REVIEW: Night of the Living Dead

I'll admit it. I love horror plays and movies. Yes, I do. Not the heinous, sadistic torture movies that are currently so popular, and not the slasher movies that made household names of Freddie, Jason and Michael. Ick, ugh and blecch. But I just can't resist thoughtful, action-packed horror movies and plays. There's nothing more bracing and thrilling than a foray into the darkness of the unredeemed human psyche, or a brush with the hint of evil personified, so long as we don't lose sight of the light. And if it's a comedy, all the better, because everyone knows that laughing at our fears is the best way to conquer them.

Is it okay for a thinking Christian to attend horror shows? Absolutely! Who but a Christian can fully appreciate how vampires pervert our most treasured sacrament: seeking eternal life by consuming the blood of a willing victim? Anyone who knows their Christian literature should recognize in Little Shop of Horrors a reenactment of Faust. Ghost stories pique our curiosity about the survival of the soul after the body dies. Werewolf and other "beast" tales warn us of the demonic origins of so-called animal spirits. My favorites are the ones dealing with spiritual warfare and exorcism, because that's our own turf - or should be, if we follow the admonition of the gospels.

Less appealing to me, but loads of fun in small doses, are the zombie movies, a perversion of the resurrection promise, in which the dead rise from their graves, but instead of receiving glorified bodies, remain rotting corpses. Their insatiable appetite for human flesh triggers frightful echoes of cannibalism, a direct assault on the natural instinct to preserve and perpetuate our species. I even wrote my own zombie comedy, Zombie Family Picnic.

Although zombie flicks date back to the silent movie days, George Romero's classic, low budget, black and white, 1968 film Night of the Living Dead is the touchstone. And now, Duane Brown and Kris Hipps have adapted this most influential of zombie movies into a drop dead funny spoof, playing at the historic Bug Theater in north Denver through Halloween.

A handful of the living barricade themselves inside a farmhouse after a strange radioactive atmospheric incident reanimates human corpses, only to find themselves under siege by innumerable zombies. Some try to survive, some snap under the pressure, and one of them is already infected. The acting is corny, over the top, and yet the ensemble is totally committed to the surreal reality of the situation.

What fun it is to see live theatre populated by the undead! The makeup and gore are just perfect. Interspersing black and white video segments with "live" action, Night of the Living Dead has all the suspenseful thrills and chills of the original, but also evokes uproarious laughter and cheers of delight. It's campy and nostalgic, retro and cutting edge entertainment. Go a little deeper, and you'll find interesting insights into male-female relationships, the breakdown of the nuclear family and loads of political and social satire.

Don't miss this show. Dig up a bunch of friends and shuffle on over to the Bug Theater. The stage version of Night of the Living Dead is an instant classic. It could become a perennial favorite, the Christmas Carol or It's a Wonderful Life of the Halloween season.

Night of the Living Dead plays at the Bug Theater through November 1, 2008. Call 303-477-9984 for information and reservations.