There seems to be a dearth of new ideas in horror (as Chris recently discussed during his post about endings).  The movie studios are pumping out unimaginative films to satiate general moviegoers who know little about the genre.  The remake machine is showing no signs of fatigue.  It’s all a very depressing statement for horror fans to swallow.  But what reassures me is that the horror community is a tight-knit one, filled with impassioned fans that make it their business to share quality films with each other.  There’s good stuff out there – we just have to find it.  This week, I found one to share with you.

I was fortunate enough to attend a small screening of Night Of The Living Dead: Reanimated at one of my favorite local bars, Clash Bar in Clifton, New Jersey (shameless promotion).  If you haven’t heard of it, NOTLD:Reanimated is a collaborative art/film project that literally animates Romero’s classic.  The film’s “curator”, Mike Schneider, worked with more than 150 artists from around the world who recreated the film from their own perspective.  It uses the original audio track from Night Of The Living Dead and laid on top of it are the artists’ work to illustrate the action.  Because the producers used so many artists, the 2-hour long film spans a vast variety of interpretations – think Barbara talking to Ben in pencil sketching still images one minute and then moving claymation the next.

As I sat in the darkened room with about 20 other attendees, the film’s promoters, Rob Hauschild and Peter Gutierrez, kicked off the screening with a few questions.  “How many of you love Night of the Living Dead,” Gutierrez asked.  My hand promptly rose along with everyone else.  “Now, who loves modern horror remakes,” he said with an air of sarcasm.  A series of grumblings, grunts and groans emanated from the crowd including my brilliant observation that went something like “ehhhh not so much.”

“That’s good,” he told us.  “Night of the Living Dead:Reanimated is the antidote to remakes.”

From an artistic perspective, it’s cool to see how the same film can be reinterpreted so many ways and the project netted some strong images, both eerie and comical.  NOTLD:Reanimated isn’t the most frightening interpretation of Romero’s vision but that’s fine with me.  At times, the juxtaposition of audio track and the images on screen are laugh-out-loud funny because the artists choose unexpected ways to portray the action.  My personal favorite was the cast animated as talking animals trying to decide how to survive a zombie apocalypse.  They look out the window and a bunch of zombie cats are marching toward them.  Other highlights include World of Warcraft computer animation, Barbie dolls and sock puppets.

I heard some guy at the bar before the screening commenting about how he wasn’t sure if he was going to sit through this again because the Schneider’s choices of images didn’t always “capture the dark vibe of the movie.”  While I can understand that, I think he’s missing the point.  This is a completely different take on Romero’s film, one rooted more in homage than strict authenticity.  Just don’t go into this expecting to be frightened.  Still, I found several of the artist images/animations to be unsettling.  Check these out:

Most importantly, NOTLD:Reanimated is something different.  It’s an artistic vision brought to the horror genre just when we need it.  You won’t find anything else out there quite like it.  It’s not for everyone, either and I like that.  It was made primarily for genre fans already intimately familiar with Night of the Living Dead.  I didn’t find the narrative difficult to follow through the images but maybe that’s because I already know it well enough.  But even if you aren’t familiar with the original (if you’re reading this, you probably are) NOTLD:Renamiated may still be interesting.  As one of the film’s producers told the audience, “it’s a good movie if you have Attention Deficit Disorder…it’s like walking into a museum of Night of the Living Dead.”

Check out the official site at http://www.notldr.com for more information.  They’re also selling some pretty cool merchandise if you feel like supporting the artists.  The film is set to be released in March and I highly recommend picking it up.