Deep in the bowels of the SAIT sub-basement, eerie wails of the undead resonate through the walls. A crowd, perfectly alive, moves cautiously through the dimly lit hallway. Their destination, should they make it there, is the Radio-Broadcast-News program’s theatrical version of Night of the Living Dead.
As heads turn at every noise and hairs on backs of necks rise, it was clear that the usually friendly SAIT halls had lost their appeal. When one reanimated corpse wanders through the waiting area, onlookers breathe a sigh of relief that it wasn’t hungry…. yet.
The crowd of about 30 people is corralled into a small theatre filled with old, grungy furniture in shades of grey. There is a feeling of stepping back in time, to a world of black and white.
The Cranberries’ Zombie is playing in the background, as a sort of sick joke. The lights dim to pitch black and the crowd jumps when a bloody, softly moaning zombie unexpectedly comes from behind them.
The original 1968 film is a cult classic, widely known among horror fans as one of the most influential horror movies ever made. The film was shot in grainy, black and white news reel style, reminiscent of the then-current Vietnam War footage. Similarly to the original film, the low budget of the SAIT production adds to the grim reality and desperation of the situation.
The gory carnage of the film was seen in the SAIT performance, although not nearly as prominently as it should have been. Perhaps more blood and guts would have tide over the audience between the sometimes overdrawn dialogues.
In one of the most memorable scenes, zombies greedily gorge on the intestines of a fresh corpse only inches away from the front row audience.
A few lines were forgotten, but the actors seamlessly covered them up like pros.
Some scenes ran simultaneously on different parts of the stage, leaving the audience wondering where to look and potentially missing important events. The child-zombie scene fell victim to this dual scene blunder. This potentially paramount scene was foreshadowed wonderfully, but passed by too quickly resulting in an anti-climactic disappointment.
The RTBN program’s real talents were shown through the television news segments and the sound effects. The sound effects were well-timed and professional, but whoever was in charge of keeping the theatre door shut allowed the audience to sometimes hear the distracting cues.
Convincingly real zombies were present in some way nearly all the time, never letting the audience leave the edge of their seat.
The surprise ending will leave audiences nervously checking over their shoulders as they quickly flee the theatre.