Night '07 Reviews

[livingdeadboy]

Today, the three lucky people of this board got to watch the movie, this is a thread for their reviews.:)

[capncnut]

Night Of The Living Dead must be a difficult story to tackle for a young independent filmmaker, not only for the obvious budgetary reasons but also because it’s a well-regarded horror masterpiece and there are a number of people who are willing to condemn it without even giving the movie a chance. After viewing Reese Eveneshen’s interpretation of Night, it makes me realise that I should not be so judgemental of the upcoming remake of Day, because this movie has surprised me on so many levels.

From the opening Clerks-esque scene (“Cos I’m f**kin’ tired!” :D), the movie is told from the perspective of the film’s lead, John (played by director Eveneshen in an uncredited role), through a series of storytelling sequences as he recalls everything that’s happened to him recently up until this fateful day. Cutting between talky scenes and flashbacks, we are introduced to the people in his life; his best buddy Jack (Justin Eldridge), a female friend named Judy (co-producer Judith Visontay) and John’s adopted sister Barb (Sandy Lai). At first this approach is a little confusing but thanks to Eveneshen’s wonderful dialogue, you soon get used to it.

Heartbroken at the fact that an old girlfriend of his recently died, John calls up his buddy Jack so he can bum a ride to the cemetery and pay his last respects to the girl. A sudden zombie attack splits the pair up and John runs to a local community hall where he hooks up with off-duty cop Mick (Anson Martin), while Jack (who has a serious predilection towards the word ‘cocksucker’ btw :rolleyes:) finds ‘safety’ in the home of strange housewife Alley (wonderfully played by Gail Tako). As the situation unfurls, John becomes increasingly worried about his sister Barb who is at home alone and with the help of Mick, he tries to come up with a plan so he can meet up with her. But now, there are hundreds of zombies on the streets (magnificently done I must say) and the scene cuts to Barb, as she begins to hear slow banging on her window…

That’s where the spoilers end I’m afraid so let’s get to the meat. First off, anyone expecting a straight up remake of Night are going to be in for a surprise; it’s totally different and although there are many references, you are not overdosed on them. The brooding atmosphere is jarring at times and very often you find yourself wondering if any of this is actually happening? The sequence with Barb and the window banging had a friend of mine comment, “F**k that, I’d be out of there” so in my eyes, that’s high five. It works, there’s no doubt about it and for a ‘5 dollar movie’ you couldn’t ask for more. It kicks ten shades of s**t out of most blockbuster movies out there because of it’s realistic and unique approach.

The acting is great, I really couldn’t find fault with any of characters. The dialogue is excellently crafted too but this also leads to my only complaint of the movie. Some of it is a little unnecessary and sometimes, albeit not that often, it detracted from the situation at hand but it’s a very minor complaint though.

So how do I sum this up? Well, I reviewed a CD recently and found myself in a similar situation: do I rate it on an amateur scale or a professional one? Again, I’m gonna have to go for professional because the whole thing is so brilliantly done. Mr Eveneshen, (why am I calling you that Reese?) Night Of The Living Dead 07 gets an 8 out of 10 my friend. That’s not bulls**t either and I gotta be honest with you, even though I am bound to be criticised for saying this, I preferred your remake of Night to the recent remake of Dawn. Okay, it may not look as spectacular but I can tell that you've really put your heart into it and for me, that’s what matters the most. Congrats man, spread the word to your cast because they have all done a top job and they should be proud of themselves. I am now eagerly awaiting your next flick but dude, do me a favour, next time, DROP THE F**KING STATIC OKAY! :lol:

Okay, now I’m off to watch it once more before the sly dog whips it away from me until late April. :sneaky:

[bassman]

Damn yous, Capn!!!

I'm still trying to get it to show. For some reason, it won't on my computer.

[capncnut]

It's working for me no problem Bass, so I don't know what it could be. Loading time was pretty short too.

