After years of unofficial DVD and Blu-ray releases, Criterion Collection finally gave George A. Romero‘s horror classic Night of the Living Dead a definitive Blu-ray release a few years back, loaded with special features and boasting a gorgeous new 4K restoration. It’s the only version of the movie you really need, but it may soon be getting its own upgrade.
The Digital Bits reports on the rumor today that Criterion is working on a 4K Ultra HD release for Night of the Living Dead, this according to trusted sources in the industry.
The website’s report explains, “And here’s something fun: Call this Rumor Mill-worthy as well, but industry sources have also informed us that Criterion has been working on a new 4K Ultra HD upgrade of George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead for release likely as part of their October slate. Watch for an official announcement soon.”
Again, this is only a rumor at this time, but it makes sense for Criterion to bring Romero’s original classic to 4K Ultra HD given many horror classics have been given the treatment lately.
From Criterion’s Blu-ray release: “Shot outside Pittsburgh on a shoestring budget, by a band of filmmakers determined to make their mark, Night of the Living Dead, directed by horror master George A. Romero, is a great story of independent cinema: a midnight hit turned box-office smash that became one of the most influential films of all time.
“A deceptively simple tale of a group of strangers trapped in a farmhouse who find themselves fending off a horde of recently dead, flesh-eating ghouls, Romero’s claustrophobic vision of a late-1960s America literally tearing itself apart rewrote the rules of the horror genre, combined gruesome gore with acute social commentary, and quietly broke ground by casting a black actor (Duane Jones) in its lead role. Stark, haunting, and more relevant than ever, Night of the Living Dead is back.”
The film was recently restored by the Museum of Modern Art and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by George Lucas Family Foundation and Celeste Bartos Preservation Fund.
