PRESS AND REVIEWS
Birth of the Living Dead is #1 on Netflix May 22, 2014
“Rob Kuhns’ marvelous doc about the making of Night of the Living Dead looks at all the ways one low-budget, flesh-eating horror movie changed the world. It’s full of juicy anecdotes that detail how George A. Romero made necessity into the mother of nightmare invention, and EW’s Mark Harris and NPR’s Elvis Mitchell eloquently testify to how Night forged a new age of socially relevant horror almost by accident.”
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
https://ew.com/article/2013/10/16/capsule-movie-reviews-oct-16-kill-your-darlings-and-six-more/
“CRITIC’S PICK! Mr. Romero, manifesting a self-effacing demeanor and sensible humanity, is a most agreeable raconteur.”
Andy Webster, The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/06/movies/birth-of-the-living-dead-in-restless-times.html
Four stars. Provocative… refreshing!
Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York
https://www.timeout.com/us/film/birth-of-the-living-dead-movie-review
RIVETING… JAW-DROPPING… GLORIOUS. What distinguishes this doc from much of the tedious critical prose Romero has inspired is the fan-boy and fan-girl ardor that fuels its smarts–both behind and in front of the camera. Interview subjects, from producer Gale Anne Hurd (who says she drew heavily from the film in creating the cable TV hit The Walking Dead) to various film scholars, directors, and critics, all key their commentary into the film’s visceral power and the unpretentious intelligence behind it. An utterly charming figure who often ends his sentences with “man,” Romero fills in behind-the-scenes tales that likely haven’t been heard by many before, and they are riveting; his story of the film’s copyright battle is jaw-dropping.
Ernest Hardy, LA Weekly
https://www.laweekly.com/movies/birth-of-the-living-dead-year-of-the-living-dead-2621762
Filled with lively, candid interview clips with a jaunty Romero, plus smart chats with film critics, authors, filmmakers and others, “Birth” efficiently tracks “Night’s” guerrilla-style production, roller-coaster theatrical release, wildly varied critical response and eventual status as a highly profitable — if accidentally copyright-impaired — cult classic.
Gary Goldstein, LA Times
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-birth-living-dead-review-story.html
…plenty of charm to spare. Year of the Living Dead provides an entertaining and in-depth look at the making of George Romero’s influential zombie classic Night of the Living Dead. Romero, filmmaker Larry Fessenden and critic Elvis Mitchell discuss not just how the movie came to be made but also its impact and how the tumultuous events of the 1960s figured into it.
Pam Grady, The San Francisco Chronicle
https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Wine-a-star-at-Napa-Valley-Film-Festival-4001508.php
What first appears to be a standard “making of” feature becomes a more ambitious combination of historical perspective and socio-political commentary… by placing Romero’s film at the epicenter of its volatile era, “Birth of the Living Dead” pays wide-ranging tribute to an enduring pop-cultural milestone.
Jeff Shannon, The Seattle Times
https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/lsquobirth-of-the-living-deadrsquo-the-rise-of-an-influential-classic/
Bill Moyers discusses Birth of the Living Dead on his weekly TV show, Moyers & Company
“It’s taken me 45 years to stop biting my fingernails after first seeing Night of the Living Dead. Having just watched Rob Kuhns’s mesmerizing documentary about that classic horror story I finally understand why I was not only scared out of my wits, but was simultaneously watching a cinematic breakthrough and cultural phenomenon. Birth of the Living Dead is immensely watchable and abundantly enlightening — with one ah-hah moment after another — and when you’ve seen it, you’ll be thinking and talking all night (first lock your doors).”
Bill Moyers, Moyers & Company
A brilliant deconstruction of this classic groundbreaking movie… …I loved it.
Rebecca Alvin, Filmmaker/Consultant and Editor, Provincetown Magazine
“This well-crafted look at George A. Romero’s 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead is part biography, part behind-the-scenes feature, and part sociological study. Director Rob Kuhns thankfully spends plenty of time exploring Night in its most compelling form: as a metaphor and commentary on then-current events. Because those current events have now become history, the filmmaker and his interview subjects provide extensive context for the film — the things we take for granted now, but which made it so revolutionary at that particular moment. As with many groundbreaking films, much of what it does has been so often duplicated that it’s become hard to appreciate the source, and one of the finest qualities of Birth of the Living Dead is how expertly it positions the picture back within that frame.”
Jason Bailey, Flavorwire
http://flavorwire.com/458768/10-great-new-to-netflix-movies-to-stream-this-holiday-weekend/view-all
Fascinating, hugely entertaining… should be appeal to the died-in-the-wool horror fanatic who’s read and seen everything NOTLD, as well as the interested newbie. This is easily one of my favorites of 2013 so far.
Dean Galanis, Forces of Geek
https://www.forcesofgeek.com/2013/09/birth-of-living-dead-review.html
…you’ve always heard about the ‘deeper meaning’ behind Night of the Living Dead, well this documentary fully explores all that and so much more…
…If you’re a fan of zombies in any way, shape, or form, you need to watch this movie.
Brian M. Sammons, HellNotes.com
http://hellnotes.com/birth-of-the-living-dead-movie-review
In 1967, a 27-year-old college dropout and industrial filmmaker named George A. Romero assembled a ramshackle cast and crew of friends, associates, and clients, rented a farmhouse in the sticks, and made Night of the Living Dead — ‘this tiny little movie in Pittsburgh,’ notes historian Jason Zinoman, that ‘changed the world.’ That sounds like a tall claim for a low-budget horror picture, but in his new documentary Year of the Living Dead, director Rob Kuhns mounts a convincing case.
Jason Bailey, DVDtalk.com
https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/58572/year-of-the-living-dead/
Listen (http://necronomicast.libsyn.com/episode-65-rob-kuhns-director-of-year-of-the-living-dead)
You don’t have to be an obsessive fanboy to appreciate Year of the Living Dead… (a) well-made and thoughtful analysis of one of the great movies of all time.
Carlos DeVillalvilla, Cinema365
https://carlosdev.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/year-of-the-living-dead/
You must see this documentary.
Phil Castor
http://philsfilmadventures.blogspot.com/2013/03/phil-attends-cinequest-23-day-five.html
A treat… quite a ride.
Joe Vanourney
http://offtothefilms.com/year-of-the-living-dead/
(Link dead 2018)
