Director – J. F. Kinyon
Starring – Jaquelynn Lunney, C.C. Kinyon, and C.J. Kinyon
Release Date – 2013
Rating – 3/5
No film has been as influential in the horror genre as the 1968 George A. Romero classic, Night of the living Dead. The film forever changed the way we see the zombie sub-genre. The film went on to spawn a very successful film series, a series of novels, comics, a toy line for a short period of time, unofficial sequels, and even several parodies with some of them belonging to the adult film world.
Recently, I began working on an article that chronicles Night of the Living Dead. While looking for parodies and fan films I crossed paths with a short titled Night of the Living Dead. This is not to be confused with the animated short from 2012 with the same name. This particular short looked fun so I searched for it and found it on YouTube where I gave it a go.
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows two siblings as they travel to the grave of a distant family member. While there they encounter a man shambling around. He grabs the young girl and her brother steps in. The two wrestle before the young man in knocked to the ground unconscious. The young lady runs to her car and the shambling man follows her. Once in her vehicle she fights to lock the door but the man arrives and rips the flowers from her hand.
He then shambles down the road leaving her be. He shambles aimlessly for several hours before arriving at a home. He goes to the door and knocks where a woman, clearly a zombie like himself, answers it. She grabs the flowers from his hands and then throws them at him before slamming it in his face.**Spoiler Alert**
I love almost every aspect of Night of the Living Dead. The acting, the country setting, the character development, and the story. The story is so versable. The dead can be manipulated, changed into something else (like living Jews), and placed in a different setting. That is why I am a huge fan of Night of the Living Bread and Night of the Living Jews. When I discovered Night of the Loving Dead my mind raced with the possibilities of what the dead was, and could, be doing in the film. However, once I saw the film it was kind of a let down.
The story was clever and fun but just felt lacking. It was a solid spin but fans of NotLD will feel a little let down. The acting in this one is actually pretty solid and on par with the original. I have to give the cast real props for their contributions to the film.
Finally, those looking for gut-munching kills and and raggedy zombies will not see it here. Instead, you will see a stylish short. Overall, Night of the Loving Dead is a solid short that is able to pull in the atmosphere of the classic film while giving it a new story. Fans of the original will see the love this film has for the classic but could be disappointed with the undead. I recommend this one.
