Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead

Director - Douglas Schulze (Mimesis 2, Dark Fields)
Starring - Allen Maldonado (The Midnight Meat Train), Sid Haig (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects), and Lauren Mae Shafer (Dayplanner of the Dead)
Release Date - 2011
Genre - Horror
Tagline(s) - " Welcome Back To That Nigh" and "Why watch a horror movie when you can live one"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

     I often reference movies I watched a lot growing up and say I like them but there are very few movies that I can call my favorite.  One of those few films is the 1968 George A. Romero classic Night of the Living Dead.  I can honestly say that I have seen the original more times than I can count and every few months I pop it in to give another round.  I even like the Tom Savini 1990 remake.  Sadly, this film has been remade again and that particular remake had a prequel released not too long ago.  At the same time that prequel was released this film here was.  I assumed this one would be as shitty as that second remake and the prequel that followed so I avoided it.  A few months back I had a few dollars to spare and was killing time at Wal-Mart where I went ahead and grabbed a copy of the film.  I figured as much as I love NotLd that I might as well throw this one on the shelf near it.  I had no idea what this movie was about but I could guess that it was a loose remake. 
     The film follows a group of horror fans that attend a party after a horror convention.  They all drink and eventually pass out.  The next morning they all wake up dressed as characters from the original NotLD.  They begin to question why they are dressed the way they are and start to think they can not trust one another.  To make matters worse one of the members of the group has his throat ripped out by a man they presume to be a zombie.  They gather weapons and start to defend themselves before they discover that those they assumed were zombies are actually thrill seeking role players.  Once the secret is revealed the group starts fighting back and throws the live performance off plot.
     This film was not what I was expecting.  I was assuming this was another remake (coincidentally starring Haig) but I was no where close to being right.  The film was more of a homage than a remake and feels like a more revitalized attempt at delivering a story already told.  This was a fresh way at looking at one of my favorite films and I love that.  The acting is great by the entire cast and they all did a great job at portraying the characters we have grown to love but in a more modern setting.  The story is the same as the original but with a Stuff Stephanie in the Incinerator style twist.  Though it is not original it is executed perfectly which is something SSitI could not do.  Finally, the film has great special effects and on screen kills.  The film offers the same style deaths as the original but now in color with very good special effects.  Overall, this is a new spin on an old tale that I thoroughly enjoyed.  I recommend this one.