In this documentary film, Rob Kuhns interviews authors, critics and filmmakers of the popular film 'Night of the Living Dead'. He also describes the film's background, production and distribution of the film.
Sweet and simple, Birth of the Living Dead is a nostalgic, informative trip back to the origins of the modern zombie, featuring a George A. Romero who is as spry and entertaining as ever.
Viewers will feel most rewarded by Kuhns' dissecting of Night's production, which provides a colorful and inspiring portrait of guerrilla filmmaking from a pre-digital era.
Kuhns makes time for political insights, provocative montages of race riots cut with the movie's hick militia, and the comments of owlish Romero himself, who recounts the shoot like the enthusiastic 27-year-old he was.
What distinguishes this doc from much of the tedious critical prose Romero has inspired is the fan-boy and fan-girl ardor that fuels its smarts - both behind and in front of the camera.
What works here is enthusiasm, enjoying a wealth of appreciation presented to a worthy production, reinforcing its status as a groundbreaking picture that reverberates to this day.
Birth of the Living Dead does not uproot the order of behind-the-scenes documentaries, but the great likelihood that this film will send viewers right back to Romero's original with eyes reopened is a mark of its considerable success.