[bassman]

Finally got it to work. I'll post my review in about 5 or so hours, livingdeadboy. But I can give you this: :thumbsup:

About 5 hours later:

Okay....Finally getting to watch it again and give it the review. I'm going to try and keep it spoiler free, but if there's spoiler that slipped and you want it removed, Reese....just tell me to take it off.(Or I think you can if you're the mod of this forum) Anyway, Here we go...

I'm not going to get into much of the plot detail because Capn has already done so(and did a pretty accurate review, as well). One thing that I must point out right up front is that the film is preceeded by a "This film contains graphic images which may not be suitable for viewers under 17" banner which is white with black letters. The reason i'm mentioning this? It's scratched all to hell with grime and dirt like you would see in the cinema 30+ years ago and the music is an elevation of string instruments. I didn't expect that at all.....I literally clapped. Awesome little touch.:D

The opening colors of the movie are really great with some nice changes. We're treated to a nice afternoon with light beaming through the trees, wind blowing gently, then...BOOM. You're thrown into the film and from there it's basically one big rollercoaster ride with some narration along the way. I think Capn was right when he said that this is nothing like the original "Night". Aside from the cool references, this could have held a name of it's own. Not that that's a bad thing. It's a good thing. When I realized that John was going to the cemetery, I kept thinking...."Where the f*ck is Barbara??". Of course, I later found out why she wasn't there and it played out to a nice little twist that, once again, makes you forget about the original film. There are lots of little bits like this throughout.

The mood and music of this thing are spot on. I absolutely loved the music. Aside from the music, the "tint" of the movie is great. I'm not into the whole camera/filmmaking thing so I don't know what it's really called, but the color that stays consistant throughout the film is great. It's yet another of the contributing factors that pulls you in and doesn't let go.

Reese, man. I'm not sure why you didn't list your name in the cast of actors but you damn sure should've. Nothing against the other actors, but you did a friggin excellent job. I've never seen someone act like that in a smaller project like this. Good stuff. The other actors were good too, but only with a few spots that were spread sparingly enough through the film that it didn't detract from the experience.

The cinematography is also really nice. I would call it "very easy on the eyes". There are beautiful shots of landscape, skyline, etc that create a "wow" feeling, and the scenes with large crowds or confrontation don't feel forced. I don't think I've ever seen an independent film such as this where i'm not saying to myself, "WTF was the DP thinking? It just doesn't feel right". Either that or going way overboard to make it cinematic. You have struck the perfect balance, my friend.

And now on to everyone's favorite part: The gore. The first good shot you get of a zombie, it's pulling out what seems to be intestines from a corpse. That should please the gorehounds out there. There are also other good splatter scenes with half bodies and the such, but that's not what I find to be the true horror. I believe that Reese must be one of the many people here at HPotD that don't watch dead films only for the zombies and the gore. The real horror? Humans.

Starting with the beginning narration our protagonist is speaking of how the world has steadily declined, yet most people tend to turn their cheek and act as if nothing is happening. This is basically the mindset of the entire film. We've caused enough sh*t, now this "disease" is going to finish it off once and for all. There are many different reference to this mindset throughout the entire film and I really dig it.

This thing is getting a bit lengthy so I'll try to wrap it up. It's hard because I really have a lot to say.

Aside from a few minor(and I do mean MINOR) flaws that can come along with independent filmmaking...."Night of the Living Dead" kicks ass. I couldn't believe the high quality of this film at certain points. Great plot, acting, characters, dialogue, cinematography, score, the whole lot. Reese, I give you a very loud "ROCK ON!!!!", man. You deserve it.

Let us know when you're going to be selling this puppy on DVD and of your next projects. I'll be there with bells on. Everyone at HPotD......you'll have a great time with this one.

Edit: I wanted to say to the other people at HPotD that I don't know Livingdeadboy other than a few random posts on the forums. So this review couldn't have been biased. I really liked it that much. :)

[livingdeadboy]

Wow, well now that a load of stress and fear of the worst has fallen off my shoulders! I am blown away at the response, I know it's only two reviews, but I was fearing the worst. Thanks to you two for writing these reviews, and I know Coma's review will come sometime tomorrow! :D

[capncnut]

No problem Reese, it was an absolute pleasure watching Night 07... two times. :D

[livingdeadboy]

No problem Reese, it was an absolute pleasure watching Night 07... two times. :D

haha, thats what I like to hear! Now if everyone in these two screenings on Sunday like it that much, I'll be set! lol :D

[bassman]

Even if there are some people with a list of negatives(which you know there will be....that's the way of the world), I would imagine that they'll be minor.

