Night of the Animated Dead is a full-color, animated remake of George A. Romero’s 1968 black & white classic Night of the Living Dead, which defined the whole zombie movie genre. Siblings Barbara (Katharine Isabelle) and Johnny (Jimmi Simpson) have made the long annual trek to a Pennsylvania cemetery to put a wreath on their father’s grave. Johnny is bitter about how their mother makes them do this every year, while Barbara just wants to finish up and get out of this spooky setting. As Johnny jokingly taunts his sister with “they’re coming to get you Barbara”, it turns out they really are. The siblings soon find themselves under attack from creatures that have risen from the dead. Barbara manages to escape to a seemingly abandoned farmhouse, but the zombies are everywhere, and making their way towards the house.

A man named Ben (Dulé Hill) drives up and makes his way into the house as well. He seems to know some things about how to deal with the creatures, and since Barbara is still in a daze, Ben takes charge, boarding up the windows and blockading the doors. While they initially think they are alone, it turns out that there are others also in the house, hiding in the basement. Harry Cooper (Josh Duhamel) is a gruff, selfish man who doesn’t trust Ben and has his own plans. While Ben wants to gather fuel from a nearby gas pump and drive to a safe shelter, Harry would prefer to remain safely locked away in the basement with his wife Helen (Nancy Travis) and injured daughter. Meanwhile, younger couple Tom (James Roday Rodriguez) and Judy (Katee Sackhoff) seem more open to Ben’s idea. As the horde of zombies descending upon the farmhouse grows, the survivors are running out of time and must decide if they are going to stay and fight, or try to make a run for it. However, their constant arguing, fear and distrust of one other could be their downfall.

I had never seen the original Night of the Living Dead before, so I checked it out after watching this new animated take on the story. While Night of the Living Dead defined the rules of the zombie genre, Night of the Animated Dead keeps the same story but kicks things up a notch, giving it more of the graphic blood and gore that modern audiences have come to expect from a zombie film. Looking back at the original, it was very tame at times, using shadows and implied violence, but this new animated version doesn’t shy away from anything, earning its R rating. Much of the animated film—especially the opening act—is nearly a scene-for-scene remake of the original movie, including much of the same dialogue, but moving at a slightly faster pace. Besides its more graphic nature, the film also strays from its 50+-year-old counterpart in some other ways, such as including a flashback scene as Ben explains what he saw at Beekman’s Diner, and altering some of the deaths to be a bit more graphic. But overall it stays very true to the original.

Was this remake necessary? Probably not. However, if I had to choose between watching the original and this new animated version, I definitely prefer Night of the Animated Dead. I found the black & white of the original was difficult to make out at times, while this animated version shows everything in every gory, colorful detail. The animation style is more flat, utilizing still, muted backgrounds, and slightly limited 2D animation in the foreground. While I generally prefer a more modern 3D look (more like what’s used on the front cover of this Blu-ray), I still enjoyed this style, which had a bit of a Scooby-Doo feel. The voice cast does an excellent job of bringing these characters to life, particularly Dulé Hill and Josh Duhamel who play the two alpha males who are constantly arguing or facing off. Jimmi Simpson does a great job of delivering Johnny’s iconic line to his sister, and Will Sasso is a lot of fun as the odd Sherriff McClelland.

Warner Bros’ Blu-ray release provides a clean picture, with beautiful colors and a nice level of detail in the animation. The audio track provides clear dialogue, and at times utilizes the surround and stereo channels to provide a somewhat immersive viewing experience—whether it’s the sound of thunder, helicopters, or zombies trying to break their way into the farmhouse. The only bonus material is a 10-minute behind-the-scenes featurette with the cast and filmmakers. The disc comes packed in a standard HD keepcase with a cardboard slipcover, and an insert containing the digital copy redemption instructions.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:10:41)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, German Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, French, German SDH, Dutch, Spanish

Digital (Redemption Deadline 12/31/2022):

• HD Digital copy of the film redeemable via Vudu or Movies Anywhere

Extras:

• Making of: Animating the Dead (9:46)
  The cast and filmmakers discuss how the film came about, finding the right filmmaker, casting the characters, the goals for the film, getting to show the Beekman’s Diner scene, creating the right level of gore for a modern audience, and more. Includes clips from the original 1968 film, behind-the-scenes footage from the recording booth, storyboards and character designs, and interviews with director Jason Axinn, producer Michael J. Luisi, and stars Dulé Hill (“Ben”), Jimmi Simpson (“Johnny”), Katherine Isabelle (“Barbara”), Josh Duhamel (“Harry Cooper”) & Will Sasso (“McClelland”).

Final Thoughts:

While we probably didn’t need an animated remake of Night of the Living Dead, I quite enjoyed it. I didn’t find this as pointless as the shot-for-shot Psycho remake, as this offers both a different look (in color and animated) as well as a few changes to scenes. While the animation style is a bit of a throwback, the film has a much more modern sensibility when it comes to the blood and gore. Night of the Animated Dead also features a talented voice cast that really bring the characters to life. Warner Bros’ Blu-ray release features a solid audio and video presentation, but only includes one short 10-minute bonus feature. That said, I think the release is worth checking out for fans of the genre, or fans of the original film.