‘Festival of the Living Dead’ Review: In the Shadow of a Classic
Festival of the Living Dead establishes itself as a sequel to 1968’s Night of the Living Dead, but how could it possibly live up to a classic that already has great sequels?
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What is Festival of the Living Dead About?
Festival of the Living Dead is a zombie movie from the Soska Sisters (Jen and Sylvia Soska). The pair are best known for writing and directing American Mary (2012) and Rabid (2019), both of which they also produced. For Festival of the Living Dead, they directed a script written by Miriam Lyapin and Helen Marsh.
The story of Festival of the Living Dead is framed as a sequel to George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead from 1968. It is set in 2023, 55 years after the “tragedy of ’68,” aka when the dead rose. All of the Night of the Living Dead sequels are ignored, which makes sense since only the 1968 movie is in the public domain. Specifics about how the world returned to normal after a widespread zombie outbreak are left vague, but the world is completely normal as the film begins. Zombies are simply a decades-old footnote in history.
The story follows a young woman named Ash (Ashley Moore). She is the granddaughter of Ben (originally played by Duane Jones) from Night of the Living Dead, and it is her birthday. Her boyfriend Kevin (Gage Marsh) surprises her with tickets to the Festival of the Living Dead, an outdoor concert meant to celebrate life and commemorate the memories of the people who died in 1968. After some consideration, Ash goes to the concert with Kevin and his friends, leaving her best friend Iris (Camren Bicondova) behind to watch after her little brother Luke (Shiloh O’Reilly). A zombie outbreak begins at the festival, thrusting Ash and her friends into a fight for survival.
Festival of the Living Dead Review
Before we get into what the movie is, we should talk about what the movie isn’t. Frankly, Festival of the Living Dead is not a good sequel to Night of the Living Dead. The association with Romero’s classic actually hurts Festival in some ways simply by inviting comparison. For starters, the zombies in Festival don’t act like the zombies in Night. Most obviously, a few of the zombies run, sometimes at a full sprint. Fast zombies are more in line with modern zombie-movie sensibilities, but it’s a complete departure from the movie that Festival is supposed to be a sequel to. The inclusion of fast zombies also turns Festival into more of an action-based horror film rather than relying on the claustrophobic, impending doom of the original.
Festival of the Living Dead also attempts to show how the zombie outbreak in the movie begins. By itself that isn’t a terrible thing for a zombie movie to do. It’s fairly common. But it feels weird in a movie that’s supposed to follow Night of the Living Dead. There is news coverage in Night of the Living Dead that includes speculation about radiation from an exploded space probe, but that’s all it is. Speculation. Explicitly showing how the zombies happen in Festival further separates the viewer from Night. All of this is to say that Festival should have just been its own thing, entirely separated from the 1968 movie. Also, Ash being Ben’s granddaughter has no effect on the story, so all of the connections to the original are unnecessary. With that out of the way, let’s move on to what Festival of the Living Dead is like when not viewed in the shadow of Night of the Living Dead.
Festival of the Living Dead is an okay modern zombie movie, and it’s fast-paced once the action begins. However, the action is based more on creating fun sequences rather than scary moments. Meaning, most of the main characters are good at fighting zombies, and they do so with perfect aim and well-placed strikes while the camera swings around and rock music plays over the soundtrack. It’s not quite at the level of ridiculousness of something like House of the Dead (2003), but I couldn’t help but be reminded of that movie as I was watching Festival of the Living Dead. If exaggerated zombie-killing action is what you’re into, then Festival of the Living Dead delivers on multiple levels.
To go along with the zombie killing are a good number of practical gore effects. There are plenty of moments of flesh ripping, guts chewing, and face peeling throughout Festival of the Living Dead. Of course, there is some CGI as well, which is most apparent with blood splatters and fire/smoke effects, especially towards the end of the film.
The story in Festival of the Living Dead is fine, and it makes enough sense for the lighter tone of the movie. Like, it’s not a comedy, but it’s weird enough that when something bizarre happens that makes very little sense (be it a character decision or plot development), it’s fine. Not necessarily good, but fine. Emotional character moments often feel forced and overblown, and overall the movie is better when it just relies on plotting that leads to action. The actors do a really good job and are appropriately likeable or unlikable depending on their role, but at times it feels like the story twists itself into completing a zombie-movie-trope checklist rather than flowing naturally from the characters.
All of this is to say that Festival of the Living Dead didn’t connect with me. As a huge fan of zombies, I consider Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Zombie (1979) the greatest zombie movies ever made. When it comes to zombie comedies, Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Return of the Living Dead (1985) are tops. Festival of the Living Dead isn’t as serious as the former, nor is it as funny as the latter. It shoots for something in between, and, to me, it would have been better if it had committed more fully to either gritty gore or overt comedy.
Who Will Enjoy Festival of the Living Dead?
Festival of the Living Dead is recommended mostly for die-hard zombie-movie completionists, and for those who are just curious about the latest movie to use Night of the Living Dead as its inspiration. Fans of the Soska Sisters might enjoy Festival of the Living Dead, but since their best movies are the ones they also wrote, Festival might be hit or miss even with fans.
Festival of the Living Dead is currently streaming on Tubi as a Tubi Original.
Further Reading
- The Best Zombie Movies
- Funny Zombie Movies: Best Zombie Comedies Ever Made
- Settling a 20-Year-Old 28 Days Later Debate: Is It a Zombie Movie?
- My Bloody Galentine is a Fun Alternative to the Valentine’s Day Slasher
- Prey for the Bride Review: A Fine Slasher that Begins Better Than It Ends