Is this a screening for general public? If so....you do know that you'll probably get some asshats in there that will complain just to go against the herd.:rolleyes:

[livingdeadboy]

Even if there are some people with a list of negatives(which you know there will be....that's the way of the world), I would imagine that they'll be minor.

Is this a screening for general public? If so....you do know that you'll probably get some asshats in there that will complain just to go against the herd.:rolleyes:

Oh i know, its just my wishful thinking, I am fully prepared for people not to like this. And yeah, the movie is open to the general public...so we'll see who shows up to this thing!

[capncnut]

Oh i know, its just my wishful thinking, I am fully prepared for people not to like this. And yeah, the movie is open to the general public...so we'll see who shows up to this thing!
Your movie had a couple of my bros (who watch nothing but popcorn crap) glued to the screen for 70 minutes. I think you might be in for a surprise Reese.

[coma]

My reviews coming later. I didnt get to finish it until yesterday.:)

[MinionZombie]

*rubs hands*

I most definitely am looking forward to checking out Night07 when the DVD comes out. :cool::)

[coma]

My review is going to a little different stylistically from the other 2 reviews.
Also

BIG WARNING!

THERE WILL BE SOME SPOILERS

first, I concur with Bassman and Cap'n's take on the good points.
Almost every bit of acting rang true. A couple of small moments that were a tiny bit awkward but far above most films of this budget and nothing to affect the totality of the films experience. The dialouge was very well written and delivered. A couple of the monoluges were a bit long but as soon as you think its running on it ends. Thats good.

The characters are very individualistic (unlike dawn04 fopr example) and you get the character individuality right away with an economy of dialouge. Nice. Small bone to pick. American Soldiers fight for their country. Cops say they do it to help people. You are form Canada, so its OK,it just took me totally out of the movie as being really fake and wrong and just an excuse to slag America. Which is Good because its a Canadian film and a Canadian perspective ( I am not even close to being an uber patriot so its not from that perspective) but I sat thinking about that instead of the film and had to rewind. You cant do that in a theatre.

I dont see well, so Action is not so important for me. Thats why this is a really good film. It sucked me in and was never boring. In fact, it was too short:). The composition of the shots were very good and kind of noirish which is my fav style. The movement of the shots was engaging. I kept think "What a nice shot".

My favorite character, besides the lead:), was cocksucker boy:cool:. That scene with the housewife was awesome and surprising. I was pissed when he died. Thats good that I cared. Example of good writing and audience manipulation.

And now for a bit of critisism (not only, but some). Most of it from my perspective of being a sound recordist, mixer, engineer and musician. And some may seem picky, but I have worked on a lot of films as a technician and an actor and also sound projects so it from that perspective.

You should of come up with a better way to explain the adopted sister bit. It was awkward.

The siren sound on the mini montage was waaay too loud and grating. The top end of the EQ was crackly

Also too much of that static

Gore looked great. I liked the zombie FX alot. Higher in quality than what I anticipated. Exceeding expectations is a big plus.

The sound recording was good. All very legible. A big fat plus for the low budget film. However the reverb effect of the closing scene was overbearing, artificial and just not good. Im sorry to be so harsh. Next time use a lighter touch to get the effect you want. It was a bit difficult to distinguish the words.

I like your acting style. The word stumbling is good. Jimmy Stewartish but take care because it sounded a few times as if you didnt know your lines.

The music was roo similar and didnt have enough harmonic movement. It was ambient which is good but it should still move. Sometimes it didnt seem to really match. Just laid on top. Elements of more sophistication wouldve made a big difference.

The editing was excellent. No spaz moments, just fluid. But the sound editing was good but has some serious issues.
In the scene at the parking lot in the cemetary you used sound that had wind interference. ad idea. It seemed experimental but didnt work.

