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Living Dark: The Story of Ted the Caver (2013)

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GAMES, BRRRAAAINS & A HEAD-BANGING LIFE

Horror Movie Review: Living Dark: The Story of Ted the Caver (2013)

Idiotic title aside, Living Dark is an interesting & compelling watch that combines great characters with mysterious & horrific events.

Two brothers have reunited to bury their father having gone their separate ways years before. The reasons are revealed as the movie goes on. They bury their dad on his land & while walking away the older of two, Ted (Chris Cleveland) trips over a piece of wood. A plank that appears to have been hidden under the dirt. He uncovers the rest of the wood to discover a hidden cave.

Excited at this potential find the brothers decide to explore the cave. Inside they find that it has been used regularly by their father but he never mentioned to them. That’s not what really gets their attention though. At the back of the cave they find a chair that is facing a small hole. A hole in the cave wall & from this hole a strong wind is blowing.

The two brothers realise that on the other side of this hole is a virgin cave, a cave that may never have been explored. They decide they are going to get through the hole & into the hidden cave but what awaits them on the other side is something neither could ever have expected.

Living Dark is a tense & character driven story that pays off its build with a shocking finale that leaves you with plenty of questions but still satisfies.

With a small cast, the two leads Ted & Brad (Matthew Alan) are front & centre for most of the film & the pair excel. Early on the movie allows the characters to breathe. Backstory is kept minimal with dialogue & reactions dropped in where necessary to cement the issues that exist between the two. Their conflict is believable & as brothers their annoyances with each other & deep love shines through. Their relationship makes it such a watchable movie but it’s not the only thing going on.

This is still a horror movie & a tension built one too. Its scares are subtle, small things that chill. For example, during the dig they hear what sounds like a rock slide & the wind on the other side stops. It’s something that can be easily explained away. However, that niggling feeling of what might have caused the rock slide won’t go away.

The brother’s reactions to these events, their fear & desperation to get out of the cave. Often over minor things makes each small event feel way worse than it actually is. It builds towards a thrilling finale that doesn’t spell out exactly what is going on but gives enough for you to be happy.

This is a movie that you would expect to be a found-footage horror but thankfully it isn’t. While some of the camera work takes on the style (up close face shots, shaky cameras) it is far more watchable & enjoyable.

A slow-burn of a movie, the first half all about characters & getting into the cave. The second about what is on the other side. Both fit well together resulting in a very good movie!

Owner/Administrator/Editor/Writer/Interviewer/YouTuber - you name it, I do it. I love gaming, horror movies, and all forms of heavy metal and rock. I'm also a Discworld super-fan and love talking all things Terry Pratchett. Do you wanna party? It's party time!

Living Dark: The Story of Ted the Caver

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Living Dark: The Story of Ted the Caver

Where to Watch

Chris Cleveland (Ted) Matthew Alan (Brad) Mark Hayter (Uncle Charlie) Circus-Szalewski (Joe) Jason Wolf (Camper Dad)

David L. Hunt

Two brothers stumble across a hidden cave. They explore it but things turn sinister when they realise there's something down there, something that may have been responsible for their father's death.

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Two brothers, reunited for their father's funeral, stumble upon the entrance to a nearby cave. Here, they are slowly forced to confront the true, nightmarish cause of their father's death. Based on the popular Ted the Caver internet legend.

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‘Living’ Review: Losing His Inhibition

Bill Nighy stars as a buttoned-up bureaucrat transformed by a grim diagnosis in this drama by the novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, adapted from an Akira Kurosawa movie.

• Share full article

By Beatrice Loayza

There is a coziness to “Living,” despite the fact that it revolves around death. It’s not a holiday movie, at least not explicitly, but like “A Christmas Carol” and other Yuletide ghost stories, it’s a film that steps back to consider the rituals and routines we perpetuate, the ways we’ve changed since the last break. And the ways we haven’t.

