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Our Rating: ★★★½
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Rating: R
“Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the DVD I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.” Now on to the post.
Night of the Living Dead is one of the most important horror movies ever. The film was one of the first that had a black lead, he is the hero of the film and the one you root for his survival. It also highlights how quickly in certain situations people tend to go Lord of the Flies. Night of the Animated Dead literally also illustrates these themes and because it’s animated highlights them even more.
In Night of the Animated Dead, siblings Barbara and Johnny visit their father’s grave in a remote cemetery in Pennsylvania when they are suddenly set upon by zombies. Barbara flees and takes refuge in an abandoned farmhouse along with stranded motorist Ben and four local survivors found hiding in the cellar. Together, the group must fight to stay alive against the oncoming horde of zombies while also confronting their own fears and prejudices.
Night of the Animated Dead is a shot by shot adaptation of the original. The dialogue is word for word from Night of the Living Dead. This time however, the themes are more obvious and more stark because it’s animated. The animation does not allow for significant facial moment, so there is not a lot of nuance. You as the viewer rely solely on the actors voices to convey the scenes. The tension can only be built by the line delivery. In this case, the lack of sounds or even words from certain characters during interactions with Ben is just palpable. At first, you assume it’s either shock of the situation. Or, maybe it’s shock by the extremely capable determined Ben showing leadership.
Visually Night of the Animated Dead is stunning. The animators do a solid job in the recreation of the characters, not sticking very close to the screen likeness. Since the majority of that original cast have passed away there might have been an issue with using the likeness of a deceased person without consent. The vocal performances are also pretty stellar. I was impressed with Dulé Hill (The West Wing, Psych) as Ben. For most of the movie Ben is the voice of sanity and action. Hill manages to maintain the character’s measured tones throughout the film.
Also, with exception of Helen, the female characters remain annoying and clearly written during a certain time. Barbara is still driven insane and useless, and Judy… is a nice girl. Although Night of the Living Dead was progressive to have a black male lead, the female characters leave little to be admired. And, again because the film relies on the voices of the female actors they still offer nothing.
Night of the Animated Dead features the voice talents of Josh Duhamel (Jupiter’s Legacy, Transformers) as Harry Cooper, Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps) as Barbara, James Roday Rodriguez (A Million Little Things, Psych) as Tom, Katee Sackhoff (The Mandalorian, Battlestar Galactica) as Judy, Will Sasso (MadTV) as Sheriff McClelland, Jimmi Simpson (Westworld) as Johnny and Nancy Travis (Last Man Standing) as Helen Cooper.
Yes, there is a zombie invasion happening on screen, but the behavior of the people trying to survive it is a different kind of horror. The lines continue to blur which is more dangerous the frightened people or the hungry zombies.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases Night of the Animated Dead, October 5, 2021 to Blu-ray Combo Pack & DVD.