MovieChat Forums > Night of the Living Dead: 25th Anniversary Documentary Discussion > New: 'Survivor's Cut' alternate edition

New: 'Survivor's Cut' alternate edition

posted 19 years ago by xanderonurantia
5 replies | jump to latest

Forget that awfull "30th Anniversary Edition". We all know the "Millenium Edition" from Elite is the best possible DVD presentation of this film.
But if you want to see an interesting and effective new spin on an old classic, check this out:

"Night of the Living Dead: SURVIVOR'S CUT"

http://www.nldfilm.com/

"This latest revision of the horror classic does Romeo justice!
It's a great film. I first heard about this contemporary redo on Creature-Corner.com, I downloaded the low resolution RM file for free from Archive (no longer available for free download, as the producers are seeking official distribution).

Since then I have read articles on DreadCentral (horrorchannel.com) and Diabolical Dominion among others.

This guy, Dean Lachiusa, is a fan -- he obviously has put many man hours into this version. In fact, it runs 72 minutes -- without a glitch in the storyline, this in itself tells me he is a talented editor and filmmaker.

Lachiusa has added a new introduction and special effects throughout the Survivor's Cut that truly "flesh-out" the storyline. For example, He has managed to draw more out of Barbara's scenes, demonstrating her shattered state of mind.

What's really cool is the delicate use of color and effects to enhance the mood of certain scenes. I guess you could call this "digital-post-cinematography" because the dynamics of the film has really been changed.

A few examples:
Deep blue color during some melancholy and "dark" moments.
Yellow-Green-Blue color that seems to grow on the zombies and exteriors.
The Zombie (skull) on the staircase is a gruesome red, and later, when Barb is downstairs, red blood flows onto her hand -- very scary.
Camera angles have been adjusted somehow -- there is movement and new perspective that was not in the original NOTLD.

I'd tell you more, but I don't want to spoil it for you. Maybe if we are all lucky, the "Night of the Living Dead Survivor's Cut" will be released in a high quality DVD someday soon." ***

***UPDATE: The DVD is now available for purchase.You can get more info on the film at
http://www.nldfilm.com/
[To purchase a copy of the DVD for $17.99, click on "Buy DVD". To save $3, use the discount code: K2GBS8JQ. This title can only be shipped in the US-ed.]***

Night of the Living Dead SURVIVOR'S CUT by Dean Lachiusa is a fast-paced, contemporary revision of the classic horror film that has generated a flurry of attention. Here's what the critics are saying:

Creature-Corner.com (Dave Dreher)
"...Lachiusa also applies an interesting use of color to enhance the story...it is almost like watching a different film....It really is worth your time."

Cinescape.com (News Editor)
"...Lachiusa has added a new beginning and various new elements including flashbacks to show more about Barbara and Johnny, along with some radio broadcasts to flesh out the story a bit more."

Diabolical-dominion.com (Steven ReAnimator)
"...Earlier today I stumbled across an amazing piece of 'history' as it were...with a new begining, flashbacks of the story of Johnny and Barbara, addition of color to enhance certain scenes... it really is quite a sight..."

DreadCentral c/o HorrorChannel.com (Ryan Rotten)
"...I know you savvy Romero completists out there will be interested in checking this out..."

moviesonline.ca
"...Apparently the man quickened the pace of the film, added some new footage, and introduced a little color to it..."

UndeadFilms.com (AJ)
"...Comments on this movie are good...it's a fresh new take on the classic film."

Worcester Magazine (Robert Newton)
"...Lachiusa has tightened things up some, added some backstory and created some simple but effective visuals..."

MORE ABOUT THE FILM:
With 72 minutes of fast-paced thrills, the film is digitally enhanced with NEW footage and special effects such as new camera-angles that provide perspective and abstract-color that is used to flesh out the mood of the film at just the right time.

Night of the Living Dead Survivor's Cut is a unique edit of the classic horror film that documents the events that took place during this most infamous and gruesome record of human reanimation.

Presented by NLDFILM and supported by numerous positive magazine reviews and international websites like Cinegenre.net and horreur.net.

You can join in on Internet discussions on forums and blogs too numerous to mention -- from Fangoria to the SciFi channel's message-boards.

Night of the Living Dead Survivor's Cut is a must see for any movie lover, especially classic-film, horror, goth, and drive-in movie fans. A great Zombie flick for Halloween.

[–] xanderonurantia 19 years ago

Notorious "Night of the Living Dead: Survivor's Cut" at long last, finaly available for purchase on DVD!The official website has been updated.

Go to:
http://www.nldfilm.com/

To purchase a copy of the DVD for $17.99, click on "Buy DVD". To save $3, use the discount code: K2GBS8JQ. This title can only be shipped in the US.

[–] nick-gibson 18 years ago

it says under his name that Dean Lachiusa was the producer in the original NOTLD. would explain how he got the different camera angles and also why its awesome. Beautiful colour!

[–] adamd164 18 years ago

Sorry, it's crap!

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[–] Jonas190 18 years ago

Your talking about the 30th Anniversary Edition, and yes, it is crap. This particular film that your posting your message on is actually a documentary, which is says in the title but that was obviously skipped in your reading. As for the Survivors Cut, if you want to make a movie make your own, don't take a classic and hack it up just because it has become public domain and you are free to do so. Sure the cut is decent, but come on, make your own movie.

[–] xanderonurantia 18 years ago

Confusing the crapfest '30th Anniversary Edition' with the '25th Anniversary Documentary' is certainly made easier when the description for the 25th doc on the main page of the IMDb listing just so happened to make the same mistake, originally (this error has now been corrected and updated by IMDb, but was still in place at the time of the initial inaugeration of this thread).

As for 'Survivor's Cut', it's not intended to replace the original, but is intended more as a bonus feature to go alongside the original, an alternate edit for the fans to show how differently the film plays with altered chronlogy, etc. I believe the supervising editor on this version, Dean Lachiusa, was also an uncredited producer/co-financer on the original production alongside Romero, Russo, and Hardman back in '68, but I am unclear as to the exact details concerning the facts of this matter.

It has been reported that noted horror maestro Tom Savini, who has nothing to do with the production of the original but did direct the first remake as well as do the FX for and star in the three Romero helmed sequels, actually enjoyed the 'Surivior's Cut'. At least the above poster concedes that the 'Survivpr's Cut'"is decent", and that the '30th Anniversary Edition' "is crap". Cheers.