“Living,” directed by Oliver Hermanus from a screenplay by the novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, is an adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s drama “Ikiru” (or “To Live”). That Japanese classic from 1952 stars the great Takashi Shimura as a drab Tokyo functionary who learns he is terminally ill and begins to question his life.

Ishiguro has called “Ikiru” a formative work for him. His books (which include “Never Let Me Go” and “The Remains of the Day”) limn the crisis of confronting one’s own life with newfound clarity, of perceiving the ways in which it is fraught and one’s complicity in its corruption. With “Living,” Ishiguro — a British writer whose parents moved the family from Nagasaki to Surrey when he was five — infuses his beloved parable with nostalgia closer to home.

“Living” transposes “Ikiru” to a gloomy postwar London filled with buttoned-up men of dignity; bowler-hat-wearing worker bees who commute in and out of the city with the solemn demeanor of churchgoers. One of them is Williams (Bill Nighy), a cadaverous bureaucrat and the intimidatingly austere head of the Public Works Department. The film opens on a new hire’s first day, but the young man’s illusions are quickly dashed when his new boss, a total gentleman at first glance, proves to be an inert leader. A group of women with a petition asking for the construction of a new playground are kicked around the building — this is under that department’s jurisdiction, no, that one — because no one wants the hassle.

Thinking of Nighy and holiday releases, Williams is the total inverse of Billy Mack, the washed-up rocker whom Nighy played in “Love Actually.” Where Mack is lovably sleazy, the creaky Williams is inhibition personified. The chipper Margaret (Aimee Lou Wood), the sole female employee of Williams’s wing, calls him “Mr. Zombie.”

When Williams’s doctor tells him he only has a few months to live, his subdued response is both devastating and absurd: “Quite,” he mutters.

As with the protagonist of “Ikiru,” Williams is transformed by the news. First, he turns to a local bohemian, Sutherland (Tom Burke), for a boozy tour of the city’s nightlife. Then he spends time with Margaret, a lively companion who gets him in trouble with his son and daughter-in-law, who are convinced the old man is having an affair. Eventually, he finds something to believe in, and alters his legacy in the process.

At its worst, “Living” wallows generically, employing an overbearing piano score as the camera repeatedly sits with Williams’s sadness to diminishing effect. Though, captured by the cinematographer Jamie D. Ramsay, there’s also a warmth and twinkle to Williams’s existential plight; as in a David Lean movie, passion mingles elegantly with repression, and Williams emerges as a kind of romantic figure, a man shocked, then delighted, by the thrill of finding himself.

Living Rated PG-13 for morbidity and scenes of drunken revelry. Running time: 1 hour 42 minutes. In theaters.

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Living dark: the story of ted the caver.

2013 Directed by David Hunt

Be careful what you dig for

Two brothers, reunited for their father's funeral, stumble upon the entrance to a nearby cave. Here, they are slowly forced to confront the true, nightmarish cause of their father's death. Based on the popular Ted the Caver internet legend.

Chris Cleveland Matthew Alan Circus-Szalewski Mark Hayter Jason Wolf

Director Director

Writers writers.

David Hunt Kevin Brown

Editor Editor

Cinematography cinematography.

Craig Bauer

Composer Composer

Christopher Marianetti

Alternative Titles

Život v temnotě, Az élő sötétség - Ted, a barlangász, Żywa ciemność: Historia Teda Grotołaza, Vivendo na Escuridão: A História de Ted, o Explorador de Cavernas

Horror, the undead and monster classics Terrifying, haunted, and supernatural horror Sci-fi horror, creatures, and aliens Show All…

Releases by Date

11 sep 2013, 11 sep 2017, releases by country.

97 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by DreamScape40 ★★★½

An interesting cave monster thriller that kept me intrigued till the very end.

