Night of the Living Dead: Behind the Scenes reviewed

In 1968 George A. Romero released the definitive zombie movie Night of the Living Dead.  To say it changed things is a massive understatement.  It has spawned a series with Dawn, Day, Land, Diary and Survival.  It has spawned spoofs, rip-offs and even remakes.  The horror world will be a lot more empty if there was no Night to kick the zombies into our faces.  Which lead me to this behind the scenes book that had John Russo's original screenplay in it.  How could I resist that?

And this book tells you everything that happened to make Night of the Living Dead happen and more.  It tells the story on how George A. Romero, John Russo and a couple other guys were brainstorming ideas for a cheap movie since they were getting bored making commercials for Pittsburgh.  At first it was supposed to be a comedy where aliens go to Earth and befriend American Teenagers...in America.  But that was deemed too expensive so they went with a zombie movie that had them eating the living and now you know the rest of the story. 

The book is really factual and academic.  It's like an episode of A & E biography which can get long and dry but here it does work.  This book goes IN-DEPTH in terms of production, getting the money and shooting the movie.  They get interviews, past and present, with everyone involved and they really open up some insight on what went on.  It's written in a clear, confident manner and while the author may go on his soapbox saying that the nothing anyone has done has ever bettered Night you do get where he's coming from.

But the real crown jewel of this is that includes John Russo's original script for Night of the Living Dead.  It's great to compare who the original script would compare to the eventual movie.  And quite frankly, there isn't that much difference.  Sure, there's a bit more exposition, Ben is dumber and the zombie girl is a zombie boy but most of it remains the same.  The script itself is a bit amateurish as to be expected but it does keep the movie balls-to-the-walls dread that made the movie worked so well.

If you love zombies, George A. Romero or even horror movies in general then this is a really good book for you.  It's informative, it's smart, it has wonderful interviews with other horror directors and the cast & crew.  It's a bit dry at times and it goes off in a couple weird tangents but it's still one of the best movie books that I own.

8/10