The George A. Romero original Night of the Living Dead has been the basis for all things zombie over the years, including remakes. In 2006 a remake was released titled Night of the Living Dead 3D directed by Jeff Broadstreet. Now Broadstreet returns again to the genre with Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-animation, a prequel to his previous entry. Will it be a respectful worthy entry to a classic genre or just another forgettable zombie film to add to the countless others?
Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-animation follows a mortician who exposes un-cremated bodies to toxic medical waste that cause them to reanimate. When his younger brother shows up and stumbles upon him trying to keep this zombie outbreak from getting outside the mortuary, their rivalry escalates as the dark family secret is revealed. This film had the chance to be a pretty fun zombie movie, but ended up just being average. Most of the issues here are pacing and lack of urgency. The first half has a lot of set up and takes a little long to get there than needed. Once the zombie fun begins it's a pretty fun movie but the characters just never seem to be all that freaked out about what's happening. What really steps this movie out of the realm of just average is the over the top performances by genre favorites Jeffery Combs and Andrew Divoff. These guys are polar opposites in acting style and really play well off of each other. Most of the best moments of the film come in the form of just watching these guys banter. There are some decent gore moments and the zombie make up effects are really well done keeping this film on par as one of the better to come along in a while.
While there are lots of areas this film could have been better, it is still a fun addition to the series. Unlike most zombie films that are just tossed out left and right these days, this one tried to stick to the rules set forth by Romero while still telling their own story. Yeah this is a bit slow, but it is a prequel so required more set up for the story they are trying to tell. In addition to the fun zombie movie itself it also sports the old school red and blue glasses 3D which works pretty well and adds the old school monster movie vibe.
Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-animation follows a mortician who exposes un-cremated bodies to toxic medical waste that cause them to reanimate. When his younger brother shows up and stumbles upon him trying to keep this zombie outbreak from getting outside the mortuary, their rivalry escalates as the dark family secret is revealed. This film had the chance to be a pretty fun zombie movie, but ended up just being average. Most of the issues here are pacing and lack of urgency. The first half has a lot of set up and takes a little long to get there than needed. Once the zombie fun begins it's a pretty fun movie but the characters just never seem to be all that freaked out about what's happening. What really steps this movie out of the realm of just average is the over the top performances by genre favorites Jeffery Combs and Andrew Divoff. These guys are polar opposites in acting style and really play well off of each other. Most of the best moments of the film come in the form of just watching these guys banter. There are some decent gore moments and the zombie make up effects are really well done keeping this film on par as one of the better to come along in a while.
While there are lots of areas this film could have been better, it is still a fun addition to the series. Unlike most zombie films that are just tossed out left and right these days, this one tried to stick to the rules set forth by Romero while still telling their own story. Yeah this is a bit slow, but it is a prequel so required more set up for the story they are trying to tell. In addition to the fun zombie movie itself it also sports the old school red and blue glasses 3D which works pretty well and adds the old school monster movie vibe.