Now.. what boggles me is how did Charlie get through that hole? Unless maybe he found an easier way that the brothers didn't? IDK

Review by robyn ★★½

ted the caver was one of the first things that really turned me on to horror it pretty much blew my mind back in 2001 but i'm always a glutton and i want things absolutely spelled out for me you know which is how you end up paying 2 quid for a ted the caver movie off youtube lmao, why do i do this to myself

Review by claudia ★ 1

Two things:

Like three years ago I told Emily to read the Ted the Caver creepy pasta before they left to go to a Rihanna concert and they spent their entire phone battery on it so they couldn’t take any photos of Rihanna

This movie has a dream-within-a-dream sequence in it

Review by Cole Turner ★

Horrible adaptation of one of, if not the first, really great creepypastas that fail to understand what made the story so compelling. They butchered almost every thought-provoking thing and changed most of the original story for the worst. It shouldn't be this hard to make a solid film based on a creepypasta like this when it already gives you everything at your disposal where you barely even need to write your own screenplay for it.

Review by haley ★ 1

ted annoyed me so i couldn't really enjoy this

Review by Cinéologist ★★½

Based on the internet legend Ted the Caver—a man who kept an online journal of the virgin cave he came across but whose posts completely stopped following an entry involving one last descent—“Living Dark,” based on the screenplay by David L. Hunt (who directs) and Kevin Brown, is an effective suspense picture that is able to accomplish plenty of mixed frights despite a very tight budget. However, instead of embracing a focused visceral horror experience, it is hindered by a sad story of two brothers named Ted (Chris Cleveland) and Brad (Matthew Alan) who are reunited after their father’s passing. Although I admired the filmmakers’ attempt in getting us to care for the characters outside of the box of survival…

Review by Shane ★ 1

I'm so tired of watching movies.

Review by milo ☃️ ★★

release the porno cut

Review by DopeAssGhost ★★★½

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

LIVING DARK: THE STORY OF TED THE CAVER (2017) " Two brothers, reunited for their father's funeral, stumble upon the entrance to a nearby cave, where they are slowly forced to confront the true, nightmarish cause of their father's death." Based on the popular Creepypasta known simply as Ted The Caver , this light-horror adaptation is built more around suspense and tension than bloody gory horror. For the most part, it works! I found the interior shots of the cave and the confined space Ted has to squeeze through a combination of eerie, beautiful, claustrophobic, and heartpounding. My breath was held every time Ted got stuck in a tight spot or some horrible uncanny creature was heard off in the dark distance…

Review by Zachary ★★½

it could have been gay. just saying

Review by jeel ★½

two sweaty men drill a hole, what could possibly go wrong?

Review by Pat ★★½

hypnotically mediocre. never seen a movie that perfectly captures the year 2000 like this before. ted the caver is not a story that translates well to a visual medium. this movie is nothing. would watch again

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Living Dark: Story Of Ted The Caver

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Product Description

Based on the internationally popular "Ted the Caver" Internet legend, Living Dark tells the story of two estranged brothers, reunited for their father's funeral. Attempting reconciliation, the brothers stumble upon the sealed entrance to a cave, and are slowly forced to confront the true, nightmarish cause of their father's death.

Product details

• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned)
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 2.72 ounces
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC, Widescreen
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 37 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ April 23, 2019
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Chris Cleveland
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Monarch Video
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07NBPY566
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
• #8,376 in Horror (Movies & TV)

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Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors.

Now streaming on:

Bill Nighy is a fun, uninhibited actor, but there's an abashed, melancholy quality to him that hasn't been fully explored until "Living," a drama about a senior citizen reckoning with his life. 

Nighy became an unlikely star playing a dissolute, clownish old rocker in "Love, Actually," and he's been aces in a series of character parts and second leads ever since. You never find unnecessary or inorganic flourishes in his acting: he's a pro who goes in and gets it done, whatever the role's parameters. He's an active listener whose characters seem to be having their own thoughts on everything happening. His unassuming presence makes you feel at least some affection for whomever he's playing, even if they're coded as unsympathetic. 

The post-World War II London drama "Living" puts Nighy at the center of a story: he plays Williams, the head of the Public Works Department, who receives a terminal health diagnosis and, after a period of shock, begins taking stock in his life and essentially trying to be the best person he can before he goes. It's a role that calls for subtlety, and director Oliver Hermanus has the right leading man.

Williams is an archetypal figure: a bowler-hatted functionary for the state who's been doing the same thing and living the same life forever. Nighy is 73, old enough to have grandparents who were adults in the 19th century. He seems to understand from firsthand observations that people of different centuries (or parts of centuries) had different energies and ways of comporting themselves than those born 50 or 100 years later. You can picture Williams as someone for whom automobiles and planes were staggering new developments and who has seen so much change in his life that stability has become increasingly important. 

He's a creature of habit. He takes the train into the city, works, takes the train back home, goes to bed, and repeats. His new boss is ineffective, and the department is largely indifferent to the needs of its employees (a group of female workers is making no headway getting a small playground constructed, and Williams notices but doesn't intervene). The character has been on rails his whole life. The only female employee of his department, Margaret ( Aimee Lou Wood ), calls him "Mr. Zombie." When his doctor tells him he has only a few more months to live, his response is an unwitting parody of stiff-upper-lip comportment: "Quite." 

"Living" is a loose adaptation/remake of Akira Kurosawa's " Ikiru " (aka " To Live "), a post-World War II drama about a Tokyo bureaucrat who goes on a similar journey after a terminal diagnosis of gastric cancer. "Living" isn't a great movie—it's a little too subdued at times and has a tendency to fixate on Williams' mostly unarticulated sadness—but it's consistently involving. 

And Nighy's performance is such a marvel of quiet strength and internalized complexity that, even though you're never in doubt as to how Williams will rise to the occasion of his tragic news (a pub crawl, a relationship with a woman that looks like love to outsiders, a decision to intervene to help others make things happen) the events still feel spontaneous rather than telegraphed. 

With its theme of a repressed Englishman deciding to finally let go and live a bit, the movie feels like a holdover from that great run of Merchant-Ivory movies art-house films about repression and roads not taken that became both critical and box-office hits in the 1980s and '90s: " A Room with a View ," " Maurice ," " Howards End ," and "Remains of the Day." The latter was based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro , who has long cited "Ikiru" as a primary influence on his writing, and whose stories of repressed white English people of earlier eras channeled and stood proudly alongside the works of E.M. Forster—and suggested a strange continuity between the ritualized English and Japanese ways of dealing with intense emotion (as well as the mandate to keep sadness to oneself). Ishiguro wrote the screenplay for "Living." 

The result feels like a bridging work between certain types of novels and movies, and two cultures, in much the same way that Kurosawa's remakes of Shakespeare and other nations' directors' remakes of Kurosawa (such as "A Fistful of Dollars") did so long ago. When people in show business say that cinema speaks a universal language, they're often pumping themselves up or selling something. But under the right circumstances, the truth of the assertion is undeniable, and movies like this are an example. 

Now playing in theaters. 

Matt Zoller Seitz

Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor at Large of RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

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Living (2022)

Rated PG-13 for some suggestive material and smoking.

102 minutes

Bill Nighy as Mr Williams

Aimee Lou Wood as Margaret

Alex Sharp as Mr Wakeling

Tom Burke as Mr Sutherland

Adrian Rawlins as Middleton

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Michael Cochrane as Sir James

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• Oliver Hermanus

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Screen Rant

25 years after the phantom menace, star wars finally redeems the jedi council.

Star Wars' new novel helps redeem the Jedi Council in some very exciting ways that are rarely shown 25 years after the events of the Phantom Menace.

Warning! This post contains minor SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Living Force by John Jackson Miller

• The Living Force highlights the members of the Jedi Council as Qui-Gon Jinn challenges them to help individuals in the present.
• John Jackson Miller's novel balances the Council's large roster by splitting them up on unique missions across the Mid-Rim world of Kwenn.
• The story blends both the light and the dark, redeeming the Jedi Council by showing them at their best before the compromises that lead to their demise as seen in the prequel trilogy.

25 years after their Star Wars debut in The Phantom Menace , the Jedi Council has finally received a dynamic story of redemption. In recent years, several Star Wars stories have focused on the pride and hubris of the prequel era's Jedi Order, and specifically the leading Jedi Council that guided its decisions. However, John Jackson Miller's new novel The Living Force effectively serves as some exciting counter-messaging, an uplifting and hopeful story starring the entire Jedi Council who is challenged to look more closely at the galaxy and those they protect.

Set one year before the events of The Phantom Menace , The Living Force begins with Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi witnessing the true struggles of those living in the Mid Rim as the Jedi have been closing down various outposts. As such, feelings of abandonment and bitterness towards the Jedi have inadvertently been generated. This motivates Qui-Gon to challenge the entire Jedi Council by focusing less on the galaxy's bigger picture and instead on the present with its individuals . As such, the whole Council agrees to leave their tower at the Jedi Temple to visit one of the largest Jedi outposts on Kwenn.

Star Wars Movies In Order: How To Watch Release Order, Chronologically & With The TV Shows

The living force turns the jedi council into characters, individual jedi focusing on individuals in the present.

Hearing Qui-Gon's words, the Council is specifically challenged to "Help one person. A Jedi needs no permission for that." As such, the Council's trip to Kwenn allows them to do exactly that, helping and assisting various citizens in ways they seldom get the chance to on the Republic Core World of Coruscant. At the same time, it also allows readers to learn more about the individual members of the Jedi Council, even those who've only existed in the background such as Master Yarael Poof or Oppo Rancisis .

Although there's a grander threat in the form of emboldened pirates in this Mid Rim region known as the Slice, The Living Force is arguably at its best when these powerful Jedi Masters humbly serve the people , especially when many of Kwenn's citizens had assumed the Jedi didn't care or were too important to bother themselves with their world. As such, Qui-Gon Jinn's "Help One Person" becomes a repeating mantra as the individual members of the Jedi Council look to assist those in need, no matter how small those needs may be.

How The Living Force Balances Its Impossibly Large Cast

Splitting jedi up to help those in need.

Featuring all 12 members of the Jedi Council as they appeared in The Phantom Menace , this new Star Wars book features quite a large cast (including Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan who make multiple appearances). Each Jedi Council member essentially gets equal time to shine in Miller's The Living Force , and no one is left out . This is largely thanks to the genius choice to split up the Council either on solo missions or in pairs. In this way, each Jedi or duo has their own unique challenge and story, while also ensuring that the Council as a whole generates aid all over Kwenn.

For example, Saesee Tinn and Plo Koon join forces to help in a labor dispute, serving as perfect foils for each other due to their differing personalities. The same is true of Yarael Poof and his humor contrasted with the more stoic Ki-Adi-Mundi. Likewise, Even Piell helps a group of wayward students, while Eeth Koth finds ways to leave his archival work at the Temple back on Coruscant, regaining elements he'd forgotten about what it means to be a Jedi in the field.

Furthermore, Jedi Masters Mace Windu, Yoda, Yaddle, Oppo Rancisis, and Adi Gallia all have their own dynamic journeys in The Living Force. Likewise, Master Depa Billaba's preceding undercover work reveals a dark pirate plot that quickly spans across the entire Mid-Rim Slice, one that eventually brings the entire Jedi Council together to stand with Kwenn. As such, The Living Force balances each member of the Jedi Council incredibly well, allowing readers to gain insights into specific members that hadn't ever been highlighted before in the Star Wars franchise.

The Living Force Is A Perfect Blend Of Light & Dark

The ideals of what jedi should be (contrasted with reality).

The Living Force provides a unique opportunity for an impromptu Jedi Council retreat, allowing its members to realign with the best ideals of what it truly means to be Jedi with a balanced focus on the present Living Force, not just the Cosmic Force and the future alone. That said, the new Star Wars novel also features plenty of examples in which the reality of the galaxy comes into play, as well as the inherent flaws that may hold certain Jedi masters back from fully connecting with Qui-Gon's challenge long-term.

