Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition (1999)

** (out of 4)

There's no question that NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is one of the greatest horror movies ever made. Since it's release there have been colorized versions, remakes, rip-offs and just about anything else that people could imagine. In 1999 the film was celebrating its 30th Anniversary when John A. Russo decided to shoot some new scenes and that resulted in this version.

The basic idea was to add a couple new characters to the mix as well as give some more backstory to characters in the original movie. The major changes are with the cemetery ghoul played by Bill Heinzman. We're given a backstory on why he was dead as well as some crimes that he committed. Another major change is the introduction of the character Reverend Hicks (Scott Vladimir Licina).

I still remember the hate and vile things that were said about Russo when this film was released. The backlash was quite brutal and the film ended up being a major flop for Anchor Bay. The negative press was so bad that the limited edition release never sold out and I think the studio basically gave up on it. I hated the movie when it was originally released and this here was my first time revisiting it since. So, did a seventeen year wait help the film?

I wouldn't say it "helped" the film any but it's certainly not quite as awful as some of the remakes that were released since. I will say that there was no need to add new scenes to an already wonderful movie. The new scenes stick out like a sore thumb and they just don't mix well with the movie. All of this backstory and new characters honestly could have just gone into a new remake. There's really no point in this film to exist and today it's just out there are a curio for fans of the original movie.

It's hard to imagine anyone really wanting to watch this film. I mean, once again we're dealing with one of the greatest movies ever made. I'm sure Russo thought he was doing the film a favor but he really wasn't and the end result is rather forgettable.