Night of the Living Dead (The Criterion Collection)

Shot outside Pittsburgh on a shoestring budget, by a band of filmmakers determined to make their mark, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, directed by horror master George A. Romero, is a great story of independent cinema: a midnight hit turned box-office smash that became one of the most influential films of all time. A deceptively simple tale of a group of strangers trapped in a farmhouse who find themselves fending off a horde of recently dead, flesh-eating ghouls, Romero's claustrophobic vision of a late-1960s America literally tearing itself apart rewrote the rules of the horror genre, combined gruesome gore with acute social commentary, and quietly broke ground by casting a black actor (Duane Jones) in its lead role. Stark, haunting, and more relevant than ever, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is back. DVD SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES - New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director George A. Romero, coscreenwriter John A. Russo, sound engineer Gary R. Streiner, and producer Russell W. Streiner - New restoration of the monaural soundtrack, supervised by Romero and Gary Streiner - NIGHT OF ANUBIS, a never-before-presented work-print edit of the film - New program featuring filmmakers Frank Darabont, Guillermo del Toro, and Robert Rodriguez - Never-before-seen 16 mm dailies reel - New program featuring Russo on the commercial and industrial-film production company where key NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD filmmakers got their start - Two audio commentaries from 1994 featuring Romero, Russo, producer Karl Hardman, actor Judith O'Dea, and others - Archival interviews with Romero and actors Duane Jones and Judith Ridley - New programs about the film's style and score - New interview program about the direction of ghouls, featuring members of the cast and crew - New interviews with Gary Streiner and Russell Streiner - Newsreels from 1967 - Trailer, radio spots, and TV spots - PLUS: An essay by critic Stuart Klawans