Remake: Night of the Living Dead (1990)

Night of the Living Dead (1990)

Director: Tom Savini
Writers: John A. Russo (screenplay) and George A. Romero (screenplay)
Genre: Horror

Story

The dead are coming back to life again in this remake of the horror classic of the same name. The film starts off very much the same way as the original. Barbara (Patricia Tallman) and her brother are going to visit their mother’s grave when a strange man attacks Barbara. Barbara struggles to get away as her brother is killed and she finds a nearby house to seek help. No one appears to be alive in the house and she is alone until Ben (Tony Todd) arrives looking for someone with a car or more gas for his truck. Since they do not have enough gas to get anywhere they try to board up the windows and stay put until help arrives or they find the key to the nearby gas pump.


Everything Else

This version of Night of the Living Dead lives up to its original counterpart and even steps it up a notch. The makeup looks better in this one, but the most obvious improvement over the original is the full color better quality film. There was certainly a larger budget for this remake than the original film could have (not to mention it has the advantage of being made 22 years later). The acting was better especially for the part of Barbara. Patricia Tallman makes a completely new character out of Barbara and it is one that actually makes a lot more sense than the original. Although Barbara should obviously be scared and even traumatized, the first film did not do her character any justice. This time around Barbara is the main character rather than Ben.


The zombies look better in this than the original and the two sequels as well. This is important with the better film quality and color. The flow of the film works a little better in this as well. It makes a little more sense why these people are trapping themselves in the house and also tones down some of the stupidity of the characters. The character interactions were also better mainly due to the more interactive and prominent Barbara.


The Real Deal

When it comes down to it, usually a remake is not as good as the first film. Although I would not say this one was better than the first, it was certainly as good. It is obviously missing originality (imagine that), but the new twists and changes to the way things turn out were enough to make it worth seeing both. I liked the ending of the original better, but the new one has some good parts leading up to the ending which the original did not have. This is still a great zombie flick and one that could have been the first in the trilogy that George A. Romero made before.


The Short Version

Raw Score: 809,445
Sharon Movie? No

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