In Night of the Animated Dead, siblings Barbara and Johnny visit their father’s grave in a remote cemetery in Pennsylvania when they are suddenly set upon by zombies. Barbara flees and takes refuge in an abandoned farmhouse along with stranded motorist Ben and four local survivors found hiding in the cellar. Together, the group must fight to stay alive against the oncoming horde of undead.
Revisiting George A. Romero’s 1968 horror classic Night of the Living Dead in an altogether unprecedented presentation, this star-studded animated recreation of the movie was released on September 21 on Digital and arrives on October 5 to Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD.
We recently caught up with director Jason Axinn (To Your Last Death) to discuss what went into bringing this classic movie back to life as an animated feature. Breaking down his approach to the material, the filmmaker also discusses upping the gore for Night of the Animated Dead, the impressive voice cast, the special features, his love of the zombie genre, and a whole lot more besides.
Jason also weighs in on the fast vs. slow zombie debate, smart zombies, and the possibility of returning to the animated realm to tell a story set in the beloved DC Animated Universe.
Night of the Living Dead is a classic, so how did it feel as a filmmaker to be tasked with retelling George A. Romero’s iconic movie?
It was a daunting project because the film is such a classic and so well-known in the American horror landscape. I guess it’s known worldwide as his very first zombie movie. It’s very, very big shoes to fill, so we wanted to treat the film and the material with as much respect as possible.
When it came to adapting John Russo’s original screenplay, what would you say the biggest challenges were in that respect, especially as you’re telling this story 50-plus years on from when it was released?
We wanted to keep the film as close to the original as possible. When it came to adapting the screenplay, we didn’t really change it that much. All we did was amplify the gore and violence in the movie. There’s a scene in the film in the original where Ben describes how he got his truck and we were able to show that scene instead of just hearing him describe it. We added that scene to the movie. Also, we were able to adjust the pacing of the film and script for modern audiences.
So, in terms of dialogue, you didn’t find the need to change too much?
Yeah, I would say that when people watch the movie, they’ll notice that there’s literally one line of dialogue we added that was not in the original film. It covers a plot hole from that. Then, there’s just some general improv at the very end which I don’t want to spoil, but once your readers see the film, they’ll know what I mean.
When it came to the animation, what led to you going with the style we see in this film?
The animation style I aimed for was realism. When people watch animation, they already have a buffer of what they’re watching isn’t ‘real’ to them. To get a visceral reaction out of the audience, you have to stick as close as you can to realism so that when people watch it, they forget they’re watching an animated film and can connect emotionally with the characters. So, the more stylised you go, the harder it is to have anything violent or gory land well with an audience.
For gore fans, there’s a lot to love about Night of the Animated Dead, but what did you enjoy most about coming up with that side of things for this movie?
It’s a lot of fun to be let loose and be creative to kill characters in different ways in an animated horror film [Laughs]. The chance to do what Sam Raimi would do in an Evil Dead movie and a throwback to some of those mid-80s, super violent horror films and being able to take that sensibility or aesthetic and pump it into these scenes for the specific kills.
I know George A. Romero has said that he didn’t necessarily intend that the movie be a critique of racism in America, but was it important for you to carry those themes into this movie given the current state of the world?
The original film walks that line. It’s not overtly racist and is all under the surface. If you go too far in one direction or the other, it kind of wrecks the tone of the movie so we wanted to copy the original film’s style of how they dealt with that issue as closely as we could so we could walk the line the same way they did.
I’ve read that the Blu-ray will include ‘Making of the Animated Dead,’ so what can you tease about what people should expect from that?
The behind-the-scenes featurette includes interviews with me, the director, the producers, and some other crew members. It shows key sequences and how they were built up during the animation process and how we chose different aspects of that for the final product.
In finding the right balance of original content from John’s script and any new or overhauled scenes, were you ever tempted to add more or was it vital to stick to that script as much as you could?
There is one other section of the film I wanted to show a little bit more of than the original did, and that’s at the very end of the movie. Again, without saying anything spoiler-related, the original ends kind of abruptly; an event happens and you cut right to the credits. In this version, I wanted to spend time with what happened longer so you can feel the depth of the tragedy…of whatever that is!
There’s a great cast here, including Josh Duhamel and Katee Sackhoff, but can you talk us through that casting process?
I’m thrilled with the case we got. We have some of my very favourite actors and people I’ve always wanted to work with. Everyone did such a stellar job. It’s a miracle we got such an incredible cast and they all clicked so well with the material while making the film, eventually, I just forgot it wasn’t the actors from the original movie. In my mind, whenever I watch that original, I still hear the new actors doing it.
I’m a big zombie fan, but feel like The Walking Dead is a little played out at this point so was glad when Army of the Dead came along earlier this year as it was something different - what are some of your favourite zombie movies and what are your thoughts on the current state of the genre?
My favourite zombie movie was Dawn of the Dead (the one where they’re stuck at the mall). That was my favourite movie growing up and I obsessed over it. Of course, as time went on, it became Shaun of the Dead which is just a masterpiece of direction and horror. Even if it’s possible the genre could be reaching the end of its cycle, there are always people who bring something new to a genre and reinvent it constantly. I mean, how many times have we had a zombie resurgence over the years? Since 1968, when this film originally came out, I’ve lost count. I feel that someone will come and reinvent it, and it will be fresh again.
An argument could definitely be made that this film does that as we’ve not really seen zombies in an animated setting before. It must have been exciting thinking about the possibilities of where it could go from here?
Absolutely. I agree with you. For me, personally, I believe what’s coming next would not be a sequel to this film. I think they could easily make one or they could remake Dawn of the Dead as an animated feature and it would be an amazing movie.
Talking of zombies and how they’ve been reimagined over the years, where do you land on the slow vs. fast zombie debate?
You know, it’s interesting because I feel like the fast ones sort of came from the movie Aliens where seeing incredibly fast creatures attacking people just elicits this jump response that’s like a bug running after you in your home. They’re different, but since they’re different things, it’s fun to watch them used in different ways. For instance, in this film, just like in the first zombie film ever made, they have abilities I’ve never seen since then. There’s a zombie that actively tries to open a car door using the handle and then looks around for a rock to break a window. That’s specific to this movie because as time went on, zombies got less smart but faster. I think it’s fun to see all the different variants used at different times.
It’s been a while since I watched the original, and it was surprising to see how intelligent these zombies are. It must have been fun to explore that idea, especially now it feels fresh all over again?
It was. It was interesting watching the original film to try and figure out why specific choices were made when they were and if there was a way to elevate them now to make them scarier for an audience. On a case by case basis, every single thing was considered and we went with what we felt was the strongest choice.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment also does the DC animated movies, of course, so is that superhero world one you’re interested in as a filmmaker?
I love those. I’m a huge fan of them. I’ve been watching those for years and I would be thrilled to be involved in any of those.