Recording a field tone and foleying the door slams and the footsteps wouldve been way better. Often the room tone and field tone varied drastically withing a scene, From shot to shot. You have to use room tone to make it even from shot to shot or it seems cheap.

There was a million clicks because from shot to shot you did not fade to zero points on the wave files. That leads to clicking. There were hundreds of them. Next time you make a film you cannot let that happen. It can put your film in the ametur category rather than the low budget catergory.
Ear fatigue is something you get where you stop hearing high frequencies and artifacts like clicks when you work on something too many hours in a row. Be careful of that and also monitor with head phones.


This was the persepctive of a filmmaker not just a fan hense all the techie stuff. Designed to help you improve. but the big picture is...

Great Job, Worth watching, absorbing and exciting. Above average Low Budget Acting (yay!) and really good and tight writing. Worth seeing more than once. Reese's films will only get better. A worthy addition to the pantheon of Zombie films that concentrates on whats important. PEOPLE. A real writer understands that.

However, the film is a total original, why force the Title and remake tag. Its not a remake its an original film.
And a good one!:D

[DVW5150]

All I can say is ... WHEN CAN I SEE THIS !!!!? ferchrist-sakes sheeite ... zeds .:elol:

[capncnut]

All I can say is ... WHEN CAN I SEE THIS !!!!? ferchrist-sakes sheeite ... zeds .:elol:
I know what you mean man, I've already seen it twice but I still wanna see the f**ker again. I'm afraid it's late April bro.

[coma]

I know what you mean man, I've already seen it twice but I still wanna see the f**ker again. I'm afraid it's late April bro.
Yeah, its good. Better than most of the zombie flicks from the last few years for sure

[capncnut]

You know it Coma, it has left an imprint on me - amazing movie.

[capncnut]

Well, I've seen it a good few times now and I'm still enjoying it. Seriously, good job guys... can't wait 'till that Bad Day comes around. :skull:

[jon007]

Okay, so I am new here and just found this amazing website today. I watched the movie and I gotta tell you, I was impressed! I didn't know anything about it at all except that I saw a link saying "Watch Night of the Living Dead 07 here!!" so I clicked on it, right away, in the opening trailers, I thought for two seconds, "Oh, it's one of THOSE films..." but then the trailers ended and the movie started, and I was wrapped into it in about 3 and a half seconds. Just the opening shot of the cemetary in the color warp, great stuff. I was instantly engrossed in the story line with the narration scenes being given, the writing blew me away right off the bat, I LOVED how sometimes the characters didn't seem to know the line (AND LET ME STRESS, THIS IS NOT A SLAM, HEAR ME OUT!!) because it made it seem more real when they stumbled over the words, I dunno about most people, but I wouldn't always have the wittiest and most perfect thing to say in the proper grammer if there were zombies pounding on my glass door. So once again, massive kudos. I am talking "gross disgusting disfigured because they are so large" kudos!!!
This isn't (in my own writers terms) the best review I could write, because there is too much to say and I am afraid I would leave stuff out, but let me just say this: I work in a church, I am a youth pastor, and an avid movie afficionado (sp?) and I got a call smack dab in the middle of a scene in the Community Hall. I had to go across the building and look for something in the sanctuary, (this is how I know this was a good movie) the second I walked into this big empty dark room, with light streaming in from the blue tinted windows, I looked to them to see if there was anyone outside, and I started thinking about the possibility that I get trapped in this building if such a thing ever happened, what would be my lookout point, what are the buildings weak points, and so on and so forth. So just the fact that the movie put me into that mode of thinking makes it AWESOME for me. I have watched hollywood blockbusters that have made me think, "Crap, did I leave the iron on? I don't have an iron, so how could I leave one on? Dang, where is my phone I wanna play tetris."
I am not the kind of critic to blow sunshine up anybodys skirt, trust me. Great job on the flick guys. Incredible! This was an intense thriller that I just couldn't turn away from, I dug it!

