THE DEAD TIMES

RATING:

ZOMBIE RATING:

DESCRIPTION:

In 1990, a remake of George A. Romero's classic Zombie movie from 1968, Night of the Living Dead was released. It was directed by Tom Savini and garnered a decent reception, having scores of over 65% on rotten tomatoes (the major international film review website). However, there was a lot of scenes Savini wanted to include in the movie which were either rejected by the producers or cancelled due to lack of resources. This book includes the storyboard images for the entire movie with those scenes included, accompanied by explanations written by Savini himself - this is his original vision, this is the ride he wanted you to take. The book also features commentary from the cast of the filmed movie and some behind-the-scenes information of what happened on set.

MY VERDICT:

This book is exactly what it says on the cover; the never seen before version of the Night of the Living Dead remake. It's more of a graphical novel or long-winded comic than an actual book; packed with page after page of neatly laid out storyboard images, interspersed with words from Tom Savini to give you backstory to what is going on and, wherever possible, where it differs from the produced film, a very brief comment on why a planned scene was cut or edited. There are some fun nuggets of information too such as the report of an actor who was knocked unconscious when a prop failed but, it's largely the 'unseen' stuff that is the main draw. That said, reading about the parts of the film that did not make it into the final version is the only draw of this book so the recommendation is simple; if you are a fan of the 1990 remake, definitely consider giving this book a read (it is fairly short and enjoyable) - if not, don't bother with this one, there is nothing for you.