Night of the Living Dead – The Criterion Collection (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1968
Director: George A. Romero
Writers: John A. Russo, George A. Romero
Cast: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne, Judith Ridley, S. William Hinzman

Release Date: October 4th, 2022
Approximate Running Time: 96 Minutes 41 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio / 2160 Progressive / HEVC SDR (4K UHD), 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Blu-ray)
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (UHD)/Region A (Blu-Ray)
Retail Price: $49.95

"A deceptively simple tale of a group of strangers trapped in a farmhouse who find themselves fending off a horde of recently dead, flesh-eating ghouls, Romero’s claustrophobic vision of a late-1960s America literally tearing itself apart rewrote the rules of the horror genre, combining gruesome gore with acute social commentary and quietly breaking ground by casting a Black actor (Duane Jones) in its lead role." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD, Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "4K digital restoration, supervised by director George A. Romero".

Night of the Living Dead comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 59.5 GB

Feature: 58.4 GB

This transfer uses as its source the same source used for The Criterion Collection's 2018 Blu-ray release. The source used for this transfer looks excellent. It is easily the best this film has ever looked on home video. Image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and grain remains intact.

Night of the Living Dead comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.7 GB

Feature: 27.1 GB (Night of the Living Dead), 16.6 GB (Night of Anubis)

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in English, and included are removable English SDH. Considering the limitations of the source, this track sounds very good, all things considered. Dialog always comes through, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well-represented. That said, it is hard to imagine the audio sounding any better than it does here.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an archival audio commentary with director George A. Romero, producer/actor Karl Hardman, actress Marilyn Eastman, and screenwriter John Russo, and an archival audio commentary with producer/actor Russell Streiner, production manager Vincent Survinski, actresses Judith O'Dea, and Kyra Schon, actors S.William Hinzman, and Keith Wayne.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc one include an archival audio commentary with George A. Romero, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, and John Russo, and an archival audio commentary with Russell Streiner, Vincent Survinski, Judith O'Dea, and Kyra Schon, S.William Hinzman, and Keith Wayne, a work print version of Night of the Living Dead titled Night of Anubis (85 minutes 9 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), and an introduction with Russell Streiner for Night of Anubis (7 minutes 17 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles).

Extras on a second Blu-ray disc include radio spot #1 from 1968 (30 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), radio spot #2 from 1968 (59 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), radio spot #1 from 1970 (1 minute 3 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), radio spot #2 from 1970 (1 minutes, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), radio spot #3 from 1970 (1 minute 1 second, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), TV spot #1 (22 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), TV spot #2 (1 minute 2 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), original theatrical trailer (1 minute 49 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), theatrical re-release trailer from 2017 (1 minute 13 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), Mariner 5 spacecraft newsreel from 1967 (32 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archival interview Judith Ridley (10 minutes 42 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archival audio interview with actor Duane Jones (21 minutes 56 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archival interview with George A. Romero from the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival titled Higher Learning (45 minutes 30 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archival interview with George A. Romero and director Don Coscarelli from NBC's Tomorrow show (18 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), a visual essay with filmmakers Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos titled Limitations Into Virtues (11 minutes 15 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), a featurette about the stock music used in Night of the Living Dead titled Tones of Terror (13 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), B-roll 16mm film shot for Pittsburgh broadcast news titled Newsreel (2 minutes 48 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an interview with screenwriter John Russo titled Learning From Scratch (11 minutes 58 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), sixteen-millimeter dailies reel (18 minutes 4 seconds, footage silent), an introduction with Russell Streiner for Night of the Living Dead (3 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), and a featurette, directors Guillermo del Toro, Robert Rodriguez, and Frank Darabont who discuss Night of the Living Dead titled Light in the Darkness (23 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles).

Other extras include a leaflet with an essay titled Mere Anarchy is Loosed written by Stuart Klawans, cast and crew information, and information about the restoration. The other side of the leaflet is a poster.

Summary:

When discussing independently made horror cinema, one of the greatest examples of an independently made horror film is Night of the Living Dead. Though it was made by a collective of filmmakers who had never made a feature film, the result is a textbook example of low-budget horror cinema in which everything perfectly falls into place.

Night of the Living Dead was a collective effort in which everyone involved played a significant role in its creation. It is its director, George A. Romero, who benefited most from Night of the Living Dead. That said, despite its now revered status as one of horror cinema’s greatest films, it was not originally a commercial success, and its director, George A. Romero, did not achieve his first success until ten years later with Dawn of the Dead.

From its opening moments, Night of the Living Dead does a fantastic job laying the foundation for what follows. The well-constructed narrative's ability to build and maintain tension is flawless. And an unforgettable finale provides a very satisfying coda.

The most surprising aspect of Night of the Living Dead is its performances, especially those of its two leads, Duane Jones (Ganja & Hess) in the role of Ben and Judith O'Dea in the role of Barbara. They are two strangers who both find temporary refuge from the living dead in an abandoned house. That said, despite these two performances standing out, the rest of the cast more than holds their own in their respective roles.

Despite Night of the Living Dead being a relatively bloodless and goreless horror film, don’t let these things dissuade you from checking out this film. In fact, Night of the Living Dead’s power ultimately lies in the way in which it explores human nature during a moment of crisis.

Night of the Living Dead gets a definitive release from Criterion Collection, highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer