I have been ridiculously excited about Night of the Living Dead 3D since I found out about it in the beginning of 2006. Zombies? Awesome. In 3D? Even better. Starring Sid Haig?! I’m camping out for a week beforehand.

Sadly, the movie had an extremely limited release in 2006. Never saw it.

But now the movie is out on DVD, and of course, it comes with 3D glasses. Hurrah!

The result is, well, something. It’s certainly not good by any means, but it’s not exactly the worst zombie movie either. Or at least not so-bad-you-should-become-a-zombie-yourself bad. Zombie movies are supposed to be terrible, and this isn’t an exception. The plot is only a vague reference to the original, and even then, is absolutely ludicrous. The acting leaves much to be desired, and the undead makeup is mostly silly, aside from a few great death scenes. Aside from Sid Haig, the only reason to see this movie is for the 3D effects, which I’m hoping were more effective in the theater. On a home TV screen, the effects are, of course, minimal.

As mentioned, the plot has little to do with Night of the Living Dead. It still stars “Barb,” and she still seeks shelter in a farmhouse. That’s about it. Now, the people in the farmhouse grow pot and have the dumbest conversations ever, including one about how they must be living in a zombie movie. (During their conversations, of course, they are watching the original Night. Ouch.) Granted, these characters are all stoners, but badly portrayed stoners at that.

Sid Haig, however, does wonders with the content he is given. He’s hilarious, as usual, as pyrophobic funeral director Gerald Tovar, Jr. He does what he can, yelling at zombies and beating them with shovels. He tries so hard in an especially awful scene that you can tell even he thinks is awful (*spoiler!*). Tovar actually claims responsibility the zombie outbreak, as he can’t bear to cremate the dead because of his fear of fire. Consequently, he just stacks the bodies and leaves them. He mentions some terrible theory about embalming fluid bringing the dead back to life, but the actual reason he gives is, and I’m not kidding, “medical stuff.” I won’t even get into the nonsensical ending.

So yeah, lots of shooting zombies and hitting them with shovels. The 3D effects here are minimal, but they are occasionally somewhat entertaining. Blood getting squirted at you, arms stretched out, guns being pointed, that sort of thing. Quite laughable, too, are the scenes of 3D joints and thick, white smoke. Dead serious about that one.

This movie isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s not bad if you don’t expect anything spectacular. Sure, it’s pointless, but it’s a decent way to kill an hour and a half every once in a while. Just don’t mistakingly buy the 2D version. Yikes.

Check out Night of the Living Dead 3D if you’re feeling masochistic.