Birth of the Living Dead – original title: Year of the Living Dead – is a 2013 US documentary by Rob Kuhns about how filmmaker George A. Romero developed and directed the seminal horror film Night of the Living Dead in Pittsburgh in 1968. THe film is released by Glass Eye Pix on October 18th.
The film features interviews with George A. Romero, Larry Fessenden (who also executive produced – director of Habit and Wendigo), Gale Anne Hurd (Aliens, The Walking Dead), Elvis Mitchell, Samuel D. Pollard (Night of the Zombies), Chiz Schultz (Ganja & Hess) and Jason Zinoman.
“There is nothing overtly wrong with Birth other than that it adds only minor points to what has already been a very long discussion. One of the better sections recounts Roger Ebert’s infamous reaction to the film, and the effect it had on an audience of children at a late ’60s matinee, and then shows how kids view the picture now. In the age of The Walking Dead and with ultra violent horror as practically the genre’s de-facto standard, Night cannot help but seem quaint.” John Charles
“Part biography, part history lesson and part time capsule, Birth of the Living Dead is not just the best Romero documentary to date, but a love letter to a bye gone era when friends got together to make movies that people actually saw. A love letter to the independent spirit…” Christopher Jimenez, Shock Till You Drop
“Kuhns is a veteran editor, and he expertly stitches together TV and newsreel footage from the era, Romero’s recollections, clips and stills from NLD, and plaudits from today’s zombie masters (including Walking Dead producer Gale Anne Hurd). However, these encomiums pile up like cordwood, and Kuhns gets sidetracked by a visit to a Bronx middle school where the teacher uses NLD as a teaching aid…” B. Miller, Seattle Weekly
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