[Fulcifan91]

Wow, I had been following this closer ot the beginning, and then i have been busy recently and hadnt spent much time on HPoTD, but I wacthed it man, and you really did a great job. The atmosphere and the look of the film is what i liked the most, it was entertaining from start to finish, and you even pulled off a good look for zombies, and some good gore, without spending a bunch of money on that, or getting big time fx or fxartists to work with you. Fantastic job, can't wait to see more of your stuff.

-Scott

[suicide22]

Can't wait!

[Regressive]

Alright, I'll give you something to read..

So.. I was browsing around bored when I decided to make a visit to HPOTD just to see if there'd been any more f'ing remakes :mad: put out recently that I could exclaim explatives about to myself and my friends. One more heartless, spineless, thoughtless piece of s*** that completely misses the point of what makes a good zombie movie. Low and behold, here YOU are. Immediately I started rolling my eyes.

So here's the part where I slowly make that transition to telling you I was actually pretty impressed. I hate being so predictable but yes, I'm impressed. I've gone through my seeking every zombie film imaginable period. I've seen Redneck Zombies and countless others. I've seen BAD zombie movies. This is not bad in my opinion. It may be flawed from a budget and time standpoint. There are things I would have done differently. And hey if my own ideas were implemented, who knows, the movie could have been a giant s***load worse than it was. It's YOUR vision, and because of specific key elements, I respect the hell out of this movie.

I feel that dogging the obvious flaws is just pointless here because no doubt, it's your work, you want to defend it obviously but you also are going to be far more critical of yourself than anyone else could ever be. Almost every artist I like can't even stand their own work. I'm the same way. Not saying that you don't like how this turned out, but you're certainly AWARE of the problems. Let's just get past all that bull****.

If you're going to do a revisioned remake, I believe, this is how it should be done. I was only speaking a week ago to a friend of mine regarding the first three Romero zombie movies. We were talking about how the time period it was released in itself IS a character in Night, Dawn, & Day. That's the way it is with any classic movie. Everything comes together almost by some cosmic force. Anything that will last, regardless of the art form, anything that will one day be referred to as a classic will be a product of it's time and the sum of it's parts almost on a subconscious level. The problem with remakes, sequels, a TV show going past 4 seasons (yes, there are exceptions), etc is that you're there trying to get back the magic from something that already happened. It's wrong, it's gone, stop it.

This idea carries over to a ****load of things..music too..it's why we have has-beens. It's why the 60/70-year old members of the Rolling Stones still touring make you want to vomit. If they had any luck at all they would have been killed in their prime like Hendrix, Morrison, Joplin, etc. I could be shredded for this, who gives a ****, but it's why I think Land Of The Dead should never have been made. I thought that movie was **** because it seemed to try to reach too hard for something that every fan was already fully aware of BECAUSE IT ALREADY HAPPENED. There was so much time, so many years for us to analyze the reason these zombie movies worked, that doing it again now, it could never be as good because of the simple fact that we are affected. So is Romero. Any of us making zombie movies now are affected by the specific things we thought really MADE those classic movies, including Romero. More importantly, LotD couldn't work because the majority of the reason it was made was based on fans requesting it. Romero needs to stop, and we all need to appreciate what we have and let it be. This new whatever the **** part 5 sequel garbage he's working on now may have some moments that will make us smile, but it's simply a caricature reaching for something it can see but can't touch. That's my opinion.

If ever any new art is created with the intentions of pleasing fans of a former work, moreso than the artist making an uncompromised vision, it is inherently flawed. When you create for yourself, you make much better work because most fans don't even understand that leaving that world behind gives you the ability to use your imagination. You can wonder what happened to those characters. THAT IS A GOOD THING. What happened to Peter and Fran after they flew off the mall roof in a helicopter with low fuel? Did they crash? Were they eaten? Did Fran have the baby? Did they survive and deal with Flyboy's effeminate demon spawn? Who ****ing knows man, make it up in your head, look at our fiction section, it's awesome!! That being said, again, if you feel you have to retread, then Reese has the right idea.

