Night of the Living Dead

Night Of The Living Dead is a 1990 horror film about a group of strangers who are forced to take refuge in an old farmhouse after the dead come back to life and attempt to eat them.

I know most horror fans will definitely prefer George A. Romero's 1968 original Night of the Living Dead, but I feel like Tom Savini's remake deserves more love than it gets. Being the special makeup effects genius that he is there was no shortage in the gore department, and the cast did a great job with all their performances. Although I think the original is good and a remake was probably not necessary, I personally always liked this one better.

If you're a fan of Romero, Savini, or zombies in general and haven't seen this one or the original, I would definitely recommend checking them out.

I'm always wary of remakes of horror and science fiction classics as they are almost always inferior to the original versions, in many cases REALLY inferior. There have been a few successful and worthwhile attempts, especially John Carpenter's 'The Thing' and David Cronenberg's spin on 'The Fly'. Tom Savini's 'Night Of The Living Dead' is another good one. Even though Savini is a legend in the special effects world I really expected this to be awful. It wasn't. While not as literal as the misguided 'Psycho' remake by Gus Van Zant, Savini sticks very close to the source material, and doesn't mess with it as much as Carpenter or Cronenberg did. George Romero scripted, adapting his original screenplay co-written with John A. Russo, and both men co-produce. The main difference in this version, apart from obvious ones like being filmed in colour and with some more sophisticated special effects, is the expansion of the Barbara character, who is much less passive and more important to the plot. Barbara is played by Patricia Tallman who worked with Savini on Romero's cult favourite 'Knightriders'. She is probably best known for her recurring role on 'Babylon 5'. Tony Todd ('Candyman') plays Ben, and is very good, and the underrated Tom Towles ('Henry:Portrait Of a Serial Killer') is excellent as the slimy Harry Cooper. The scenes between the two are really strong, and add a lot to the original. I also enjoyed seeing Bill Mosley (Chop Top from 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2') playing Barbara's brother Johnny in the opening sequence. My only real gripe about the movie is the surprising lack of gore, and also the new ending which to me is nowhere near as good as the original. Apart from that it is much better than I expected, and I highly recommended it to anyone who enjoys Romero's "Dead" trilogy.

You can't help but feel a tingle of deja vu while watching the color remake of Night of the Living Dead. It is essential for full enjoyment to have seen the original since the remake takes the same story and twists and tweaks it to bring it into the 90's. People are divided into two camps on this film. They either absolutely hate it or they have been enraptured by the change-up's that it pitches at you. I am of the later camp. At least Barbara (played by the beautiful Patricia Tallman) has enough of her wits about her to point out how irrational everybody else is being instead of being the catatonic victim like the first time around. "They're so slow. We can just walk right by them." She remarks to Ben (Tony Todd) who is adamant about staying in the house. Perhaps this version isn't socially relevant like the first, but it's nice to see that Romero can add a twist ending that can stand on it's own merits, but really is amusing in light of the former movie.

As much as re-makes usually aren't sitting well with me, then I just had to take a chance on watching this 1990 re-make of the 1968 movie that just revolutionized the entire horror genre and sparked the zombie sub-genre; "Night of the Living Dead". But with the dread of director (and special effects master) Tom Savini failing to fill out the massive footprint left by George A. Romero hanging over the movie, it was either a make or break experience.

And now in 2016, I can say that I have watched this 1990 re-make numerous times since back in the 1990's. Yes, it is a re-make that is well worthy of the original movie upon which it is founded. And director Tom Savini really stepped up to the task and showed that he was able to skillfully grace the re-make in the spirit of the father of all zombies; George A. Romero.

The story told in "Night of the Living Dead" needs no introduction. And if you are a fan of the horror and zombie genre, then you will already be familiar with the storyline. And if you are not, and if you are a horror fan, then you seriously need to get around to watching the 1968 original and this 1990 re-make. As such, I am not going to delve into story details here.

Director Tom Savini did deviate some from the original story, which was acceptable and good, because a frame by frame re-shooting of the original movie would have been disastrous. And I must salute him on his accomplishments with this movie.

The cast also deserves a good share of credit for making this movie into what it was, because people really did good jobs with their given roles. Again, especially since they had a lot of pressure hanging over their heads, as they had to live up to the 1968 classic. But they managed to do so quite well. Tony Todd (playing Ben) and Patricia Tallman (playing Barbara) in the lead roles were carrying the movie quite well. And Tom Towles (playing Harry) really portrayed the despicable character quite well. Personally I think it was a shame that Bill Moseley (playing Johnnie) didn't have a bigger part in the movie, because he really is an iconic actor in the horror genre.

"Night of the Living Dead" does have some great special effects, and why wouldn't it have with director Tom Savini also being a masterful special effects man himself. The zombie make-up was really nice and had lots of good details, which is essential for a zombie movie.

I enjoy all things zombie, and it is sacrilege not to be familiar with "Night of the Living Dead" if you are a zombie aficionado. And this 1990 re-make is a well-worthy addition to the zombie genre, and is most worthy of a place in the movie collection right next to the original 1968 version.

So the only thing left to say is: "They're us. We're them and they're us."

George A. Romero turns over his classic horror film to be remade, and it's in the hands of Tom Savini (who did brilliant makeup for Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead). Now, I do have some mixed feelings about this movie. While in some aspects it's well made (er, for a remake), it can not match the original, if only in tone and style. But it also doesn't match up with the original because until the end, most of the movie is a shot for shot remake. More style is added, to be sure, but Savini and Romero (who scripted this one) could've gone farther.

With that said, Night of the Living Dead (1990) was an enjoyable horror flick experience, one where it's a good time with color and gore and all (plus more full frontal zombie nudity) and as long as you don't think too deeply about what you are watching (and certainly don't try to compare the 1968 and 1990 versions together), you'll have fun. B+