EVANS CITY — Gary Streiner is glad he brought the Living Dead Festival back to life last week because the turnout and enthusiasm for the event easily surpassed the previous festival in 2009.

Streiner said more than 700 people attended the festival, which pays homage to the 1968 cult classic film: “Night of the Living Dead.” The film was shot in and around Evans City, and introduced the flesh-eating zombie to the landscape of film.

Streiner and his organizers managed to attract 21 surviving cast and crew members, including Judith O’Dea, who played Barbra.

“It was beyond belief,” Streiner said of the festival, which was Aug. 30 and 31. “It was absolutely spectacular.”

On that Friday night, a dedication of the chapel in the Evans City Cemetery was held to commemorate its reconstruction. The chapel is the only physical item left from the film, and it was about to be razed by the cemetery association.

But Streiner stepped in and organized a yearlong Save the Chapel fundraising campaign, which raised enough to rebuild the crumbling 1923 structure

About 300 people, including the cast and crew members who were on hand, came to the cemetery on that Friday night for the chapel’s rededication.

When Streiner, who was a sound engineer on the film’s crew, and the rest of the cast and crew then took their places on the steps of the refurbished chapel, Streiner was overwhelmed at the popping camera flashes and electric atmosphere.

“It was the closest thing to being a rock star that I’ll ever experience,” Streiner said.

After the dedication, a bonfire was held at EDCO Park. All the cast and crew members attended the event, where they chatted with visitors.

“It was great to just relax and not have any pressure,” Streiner said. “Everyone said it was not like a convention, it was like a family reunion.”

On both days of the festival, cast and crew members accompanied groups of fans to the three locations where the film was shot. Discussions on the film, and pictures and autographs with the cast and crew, were included in the tours.

Streiner pulled a trick in one of the cemetery tours by loosely recreating the film’s opening scene. He had O’Dea and his brother, Russ Streiner, who played Barbara’s brother Johnny, slowly motor into the sea of fans in the cemetery in a 1967 Pontiac LeMans similar to the one in the film.

When the crowd saw the LeMans carried O’Dea and Russ Streiner, it broke into cheers.

“There was lots of cheering all weekend,” Streiner said.

Streiner said every location tour was sold out.

EDCO Park also was the site of a screening of “Night of the Living Dead” on Saturday night.

“Lots of locals came for the screening,” Streiner said.

Evans City restaurants, gas stations and other businesses enjoyed the revenue that the Living Dead Festival attracted, Streiner said.

“People ate and drank, and probably got gas and visited the drugstore,” said Streiner, who did not have an estimate on the revenue the event generated in the borough.

Streiner said because the cast and crew members are getting older, this Living Dead Festival was probably the final event to commemorate the movie.

Streiner pointed out that he met a man who flew in for the festival from the United Kingdom. Also, borough council members commented to him on the vehicle license plates they saw from Canada, Arizona, Michigan, Virginia and other far-flung areas lining the streets.

“There was never anything like it in Evans City,” Streiner said. “It was something so different.”