Documentary Reflections on the Living Dead coming to Blu-ray

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

In 1993, Tempe Entertainment celebrated the 25th anniversary of George A. Romero's classic film NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD with the release of a documentary that was then called NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 25th ANNIVERSARY DOCUMENTARY but has since been retitled REFLECTIONS ON THE LIVING DEAD. With a conversation between Romero and his collaborators John A. Russo, Russell Streiner, and Karl Hardman as its foundation, that documentary is a must-watch for those of us who are obsessive NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD fans. 

More than twenty-five years have passed since that documentary first came out, but now Tempe Entertainment successor Makeflix has announced that they will be digging into the Tempe vaults for a line of Blu-ray releases under the Tempe Digital label. The first film to be transferred from the archives to Blu-ray will be REFLECTIONS OF THE LIVING DEAD. 

Tempe Entertainment is proud to present a feature-length documentary on the making of the seminal horror classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, produced with the cooperation of the film’s producers, Image Ten. Gathered together for the first time in twenty-five years are director George A. Romero, co-writer John A. Russo, and producers Russell W. Streiner and Karl Hardman, who come together for a oncein-a-lifetime roundtable discussion on the making of the film and its impact in the decades since first release.

Supplementing this material are interviews with Hardman and partner Marilyn Eastman on the film’s unique makeup, music and sound effects, plus celebrity filmmakers Wes Craven (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET), Sam Raimi (THE EVIL DEAD), Tobe Hooper (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE), John Landis (AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON), and others who were inspired by this legendary classic.

Originally released in 1993 as NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 25th ANNIVERSARY DOCUMENTARY, this edition has been fully remastered from the original standard-definition source material, featuring an interview with actress Judith O’Dea and stunning new cover art by Alex Sarabia and Carlo Chable.

Unlike the out-of-print Limited Edition DVD, this Blu-ray takes advantage of higher-bitrate H.264 video encoding and (for feature only) DTS-HD 2.0 stereo audio. 

The Blu-ray will also include several bonus features: 

Instead of wasting disc space upscaling standard-definition source material, we're using it to provide vintage and new bonus features for the first time ever!

– All-new 2020 Audio Commentary with producer J.R. Bookwalter and director Thomas Brown

– Complete unedited roundtable with George A. Romero, John A. Russo, Russ Streiner, and Karl Hardman (101 mins.)

– Original 1993 VHS release NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 25TH ANNIVERSARY DOCUMENTARY featuring segments deleted from 2005 version (82 mins.)

– Tempe Digital Trailers

There will be a DVD edition with only the audio commentary as a bonus feature. A soundtrack featuring the complete score composed by Matthew Jason Walsh will also be available on CD, digital download, or streaming.

The release date for the Blu-ray, DVD, and soundtrack is May 26th, but fans who pre-order at a discounted price through Makeflix will receive their purchases in early April.