Zombie Jamboree: The 25th Anniversary of Night of the Living Dead

Zombie Jamboree: 25th Anniversary of Night of the Living Dead (1993)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

John Russo direct, wrote and produced this "documentary" covering the Zombie Jamboree, which was held in Pittsburgh to celebrate the 25th anniversary of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Among the people we see are George Romero, Russ Steiner, Bill Hinzman, Adam West, Lori Cardille, Linnea Quigley, Brinke Stevens, Gunnar Hansen, Kane Hodder, Tom Savini and Conrad Brooks. This documentary has been sold as a celebration of Romero's film but what it basically is is Russo finding yet another way to milk fans of money. This was obviously shot on video and the sound quality is pretty poor from start to finish. There are quite a bit of Q&A sessions but it's often hard to hear what anyone is saying. Even stranger is that the entire festival was about Romero's film yet this isn't featured too much in the film. There's a Q&A session with the cast and crew but we only get a couple questions. Romero discusses MONKEY SHINES and the studio cutting the ending, which was interesting but everything else is just a waste. The celebrities not associated with NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD answer a few questions but again the audio is so poor that you really become annoyed with everything. I'm sure many, such as myself, are going to get suckered into this thing but it's really just a way for Russo to talk about his own work. We get trailers to several of his movies (MIDNIGHT, SCREAM QUEENS SWIMSUIT SENSATIONS) and some of the films that he produced. In the end it's just a complete waste.