A documentary about George A. Romero's films, with a behind scenes look at Dawn of the Dead.A documentary about George A. Romero's films, with a behind scenes look at Dawn of the Dead.A documentary about George A. Romero's films, with a behind scenes look at Dawn of the Dead.
George A. Romero
- Self
- (as George Romero)
Susan Tyrrell
- Narrator
- (voice)
Richard P. Rubinstein
- Self
- (as Richard Rubinstein)
Scott H. Reiniger
- Self
- (as Scott Reiniger)
Christine Forrest
- Self
- (as Christine Romero)
Gregory Lamberson
- Self
- (as Greg Lamberson)
Ben Barenholtz
- Self
- (uncredited)
- …
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhile editing the movie, the creators discovered that 10% of the negative from the original footage, including 66 shots, had disappeared. When the filmmakers didn't get a response from the New York school of visual arts, director Roy Frumkes resorted to contacting a psychic therapist (Nancy Orlen Weber) to see if she could help. Though she suspected most of the missing film had been maliciously destroyed, she did pick up on the fact one small roll of film had been misplaced at the Technicolor laboratory. It was not until years later a can of film resurfaced, where it had been stored under the wrong title was the film finally edited and put on the market.
- Quotes
Roy Frumkes: [about "Day of the dead] Is this the end?
George A. Romero: The zombies are developing, and I'm getting dumber by the minute.
- Crazy creditsFootage from the George Romero movies Night of the Living Dead, Martin, and Dawn of the Dead is played as the closing credits roll.
- Alternate versionsOriginally a 66 minute feature, it has since been expanded two times. First, in 1989, when an 84 minute version was released, featuring new interviews from the set of Two Evil Eyes. Then, in 2012, it was released as The Definitive Document of the Dead, with a 102 minute runtime, featuring new footage filmed through 2006.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Dead Will Walk (2004)
Featured review
Good making-of
Shot when "making-of's" weren't standard practice yet, this is a fortunate movie in that it not only provides a lot of insight into George Romero's working methods, but also catches him making one of his (and the horror genre's) best films, the original "Dawn of the Dead." There's also a moderate amount of information about "Night of the Living Dead" and "Martin," used to further detail identifiable aspects of his cinematic style. It would have been interesting if the film had gone on to describe the marketing, box-office and general commercial rewards of "Dawn," rather than stopping with post-production and the decision to release without an MPAA rating.
I saw the 2nd of the documentary's three versions, which adds material shot ten years later when he was shooting his part of the two-part horror feature "Two Evil Eyes." That content is fine but doesn't really deepen the profile, beyond showing that Romero hadn't really profited from the horror explosion of the VCr era--perhaps because he preferred to work independently, perhaps because the increasingly franchise-driven nature of mainstream horror didn't appeal to him. (Even though, of course, he had his own "Dead" franchise--but that pretty much reinvented itself with each new entry.) In any case, he seems a bit embattled and weary of the constant struggle for funding in this shorter second section.
I saw the 2nd of the documentary's three versions, which adds material shot ten years later when he was shooting his part of the two-part horror feature "Two Evil Eyes." That content is fine but doesn't really deepen the profile, beyond showing that Romero hadn't really profited from the horror explosion of the VCr era--perhaps because he preferred to work independently, perhaps because the increasingly franchise-driven nature of mainstream horror didn't appeal to him. (Even though, of course, he had his own "Dead" franchise--but that pretty much reinvented itself with each new entry.) In any case, he seems a bit embattled and weary of the constant struggle for funding in this shorter second section.
helpful•11
- ofumalow
- Apr 24, 2020
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Definitive Document of the Dead
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $35,000 (estimated)
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