"Help one person. A Jedi needs no permission for that." ... (neither do we ).

Combined with the fact that dark forces are rising which will eventually make themselves known in The Phantom Menace (the Sith), Miller's The Living Force truly is the perfect blend of light and dark. It's a genuinely redemptive tale that shows the Jedi Council at their best, rather than their worst as the Jedi Order becomes more compromised heading into the Clone Wars and its eventual demise seen in Revenge of the Sith. Likewise, Qui-Gon's challenge isn't only applicable to the Jedi Council in a galaxy far, far away: "Help one person. A Jedi needs no permission for that." ... (neither do we once we've finished reading).

The Living Force by John Jackson Miller is available now.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

The beginning of the Skywalker Saga, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace sees young Anakin Skywalker put on his path to discovering his ability to influence the Force. While attempting to thwart the nefarious Trade Federation in their plans for the planet of Naboo, two Jedi discover an exceptionally-gifted slave with the ability to wield the Force. Little do they know, rescuing him is just the beginning of a saga that will span generations of the Skywalker family.  

‘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?

Table of Contents

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

Meet The Author

Chris has a degree in film studies at Temple University’s campus in Tokyo, Japan. He is a renowned expert on horror cinema.

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‘Festival of the Living Dead’ Review – The Soska Sisters Channel George A. Romero in Tubi’s Sequel

From Children of the Living Dead to Zombi 2 , the infamous copyright blunder that immediately placed Night of the Living Dead in the public domain means that unauthorized sequels to George A. Romero’s classic are a dime a dozen. However, despite these flicks usually being dismissed as cash-grabs attempting to ride the coattails of a better filmmaker, the fact is that every modern zombie movie is an inherent follow-up to the 1968 original in one way or another– the homemade sequels are simply more honest about it.

This is exactly why I was so interested in checking out Tubi’s low-budget love-letter to Romero, Festival of the Living Dead , as the film’s trailer revealed that the story wouldn’t be wasting time on re-introducing familiar zombie tropes and instead assumes that everyone (including the main characters) are aware of the events that went down on that fateful night back in ‘68. Plus, the film is helmed by the Twisted Twins themselves, Jen and Sylvia Soska , with that alone making the flick worth a watch in my book.

If you haven’t seen the trailer for yourself, Festival of the Living Dead follows Ashley Moore as Ash, the teenage granddaughter of Duane Jones’ character from NotLD , as she joins her jock boyfriend and his drug-addled buddies on a trip to a zombie-inspired music festival. Unfortunately, a crashed meteorite soon revives the undead infection of the original film, transforming what was meant to be a weekend of fun into a (not-so) living nightmare.

On paper, this sounds like a fun enough undead romp along the lines of Return of the Living Dead or even Gregg Bishop’s underrated Dance of the Dead , where a familiar Romero-inspired premise is relocated to a new setting with a unique cast of characters to keep things fresh. In practice, however, Festival ends up being a well-intentioned collection of clever ideas marred by a woefully inadequate budget and a clumsy narrative.

A spooky music festival becoming overrun by flesh-eating ghouls seems like a perfectly cheesy setup to a fun B-movie, but when the titular festival feels more like a backyard camp-out with a handful of your high school buddies (with the filmmakers even resorting to laughable CGI stand-ins as a way of padding out the wide shots), it becomes clear that the project lacks the resources necessary to tell a story on this scale.

Even the presentation is affected by the low production value, with some legitimately gnarly zombie makeup being sabotaged by lifeless photography and a (mostly) generic score. In fact, many of the flick’s establishing shots often feel suspiciously like stock footage, and that’s not even mentioning how the film’s connections to NotLD end up highlighting how Festival of the Living Dead refuses to engage with Romero’s evocative takes on race, mob mentality and consumerism – which is especially egregious when you consider that the movie takes place at an event that could easily incorporate these elements into the story.

