Dead Cheap (Night Of The Living Dead 3D)

This Week In Movies: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (better than I thought it would be, and a lot better than the original), Seven Psychopaths (second time watching it and it's still funny), Not Another Teen Movie (forgotten spoof film that came out around the same time as Scary Movie, still better than the pathetic excuses of spoofs nowadays), The Purge (while I liked the idea and concept, the house invasion setting is a bit of a letdown), and The Expendables (a lot of fun and now I want to watch the sequel again).

I find myself going with a running theme as of late. It started with my drunken recollection of the colour print of Night Of The Living Dead, and then with the disgraceful remake of Day Of The Dead. Now thanks to Netflix I have come across this week's movie; Night Of The Living Dead 3D. In "glorious" 2D. Which means a lot of scenes obviously intended for 3D (hands reaching out towards the screen for example).

Now that I think about it, it's been years since I've seen the first remake of this film (starring the guy who played Candyman), and I must check it out again as not only did I remember like it back then, it was the first "Living Dead" flick I ever saw. So until then this will have to do.

WARNING: SPOILERS

76 minutes later.....

Well, at least it was more of a faithful remake than Day Of The Dead (2008) in terms of its connection to the source material, I'll give this movie that much. Which is established from the very first shot which shows the opening scene of the original film playing on a television in a petrol station. It starts off the same sibling characters in the graveyard, only in this one the brother is much more of a dick, and manages to drive off when the undead first appear.

The opening section of the film also introduces one of the main characters of the movie, Tovar Jr., played by the only name actor from the rest of the cast, Sid Haig (of House Of 1000 Corpses and The Devils Rejects, among others). I got the feeling that the budget for this film went mainly into two things: the 3D effects in post production, and Sid Haig's fee. Which must not be a lot since, after the brief introduction, he doesn't come back until 30 minutes from the end.

While watching this, I was wondering if this film was ever shown in a movie theatre, or whether it was just using the early type of 3D technology which required the old school plastic green and red glasses, which never really worked to begin with. But considering that Barbara ends up in a house with a bunch of stoners watching Night Of The Living Dead on TV, I think it's safe to say what type of people this film is aiming for.

Revenge Of The Spliff (quote from NOTLD:3D).

For the first half of the movie, despite its shortcomings it was at least watchable. The zombie make up is so bad it makes the original Night Of The Living Dead look Oscar worthy in that department. There are repeated shots of the house and the porch which pads this already short movie. Not as numerous as Hansel & Gretel: Warriors Of Witchcraft mind you, but enough to invent a drinking game out of it. Plus it does have a nude woman who turns into a Big Tits Zombie.

Halfway through the film Sid Haig is reintroduced, which at first is welcome as he clearly has more acting talent than the rest of the characters locked in the house. Plus I'm sure the makers of the film want to get the most out of him. Hell even the zombies had more acting talent than the actress playing Barbara. However, it is with the reappearance of Sid Haig that the film gets a little strange. The series of events are as follows:

• Sid Haig explains that it was medical waste he never incinerated that lead to the dead rising.
• An uninteresting subplot where Barbara finds out that the guy who saved her at the beginning, Ben, was a drug dealer, and becomes snooty about it. Given that the undead are chasing them, I think she has better things to worry about.
• This is followed by her brother and her mother "finding each other", in zombie form. Considering that their families troubles were glanced over in the first five minutes of the film, I forgot all about this, hence the lack of any emotional attachment to people I rarely saw.
• Sid Haig then turns into some wannabe prophet as the leader of the undead which comes out of nowhere, but is too confusing to be shocked by this turn of events.
• Barbara gets away very easily from Sid Haig, who is left to the zombies. Strange how he goes on about his "achievement" in bringing back the dead that it never occurred to him that they just want to eat his insides.
• When Ben and Barbara escape the garage, Ben suddenly has a tire iron sticking out of him. He says "I don't understand", and I share his confusion. Maybe it happened in the boot of the car when it went into reverse, but it didn't seem like the force would be able to do that. But at that point the movie is wrapping up, and I stopped caring a long time ago.

Curse Of The Living Dead (another quote from NOTLD:3D)

Verdict?

While the first half was paced okay, the second half just seemed to throw a lot of twists into the mix, some of which needed a little more explaining. I think the major saving grace for this flick is its relatively short running time. Any longer and it would have been a chore to sit through while in a clear (aka sober) mind. Then again when it comes to the second half, a few extra minutes wouldn't have hurt.

Not a particularly good movie, but still has enough stupid moments to warrant a laugh. At time of writing I find out that there is a sequel entitled Night Of The Living Dead 3D: Re-Animation. And wouldn't I know it, it is also on Netflix. So given my run of "Dead" movies lately, there is a good chance that it may be featured on this blog at some point.

And on a final note.....

There was a song at the end credits by a band called Radford, entitled Control. I tried finding it on YouTube and while there is one video found, apparently I can't view it on my side of the Atlantic. So I'm just gonna post this instead, as I haven't heard/seen this in a long time. Don't ask why I picked this.