Film Review: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: DARKEST DAWN (2014)

There is never any shortage of filmmakers mining the title of “Night of the Living Dead” due to the fact that it is in the public domain but it’s rare when someone attempts an animated film such as Night of the Living Dead: Darkest Dawn (2014).  Now this isn’t the first attempt at an animated film based on this property as 2009’s Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated has that honor but this film does take the story you are familiar with and turns it on its head to craft something uniquely different for fans of the original film.

If you’ve seen the original ’68 and/or ’90 version of the George Romero film then you know the basic story.  Barbara (voiced by Danielle Harris) and her brother Johnny (Bill Moseley who played the same character in the ’90 version) go to a graveyard to visit their dead father’s grave when they are attacked by a zombie.  After Johnny dies, Barbara flees down the road finding herself at the farm house where she meets Ben (voiced by Tony Todd, also returning from the ’90 version) and the rest of the cast of characters.  It starts of nice and well just like the original film but then detours as the action soon leaves the house and takes to the city streets.

The detours in the plot that this film takes are interesting and refreshing from a film that’s been redone, remade, and re-imagined by more people than any other film in history and none of the proceeds going back to the original filmmakers.  Some of the more creative rip-offs includes NOTLD: Resurrection (2012), NOTLD 3D (2006) and its sequel 3D: Re-Animation (2012) and there is even a new one to be released soon called NOTLD: Genesis, in addition to all the ones previously mentioned.

Although this would seem to be an interesting film, the animation style is what pulls it down as it is basic and lacks refinement and cohesiveness.  This is surprising considering that the Reanimated film had a plethora of different styles from different creators and yet it all messed together.  Directed  by Zebediah De Soto and Krisztian Majdik the film is inspired but may not appeal to anyone other than hardcore NOTLD fans interested with a curiosity for something new.

Film Review: WAKE WOOD (2010)

It’s always tragic when a young child is taken from this earth before their time but it’s even more tragic if it’s a violent death which is what happens to little Alice (Ella Connolly) when she is ravaged by a dog and thus is how Wake Wood (2010) opens.  Grieving for the death of their daughter Patrick (Aidan Gillen) and Louise (Eva Birthistle) move to the town of Wake Wood in order to move on with their lives.  It is not long before Patrick and Louise are taken in by the town’s local leader Arthur (Timothy Spall). 

One night during a walk into the woods Patrick and Louise come across Arthur and other members of the town performing some type of ritual in which Louise witnesses someone being “reborn.”  They flee to their home where they are discovered and come face to face with Arthur who was at the head of the ritual.  Arthur tells them that the ritual is an ancient custom that can allow a recently dead person to be resurrected for three days in order for the family to say their proper goodbyes.  He offers Patrick and Louise this opportunity.

Patrick and Louise who are still suffering from Alice’s death want nothing more than to see their little girl again and thus they are initiated into the town’s secret cabal.  After they perform the ritual and Alice is returned to them, Patrick and Louise begin to notice little differences in Alice’s behavior and appearance.  Louise begins to think that something may have gone wrong with the ritual since they were not entirely truthful to Arthur during the ritual.  Patrick and Louise’s secrets may not have only damaged a returned from the dead Alice but also the future of Wake Wood itself.

The story of Wake Wood is a slow build but a necessary one as the audience eases into this “other” world of the town of Wake Wood.  As seen through the naïve eyes of Patrick and Louise a lot of what the townspeople of Wake Wood might be doing may be extreme but it is for good cause because playing with life or death is unpredictable and dangerous as Patrick and Louise will soon find out.

The film is directed by David Keating who has a strong grasp of the material allowing the film to ease into its story without all the needless “jump scares” most associated with the horror genre.  Also, the cast does an extremely good job with the material and there is even plenty of blood splatter for the gore horror film.  This is one of those rare horror films that will appease all types of horror fans.

Film Review: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: RESURRECTION (2013)

The name Night of the Living Dead first brings to mind the 1968 original film from George A. Romero but due to a clerical error that film was not copyright correctly and now tons of film-makers think they can go out there and make a film based on the characters and/or plot of the film.  Among some of these titles is the animated version NOTLD: Reanimated (2010), and NOTLD: 3D (2006) version and its sequel Re-Animation (2012) and not to mention the John Russo 30^th Anniversary Edition (1999), which adds new footage to the old ’68 version.  So it should come as no surprise that this new version Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection (2013) has emerged and it takes place somewhere in the UK (as the characters all have a British accent).

 

This film actually starts off in an interesting manner in which the character of Ben witnesses some violence by some street kids before realizing that something wrong is definitely going on.  He flees the city in search of a safe place but encounters a farm house where a family resides that will protect everything that is theirs both from the zombie menace outside and the more human monsters that exist as the world crumbles in chaos.

Now this all makes the film actually sound better than it is.  In fact, the film is a complete travesty of cinematic film-making.  Written by Andrew Jones and James Plumb (who also directs) this film is hampered by a bad script with bad dialogue and inane motivations by all the characters.  Characters continue to make one bad decision after another that will leave you wanting to kill them all yourself rather than wait for a zombie to reappear or the chaos within the house to erupt.

There is nothing to recommend this film as it is a complete waste of time and a mockery of the name Night of the Living Dead.