John Russo's Night of the Living Dead 1990 Illustrated History

[ProfessorChaos]

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/1532d2f5-26a6-4d69-b457-f991abad7cd6.a87f87ed1f95ac93ebdff4553d103b89.jpeg ?odnHeight=612&odnWidth=612&odnBg=FFFFFF

https://www.amazon.com/Russos-Night-Living-Illustrated-History/dp/1948278332/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1UWNYANPC4P0J&keywords=night+of+the+living+dead+1990+book&qid=1655874513&sprefix=night+of+the+living+dead+1990+book%2Caps%2 C139&sr=8-1

anyone came across this book yet? just ordered a copy, kind of high priced but from what i've read as far as reviews it's a better value than the "night of the living dead 1990 version you've never seen" which was a disappointment to say the least. probably nowhere near as good as lee karr's day of the dead book, but that's a hell of a thorough effort he put forth....

my copy will arrive this week, i'll try to post a quick impression once i've had a chance to check it out.

[MinionZombie]

Hmmm! Never heard of this. Let us know how it is ... might be worth a purchase. :cool:

[Neil]

What did Russo have to do with the 1990 version really?

[ProfessorChaos]

he was a producer, along with some of the other original investors in the 68 film, as they were getting anxious about another entity doing a remake and got ahead of the curve and did their own.

[Moon Knight]

Looks cool haha.

[Neil]

Would make a great addition to the memorabilia database, if only the bloody owner wasn't so bloody lazy! - https://memorabilia.homepageofthedead.com

[ProfessorChaos]

so, quick review....this arrived today, and i've got to say i'm fairly impressed.

pros:

very similar to russo's "complete night of the living dead filmbook", in that it has a rather detailed history of the making of the film, production issues, casting decisions, and tons (and i mean a shitload) of behind-the-scenes photos i've never seen.

it has a section in the opening about the original film, as well as other works by romero, russo, streiner and company, discussing what films and projects led up to the remake.

the photos are all pretty high-quality and show all kinds of aspects of the making of the movie and make-up effects, as well the crew who helped along the way. it looks like it was a fun production.

cons:

the price tag (40 bones) was a bit steep in my opinion. i guess it depends on how big of a fan of the film you are, and what your budget is.

the quality of the paper for both the cover and the pages leaves a little to be desired. for the price, i was hoping for a little more of a durable cover and glossier pages. it's about the quality of the type of paperback workbooks you get for school. what's funny is that there is a date of production on the last page, and it says it was printed on the day i ordered it, so i guess it's not like they have a pile of them sitting around in a warehouse somewhere, it seems to be made on-demand as ordered.

final thoughts:

i've not had the time to sit back and fully delve into it yet, obviously, but i am very much looking forward to doing so. i've always been a big fan of night 90, as it was in theaters around the time my obsession with the original was budding after my first viewing. i've been to the cemetery and the property (well, drove by and parked up the road and took pics) where the filming took place. i rented this on vhs religiously as a teen, and now own this movie on dvd, as well as 3 (!) different versions on blu-ray, and i'll probably nab the 4k transfer if they ever do one of those.

this book is leaps and bounds better than the "version you've never seen" one i picked up a couple of years ago, which was a half-baked effort of mainly storyboard drawings and very little text that i made it though in an hour or so and was immediately let down by. i'm guessing this one will take a few evenings to get through, and i will enjoy it for years to come. i just wish that it was a hardback book with better quality pages for the admission price.

for my fellow night 90 fans, it's definitely worth your consideration.

[Moon Knight]

Thanks for the review! I also love NotLD 90, it’s damn underrated.

[MinionZombie]

Sounds worth it for the right price. Currently just shy of £30 in the UK ... we'll talk when it's nearer £20, I think.

Looks good, though.

[ProfessorChaos]

well, managed to sit down and plow through it in a few evenings. overall, i'd say it was worth the money. i enjoyed reading it, and think it's definitely something anyone who is a fan of this movie would enjoy having in their collection.

there are a few things that i'll add to the pros and cons:

pros:

pre-production notes were added in the back and offer some extra info about the cast and their work up to that point, as well as a brief synopsis.

again, it includes tons of great photos that give a much better look at some of the amazing work on the ghouls than you're able to see watching the film.

there are some amusing anecdotes and stories russo recalls over the years from before, during, and after the film.

i learned a few things i didn't know, such as the fact that mr. russo wanted for the film to be longer and do a quicker version of the story we all know and love, then add in extra scenes and plot to perhaps follow the posse to other houses and add new characters after that.....i'm pretty glad they didn't go that route, and from what he describes romero and streiner weren't too fond of the idea either.

cons:

even though this version has been revised and some typos were corrected, i still did see a couple pop up here and there....nothing too major however.

none of the photos have any captions, so even though you read a lot about some of the people responsible for certain aspects of the film, and there are a ton of people featured in the photos, you don't really know who you're looking at aside from romero, russo, streiner and some of the original cast members, the cast from this film, and tom savini.

mr. russo's memory of certain events don't quite jive with what happens on film. the most glaring example i could find was when he discusses the filming of the attempted escape scene, he seems to recall they get the keys for the gas pump from uncle rege's corpse as they are running to the truck, rather than running back inside after they retreive them to formulate a plan from the safety of the house before running to the truck. then he says something about the truck driving away or turning around as it is burning, but the truck explodes as it is parked right there at the pump as tom shoots the lock and the gas instantly sprays all over the torch and causes a flash fire/explosion.

doesn't quite go into as much detail compared to "the complete night of the living dead filmbook" does about the original. some things i'd really like to know more about, such as how they came to the agreement to film in the house, how much work and effort went into the pyrotechnics of the truck explosion, and any details or description about what was probably the biggest production day, which is the ending with the posse and all that ruckus. it's been a spell since i read "the complete night of the living dead filmbook", but i'm fairly certain it goes into way more detail about all aspects of the production and maybe even detailed several individual shooting days and whatnot.

this was just released in 2020, a few years after george romeo's death. i kind of wonder about the timing of that, as there are certain things mr. russo has included that i think mr. romero may have contradicted, mainly concerning the scope of russo's influence on the remake. at times, he seems quite humble and says he was more of a behind-the-scenes guy, then at other points he mentions things that he supposedly did that "saved" the movie. he come off as very down-to-earth and humble for the most part, but once in a while a bit of something comes through in his writing that comes off as a tad self-important or maybe even a bit pretentious.




thanks for reading, hope this helps if any of you are on the fence about purchasing this. i plan to dig out my copies of the film and watch any special features, "making of" bits, and even watching the film and listening to the commentary track before a proper re-viewing with a new perspective on things. if anyone has any questions, i'll be happy to answer them to the best of my ability.

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