Night of the Living Dead

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.

A lot of remakes of classic films rarely live up to their predecessors. The original Night of the Living Dead was a classic horror and this adaption did the original movie justice. There were a few changes but it generally stayed faithful to the original.

Tony Todd as Ben and Patricia Tallman as Barbara do a wonderful job. Ben is the character who is trying to hold everything together in the face of insurmountable odds. Barbara is the female who initially encounters the zombies but soon turns into an ass-kicking heroine. This differs to the original where Barbara was a timid little madam.

The tension builds throughout the film. Perhaps there would have been a bit more tension if it had been filmed in black and white but it was very tense throughout.

The ending is also different as well but good nonetheless.

If you liked the original, then I recommend this version as well.

This remake doesn't get enough respect. George A. Romeo didn't get his original film copyrighted, so he ended up not making any money off the film because it wound up in the public domain. With this 1990 remake, he scripted a remake of his original film that's quite loyal to the original story and vision, but this time it's in color and amped up with plenty of gory and very realistic special effects. Of all the zombie movies ever made (and that's quite a few after the zombie film comeback following 28 DAYS LATER and THE WALKING DEAD), this film is the only one I can think of where the zombies really look like corpses (though the zombies on THE WALKING DEAD are quite good too). Romeo turned the directing reigns over to special effects maestro Tom Savini who does a fine job behind the camera. The special effects in the film are top-notch, AND even if Savini wasn't credited for the special effects or makeup on the film, his influence on capturing realistic corpses come to life cannot be denied. Tony "Candyman" Todd takes on the role of Ben, Patricia Tallman is Barbara, Tom Towles is a nicely obnoxious Mr. Cooper, and Bill Moseley is great as the short-lived Johnny. What's most fun about this film is how the story stays so loyal to the original film, outside of thankfully making Barbara a less helpless character, but that when the film deviates from the original for the last 25 minutes, it's kind of a mindblower for anyone who grew up repeatedly viewing the original film. It's like Romero added another half-hour of the story taking place after the events of the original film! On the downside, the film does feel rather stiff and even corny at times, but it's still one of the best zombie siege films out there.

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+

Tom Savini's update on George Romero's classic about a woman hiding in a farmhouse with several other people during a zombie invasion has gotten a facelift. For one, it's in color now and all the gore pops in a more lively fashion. Second, the way it handles the lead character of Barbara is vastly different from the way she was handled in the original film and Patricia Tallman is allowed room for a bit of character growth. Most of the big changes take place in the last half hour of the film where it really goes in its own direction.