In a small Pennsylvania town in 1967 as the 'Summer of Love' drew to a close a group of people got together to make a small, low budget movie. No-one could have foreseen the impact that the film would have on the world of Horror cinema.
The Zombies were truly out of their box and this time they wouldn't go back.
This film was, of course, George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. The first chapter in a film series that would, for better or worse, come to dominate Romero's career.
Many hours and pages have been spent over the last 40 plus years in discussing the film, it's effect on popular culture, the making of the movie and the why's and wherefores of why this movie had such an impact. The only glaring omission was a true in-depth documentary showcasing the cast and crew of this filmic landmark.
It was into this breach that the makers of the 'Autopsy of the Dead' stepped.
I was turned onto this DVD by a friend of mine who thought that I may appreciate it. I swiftly placed my order with the film-makers at their website www.autopsyofthedead.com and just over a week later it dropped through my mailbox.
With a running time of 144 minutes and contributions from a lot of folks I was positively champing at the bit to stick it in the player and sit down for over two hours of 'making of' goodness.
A very pleasant surprise was the inclusion of a signed 7x5 portrait (1 of 10 available) of one of the interviewed subjects as a freebie.
The DVD package itself was extremely well put together and features a host of bonus material. Aside from the Documentary itself there is a 'then and now' location visits feature, an original 1967 newsreel broadcast (absolutely fantastic) together with original Trailers, Radio and TV Spots for the Night of the Living Dead.
For me though the Stills Galleries alone were worth the price of admission. Original Productions stills, archived props and also memorabilia from the movie that has been released since. As a Horror-Fiend and film-maker myself it is these areas that I am most interested in.
Which brings me to the Main Course...the Autopsy of the Dead.
Director Jeff Carney has clearly produced a true labour of love. Well lit, Well produced and highly detailed. The content of the stories told within this documentary were great, the colour photos taken at the time of production astounding and the breadth of interview subjects impressive.
A notable exception was any form of input from Romero himself whether by a new interview or from using archived interview footage. There were obviously reasons for this and I am sure that Carney would have LOVED nothing more than to counter point some of the tales told with Romero's own views on the same.
The content therefore is way up there. The ultimate execution however falls at the last hurdle.
The very basic flaw is that this documentary is overlong, under-edited and doesn't follow any real linear narrative. The initial narration is badly delivered and rushed. Too much information given in too little a time.
The interview subjects themselves (with one or two notable exceptions) are old and are given to pauses and rambling stories which could (and should) have been truncated in the edit suite. Somewhere in this project is a very, very good documentary. If they had reduced the running time to 100 minutes this would easily be one of the best 'making of' features for any movie. It just falls short of what is clearly in there and intended by the film-makers and this is a source of frustration.
That is not to say that I didn't enjoy it. On the contrary in fact, I loved it, it could just have been so much better.
One of the highlights of the feature is Kyra Schon (the real life daughter of producer Karl Hardman who also played 'Harry' and who played the memorable young girl 'Karen' in the movie) being interviewed in the actual cellar where the filming took place in 1967.
Another two very interesting interview subjects are Gary Streiner and Bill Hinzman providing many, many very cool stories and tidbits, Streiner especially at times laughing at the recollection of the naivete of the crew's production tricks and special effects work.
Overall then an exceedingly great package providing excellent value for money but only for real fans of the movie as the 'not we's' may find it a bit of a slog. Having said that, it's hardly likely than any non-fan would be buying this in the first place.
In brief then, a highly detailed, professional piece that is hampered by a poor edit.
Certainly though a disc that I'm happy to have in the collection.
Overall rating - 4/5.
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