Getting back to the subject I was initially getting to wayyyyyy up there... I don't care how critical you want to be of this movie, you cannot disregard it HAS significant moments that work. This movie has impact regardless of it's limitations. To write it off as amateur, unwatchable, a complete waste of time? My personal opinion is if you're tearing it down to that extent, then you're up your own ass with the "I don't sugarcoat" vibe. That's fine, that's YOUR personal issue. I KNOW we have rented movies from Blockbuster (wherever you rent from) with far less to appreciate than this movie. Movies with a lot more budget, a lot more time to get things right and a hell of a lot less ****ing heart.

Specifically, I want to emphasize the point where the zombies are smacking the sliding glass door behind the shades and the sister is standing there hearing that. It really isn't very often I get to putting myself back into the shoes of a side character in a horror film because we assume they're going to be dead, we're just waiting to see how. Maybe I can credit the low budget aspects with this feat, but nevertheless it worked. It just worked. The sound of the banging, not seeing behind the blinds, and knowing that glass can only take so much abuse? That's a haunting moment. It made me think as soon as I heard the sound and saw the house setup, "Oh, man that's a ****ty situation.." Not to mention man, these characters are written in a pre-affected zombie fashion. At that point she could think anything was behind that sliding glass door. She was operating under the assumption these could be murdering psychotics. Come to think of it, her TV wasn't working and John wasn't giving her much information so it really could have been anyone or anything beyond. Once again, a key element was not seeing it. Maybe that was a budget limitation, maybe it was cheaper for her not to peek out and get the generic "How well did Reese dress up his zombies, let's check it out" scare. Less was more, and it worked. WE all knew what the hell was behind the shades. We were given the time to be there with her and wonder what we would do in her shoes. Same kind of principle in M. Night Shamalan movies, Signs in particular. Say what you want about him or that movie. Less was more. People complained about the lack of us seeing the alien making it cheap. Does seeing the alien reeeeally make it scary? Does seeing the zombie reeeeally make it scary? Hell no. We know what an alien looks like, we know what a f'ing zombie looks like, that's all a part of the special effects element. If people concentrated on the more important things first, like a STORY and the DYNAMIC of the situation they're faced with, the special effects would carry a lot more weight. Otherwise we're seeing what we expect, and that would bore the **** out of us.

Take 28 Days Later for instance. I don't wanna hear your **** about "not a zombie movie" blah blah blah, whatever kind of reserved hatred you have about that movie or it's sequel, the point is this. For the first time in a LONG time, I was able to stop and think to myself about the situation. You're there with your girlfriend/wife/father/mother/best friend talking about anything. Someone you've known for years, someone whom, before this crisis started, you probably had decided or at least fooled yourself into believing you would die for, should those circumstances present themselves. A decision you may have even considered only because you figured that circumstance never WOULD present itself. This person is suddenly infected by one drop of blood or saliva to their eyes or mouth, and think about how easy that is... and you now have less than 20 seconds to decide to kill them or they are going to rip you to f'ing shreds. You have to realize they are gone, say your goodbyes, and go immediately into survival mode, only hoping you're capable of overpowering them to begin with...all in 20 seconds. THAT is F'ED UP!!

That brings me to my unshaken belief of what makes a good zombie movie. More than any other movie monster, a good zombie movie is about the remaining LIVING PEOPLE. In actuality, we're the monsters. We're the ones who get selfish and careless and stupid, put ourselves in jeopardy and get eaten. We're the ones who talk a great game and then go cowardly and F over everyone else. We're the ones who let the world crumble to s*** because we can't work together positively. Zombie movies done right are introspective engagements at their core. If they're done RIGHT.

So whether or not this movie has it's limitations, and it's retardedly redundant to even point them out given the circumstances, it should be credited with what it got right. There were plenty of other things besides Barb's moment with the shades, but I've written way too much. Even THAT I appreciate because it only shows the movie got me talking. So thank you Reese. Your movie is now a part of my zombie consciousness on a positive level. I assure you that's a feat.

By the way, if you get enough recognition and praise resulting in finance to go back and make tinkering edits on your movie? Sure, mess around a little here and there with the news footage but don't go all George Lucas on it. Some of the charm can be lost. You have a lot to be proud of.