The film flirts with some interesting ideas here and there, like how the events of Romero’s original are remembered as national tragedy (with the music festival actually having been established to honor victims of the infection), but the screenplay seems uninterested in exploring these story-beats in any meaningful way. From underdeveloped plot points about the impact of social media on teenage relationships to how some of the characters can’t afford tickets to such a gentrified event, there’s a frustrating amount of unfulfilled potential here.

I actually get the feeling that the original idea for Festival of the Living Dead was a much larger and more cohesive experience that ended up being painfully downsized due to the harsh realities of indie film production, with the end product being an undead husk of what was once a legitimately entertaining story.

Thankfully, the cast is surprisingly charming despite some shallow dialogue, with their rapport feeling quite natural throughout most of the film. There’s even a believable dose of tragedy when members of the group get inevitably eaten by zombies, an impressive feat considering that many of these characters are bona fide assholes. And while Moore makes for a likable lead, Camren Bicondova, Christian Rose and Shiloh O’Reilly are the real standouts here, and I wish that this unconventional trio had been the focus of the story instead of Ash’s new friend group.

Of course, a larger cast means that there are plenty of gruesome kills to go around, and I applaud the film’s use of practical gore effects even if the end result isn’t exactly comparable to something made by Greg Nicotero. Curiously enough, there’s a wide variety of zombie designs and behaviors here, with the movie featuring everything from freshly turned runners to Frankenstein-like creatures that ominously shamble around in search of victims.

And while this isn’t among their best work, the Soska Sisters do a stellar job of bringing energy to the screen here despite the project’s obvious limitations. I particularly appreciate their use of classic horror imagery (like undead hands clawing against windows while characters talk to each other) as well as the signature underground style present in both the film’s costume and set designs. Ultimately, I think there’s enough quality here to prove that the Canadian duo just needs a bigger budget in order to wow audiences with their patented brand of schlocky thrills.

If you can temper your expectations and avoid comparing it to other similar films, Festival of the Living Dead can make for an enjoyable 90 minutes – especially during the bonkers final act. It’s just a shame that the film couldn’t quite live up to it own lofty expectations; though I’d argue that not every zombie film needs to escape the shadow of Romero’s undead legacy.

Festival of the Living Dead is now streaming on Tubi.

Born Brazilian, raised Canadian, Luiz is a writer and Film student that spends most of his time watching movies and subsequently complaining about them.

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‘Ready or Not’: Radio Silence Filmmakers Tease the “Absolute Banger” of a Sequel That’s Taking Shape

It was first reported a couple weeks ago that  Ready or Not 2 is now in development, with Adam Robitel  ( The Taking of Deborah Logan, Insidious: The Last Key, Escape Room, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions ) in talks to direct the sequel to the 2019 box office hit. Additionally, we had learned that Samara Weaving would be returning to star.

Entertainment Weekly caught up with Ready or Not directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin in the wake of those reports, and we’ve now got an update straight from the source.

“It’s getting figured out. That’s what we’ll say: Ready or Not 2 is getting figured out ,” Gillett tells EW, confirming last month’s report. “ What we can say is that there is a script that is an absolute fucking banger of a sequel. And however it gets made, and in whatever capacity we are helping get it made, we are so excited that it’s happening.”

“I don’t think we knew after making [ Ready or Not ] that there would be so much story left to tell,” Gillett continues. “We’re so proud of what that first movie is, we’re so proud of what the sequel is . We’re just really excited, and fingers crossed that it gets made.” Bettinelli-Olpin adds, “And with Searchlight and Samara, they’re not gonna let it down.”

The first film introduced a mythology wherein the wealthy Le Domas family has made a deal with the devil, one that requires them to take part in bizarre – and deadly – wedding night traditions. There’s much that can be done with the premise going forward, even if the first movie ended with Weaving’s Grace massacring the family and burning down their estate.

Wikipedia reminds , “The sole survivor of the night, Grace walks out of the burning manor just as the police arrive. Upon asking her what happened, she simply replies:  in-laws .”

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