Review of Birth of the Living Dead (2013) by Ryland D — 25 Jun 2014

Maybe it's because I already knew all of the things they talked about (Night of the Living Dead is one of my favorite movies), but I just found the entire thing kind of boring. There were parts I also found a bit odd that I disagreed with like making connections to bigger movies from the 70s that really have zero connection with NOTLD. I also found it strange that there was a teacher showing the movie to a very young classroom. I can't really judge anyone because I was probably that age (or maybe younger) when I first saw it, but I'm not every kid and it seems kind of irresponsible to show it to young children in a classroom and expect them to understand some of the deeper elements of the movie. I didn't really know most of the speakers and how they were experts on film history, so when they're talking about connecting the movie to Vietnam and civil rights it seems a bit forced and annoying.

George Romero's insights were really cool and he keeps this as a must-watch for Night of the Living Dead fans. However, as a standalone movie, it's boring. It would make a great extra on a blu-ray set with Night of the Living Dead (or maybe even all of the Romero dead films?), but I wouldn't really recommend it.