Dimension has carried over the commentary track with director George A. Romero, actor and producer Karl Hardman, actress Marilyn Eastman and writer John Russo that first appeared on the Elite laserdisc way back when and which also appeared on Elite's Millennium Edition DVD release. There are a few slow spots here but by and large this is an excellent and truly informative discussion that covers the origins of the film as well as the production and distribution of the finished picture. There's a lot of excellent information here and the camaraderie between the participants makes it an enjoyable track. A second commentary (which also first appeared on the Elite laserdisc release) has also been carried over. The participants include producer Russell Streiner, production manager Vince Survinski and cast members Bill Hinzman, Judith O'Dea, Kyra Schon and Keith Wayne. This commentary isn't quite as warm as the first one but it's still an interesting listen. While it covers much of the same ground as the very thorough first track, it does so from a different point of view and so we wind up getting a different take on some of the stories that are told here. Between these two tracks, a lot of ground is covered and fans who haven't heard these commentaries by way of the past Elite releases will definitely enjoy these recordings and those who have heard them before might even enjoy revisiting them.

Up next, and the real reason to dig through the supplements on this release, is One For The Fire (1:23:44, 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen), a brand new and insanely comprehensive documentary on the making of and history of Night Of The Living Dead. Clocking in at almost an hour and a half long, this fascinating look back at the picture includes on-camera interviews with almost everyone associated with the film who (excluding those who have passed away, obviously). Look for input from Romero and Russo, cast members O'Dea, Hinzman, Schon, Eastman, and Ricci, crewmembers like Regis Survinski and Gary Streiner, fans like Alice Cooper, Max Brooks, Greg Nicotero, Steve Barton, Camden Toy and Bill Mosely, Billy Cardille, and many more. In addition to the interview clips we get a tour of the building that was where all the Latent Image film work was stored (which also doubled as the basement in the film!), we get modern day visits to some of the locations with cast members in tow, and we get a chance to see some of the commercials that Latent Image made before Night Of The Living Dead. It's a fascinating and sometimes sad story, particularly when we learn about the circumstances surrounding how the film fell into the public domain (which would wind up losing the filmmakers an untold amount of money). This documentary alone makes this release worth a purchase - it's that good.

From there, be sure to check out Speak Of The Dead (15:45, 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen, identified on the packaging as Speak To The Dead) which is an all new question and answer session with Romero himself conducted at the fabulous Bloor Cinema in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on August 26th, 2007. Here Romero discusses his career, starting with Night Of The Living Dead. It covers some of the same ground that the other features detail but it's a fun watch as Romero always makes for an interesting interviewee.

Also carried over from the Elite releases is Ben Speaks (16:44), which is an audio recording of Duane Jones' last interview which was recorded by journalist Tim Ferrante on December 13, 1987 at his residence on the campus of the College At Old Westbury in New York where he taught. As the audio plays out a slideshow of stills plays out underneath. This is the only in-depth interview that Jones ever gave about Night Of The Living Dead, which is a shame as he's got some fascinating insight into the film and it's effect on pop culture.

Rounding out the extra features are the film's original theatrical trailer (1:48, fullframe), a still gallery of production photos and artwork (68 images, color and black and white), and the film's original script in PDF format, accessible by DVD-Rom only. Animated menus and chapter stops are also included and before you get to the main menu a few Dimension Extreme promo spots play.

With all of the extras that do appear on this release, it should be noted that not all of the material from the Elite releases has been carried over. Missing from this DVD are the Night Of The Living Bread parody film, the Ridley/Eastman interview, the clips from There's Always Vanilla, and some of the still gallery material.

While completists will absolutely want to hold on to the Elite edition for the extras and because of the framing issues on the new transfer, this new fortieth anniversary edition of Night Of The Living Dead really is excellent. The new transfer is at times a revelation and the inclusion of the One For The Fire documentary really adds a lot of value to this package. Highly recommended.

Ian lives in NYC with his wife where he writes for DVD Talk, runs Rock! Shock! Pop!. He likes NYC a lot, even if it is expensive and loud.