by actress Debbie Rochon

In the fall of 1998 John Russo found himself 'Dead' again with a frighteningly familiar film crew in a Pittsburgh graveyard. John was refinishing a movie he had co-authored and made 30 years previous - the film classic Night of the Living Dead. The story of how this revised production came to be has a chilling similarity to how Night of the Living Dead was originally birthed. But alas, when dealing with history one must begin at the beginning.

The following is a quote by Mr. George Romero taken from "The Complete Night of the Living Dead Filmbook" published in 1985:

"All of us who were involved in the production of Night of the Living Dead thought of ourselves as total filmmakers. We all took turns loading magazines, gaffing, gathering and making props, shooting, recording, editing. We were all involved in the total process.

"We cast the players from among friends, both vocational and avocational actors. We cast Duane Jones because he gave the best audition, not because he was black. The socio-political implications of the character Ben being black have been studied and pondered and written about in various journals, and it caused one critic in his exuberance to write that he heard 'Ole Man River' in the music score when Ben meets his fate.

"The use of black and white film rather than color was a budgetary decision rather than an esthetic one. The allegory which is assigned to the film's message was not at all in our minds as we worked.

"When the film opened, it was met by outraged attacks against it's motives, its competence of execution, and the unabashed saturation of gore. We were sometimes disappointed and sometimes amused by the angry editorials we had provoked."

While the following article could read as pretentious and mendacious to state we have gone through a similar process making Night of the Living Dead 30, there are certain aspects that reflect the original experience. It is true George Romero was not involved with the 1998 shoot, which added approximately 15 minutes to the new cut, but many of the original production members were. John Russo wrote and directed the new scenes that have been added. Russel Streiner was the line producer and editor on the project. Karl Hardmen and Marilyn Eastman were present every day assisting, advising and lending a hand in the zombie make-up as they had 30 years ago, as well as acting as background characters in various posse scenes and car scenes. Bill Hinzman was the sole Director of Photography this time round, and reprised his cemetery zombie character for a new opening sequence.

The new players were cast from a group of friends and actors John knew, in the same spirit as the original Night of the Living Dead. Grant Kramer, who plays a hick grave digger in the new footage, played the title character in Russo's erotic thriller Santa Claws in 1996. Scott Vladimire Licina, who plays the Reverend John Hicks, collaborated with Russo on the pop parody group The Slice Girls in 1997. Scott also designed the new original score for the updated version. I play reporter Darlene Davis, and my collaborations with John Russo include acting in Santa Claws, singing with The Slice Girls, and writing for his various film related magazines. Bill's daughter Heidi Hinzman, who aspires to be a professional actress, plays the well-known-but-never-seen-before-character Rosie, from Rosie's diner. Bob Michelucci, John's business partner, had his wife Dee and daughter Dawn play featured zombies in a new, wickedly frightening car crash scene. Suffice it to say, the people involved with Night of the Living Dead 30 were family, in some fashion, and cared deeply about the production's reputation and integrity.

Another parallelism between the '68 and '98 experience is public reaction. Although both generated a small percentage of negative reactions initially, the skepticism has been spawned from completely different sources and for different reasons. In our case the cross we bear is one of blasphemous proportions: TAMPERING WITH AN ORIGINAL WORK OF GENIUS! For shame. Well, if it's going to be done, why not by the original players and with the same dedication the film was conceived with in the first place? Would you rather Disney remake the whole thing? If it had to happen, it happened how it was destined to. Of course Mr. Romero's involvement would have curtailed a lot of the hysterical fanatical comments that are flying around the fan and media realm about the production, but he was working on Resident Evil at the time. He initially was involved with the decision to create this 'anniversary edition' project. I honestly do not know the skinny about his not being involved and his feelings about it. I can say, however, that it was made against a lot of odds just as the original was. Maybe in a strange way that was a sort of 'contribution' from Mr. Romero for had he directed the new footage many things would have been much easier because of his well deserved celebrity and the feeling we created on the set would have been different. All I know is, there was no 'pecking order', trailers, and everybody had a say regarding everything. I believe that's the way Night of the Living Dead started and that's the way it was dealt with once again.

I truly hope you enjoy the new version, and if you rent it or buy it, we all thank you very much.

(For more info on NOTLD30 visit Homepage of the Dead)

Originally published in GC Magazine - Edited by Jon Keeyes.