that copyright issue, anyone would want to make money from their work.
Despite what has been reported, the distributor allegedly leaving the © notice off the release print is not what caused Image Ten their public domain woes. Just ask anyone that works in copyright and trademark law, and they will laugh at that explanation.

[archivesofthede]

NOTLD is public domain, isn't it?

[Mike70]

Best quote in the review: "I don't know what sort of mouth-breather would actually prefer to watch a black-and-white film in colour (probably the same mouth-breathers who would prefer to view pan-and-scan versions of 'scope productions), but I'd say to them that when folks do stuff like this to old movies for people like you, they're not doing it because they respect your intelligence and taste.

amen. watching a black and white film in some fake colorized celluloid rape is a travesty against god and man. all colorized movies should be shot into the sun.

black and white isn't used enough in my not so humble opinion. there are many, many films that could rock in black and white.

b&w is moodier and much more subtle. it doesn't really allow for the visual overload that you can get sometimes with color. in lots of ways, it is spookier as well.

[bigmonkey2582]

The only thing worse than coloring a black and white film, is adding things that shouldn't be in a film all together.

[DubiousComforts]

The only thing worse than coloring a black and white film, is adding things that shouldn't be in a film all together.
Who would ever commit such a travesty?! :D

[EvilNed]

black and white isn't used enough in my not so humble opinion. there are many, many films that could rock in black and white.

b&w is moodier and much more subtle. it doesn't really allow for the visual overload that you can get sometimes with color. in lots of ways, it is spookier as well.

Mike, we don't often disagree. But here we do. While I'd never watch a colourized version (except, maybe, for laughs... I hear Reefer Madness exists in a colourized version!), I don't think Black and White is superior to colour in anyway. Not even when you're trying to be subtle, or trying to get spookier.

In a colour film, if you want a film to be lifeless, and colourless. Then make the sets almost colourless. Make everything pale with make-up, lighting and props. It has a much, much more eerie feeling than actual black and white, while still not breaing the "Wait a minute, this is just a film" barrier that many things can do.

[Staredge]

while another article convincingly argues the case for Harry Cooper (http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/the-trouble-with-harry/) (though I still don't agree that Harry was "right.")




Excellent. While I've long thought that a strong argument could be made that NOTLD is a VERY Conservative movie, I think this article shows that in the end things aren't necessarily black or white (so to speak).

[Trencher]

The first time I watched night of the living dead it was in colour with green and blue zombies on the cover. When the movie was shown on TV in black and white I still watched it because it was the way the original was. If you want to see the orginal vision of Romero you got to see it in black and white, it does not make you stupid to want that, it would make as much sense as calling people who prefered the movie recolorized as gay.