Rifftrax: Night of the Living Dead - Review

I have not partaken in any kind of Rifftrax. This has always been a peculiar problem for myself. It isn't because of commerce or taste. I believe it has more to due with my ongoing beliefs of digital and real ownership. I would rather have a comedic commentary track inputed in the encoding of a DVD rather buying two separate items and and play "synch tag" to work.

Rifftrax is the latest side project from some of the cast and crew of the cult 90's television series, Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). It has the same principle of the show, a group of people lambasting comically at films, but it exists as a mp3 file instead of a chrome-keyed visual as a way to bypass copyright laws. The crew also changed the variety of their targets, going after films that are popular with the public and/or actually very well-made films such as CASABLANCA. Recently, the company and Legend Films released a bunch of DVDs with the commentary tracks attached but only for films that are publicly domain.

RIFFTRAX: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD wasn't the one I wanted to buy. I was eyeing their educational shorts collection (which the MST3K crew were always great with) and MISSILE TO THE MOON with special guest Fred Willard. However, due to my local Best Buy, this was the only one available at the time.

I had some reservations about the selected film. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is a horror classic filled with political and social issues of the 1960s. Also, Mike Nelson, the head of Rifftrax and the 2nd host of MST3K, did a solo track on a previous release by Legend Films and it wasn't well received even by the MST3K fans. Some earlier reviewers have unhappily stated that some of Nelson's jokes are re-used here. I didn't see this version but it makes me wonder about getting their REEFER MADNESS DVD since I own and heard Nelson's take on it.

The DVD starts off deader(?) than any of the film's "ghouls." The trio of Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo) and Bill Corbett (Crow) have nothing but lame observational quips for the opening moments in the cemetery. While a few are smile-worthy, the jokes caused me to question the writing of their script. Were these lame to entice new and curious viewers? If I was an average viewer, I would have turned off the DVD.

As soon as the second protagonist is introduced and the constant shots of barricading windows, the commentary gets more lively and witty. Their debates on the odd placement of sound effects, generic characterization, and continuity errors certain deserve a laugh. Popular culture comes into play as well with funny riffs on the animated disaster DELGO and Bill singing a familiar television show when the traumatized female lead keeps repeating its signature name.

To make a truly awful joke about this DVD, it rises from the dead to bring some of the old glory of MST3K back in the spotlight. After the awful first third, the comedic take on NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD becomes spot-on and a joy to listen to.

FINAL REVIEW : 3/5