Night of the Living Dead (1990)

 

 

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Most remakes are a total joke, however Savini is a genius when it comes to gore etc and makes this one part of the Dead family. If you LOVE the original film and want a small "different" spin then check this out, the acting is GREAT and the zombies look disgustingly cool. Not one to miss if your a "dead" fan.

If the internet had been nearly as popular in 1990 as it is now, I'll bet the IMDB message boards would be filled with protests from outraged fans of the original (the way the message boards on Dawn of the Dead are now). I'm pretty sure that when this came out, there were plenty of people screaming blasphemy. But, I'm almost ashamed to say this, I found this remake even better than the original, and the original is a classic! It launched the zombie genre of to incredible popularity, and it's a just plain amazing movie. I rented this earlier the other day, not really sure what to expect. What I found was that this movie was much more entertaining and exciting and suspenseful than the original. It moves faster, has better effects, better acting, the works. Also, it throws in plenty of little plot-twists so a scholar of the original could still be surpried. From the get-go, things aren't as they seem. We think we know what's going to happen, but then it's totally different and unexpected.

The biggest change in this flick is the Barbara character. No longer is she a whiny little pansy who just sits around and cries. Now, she shoots zombies, she stabs zombies, she fights zombies, and she finally points out what I'm sure many fans of the Dead trilogy have known for a long time. "They're so slow!" she observes. "We could just walk right past 'em. We wouldn't even have to run."

The acting is very impressive. Tony Todd is outstanding as Ben, improving on Duane Jones' excellent performance from the '68 version. Patricia Tallman is probably the best in the movie. Stong, capable and determined. Tom Towles is great as the scumbag, and his wife performs admirably. William Butler is pretty good as Tom, but his girlfriend is definately the worst performer in the movie.

Tom Savini, as well as being an amazing make-up man, proves himself to be a capable director. The movie has plenty of style, and the action scenes are exciting. The make-up in the film is appropriatly gross (though nothing compared to Dawn or Day) and the zombies are a big improvement over the ones in the original.

Roger Ebert and other critics may have hated this movie, but trust me when I say that it not only lives up to the original, but also improves on it. The two movies are also different enough to warrant owning both (Millenium Edition for the original).

5/5

It's been said before but, just for the record, I'm gonna say it again: If it ain't broke, don't bother fixing it. In other words, if you've already got a movie that's widely regarded as a classic of the genre it can safely be said there is little point in trying to improve upon it. So quite why anyone thought Night of the Living Dead needed a remake is beyond me, especially when you consider the iron clad rule that applies to remakes as much as it does to movies with a '2' in the title: nine times out of ten, it's gonna suck.
However, to its credit, NOTLD remake is at least done with the support and input of those assosciated with the original film (including Romero), unlike the recent spate of Hollywood remakes, which seem to almost take perverse glee in undermining the original film without any consultation to, or recognition of, the original film makers (stand up Texas Chainsaw Massacre). Yet, despite Romero's input, the film is still just not terribly good.
The main problem with this remake, in my opinion, is the new portrayal of the characters. In the first film, you could sympathise with, to some degree, all these people trapped in the farmhouse, you felt sorry for them, and understood their actions because of the predicament that was facing them. In the remake, they're all a bunch of whiny bitchers, and any remaining sympathy is gone; every single one of them is shown to have a mean or annoying streak a mile wide and it comes as something of a releif when one of them gets killed. Also gone is any semblance of intelligence: what kills the characters in this remake is, more often than not, their own stupidity. Maybe that's the point, but still, it makes you feel as if they deserved to die, not something good for character empathy, which is a nesscessary ingredient of a horror movie.
The ending, too was a dissapointment, especially compared to the extremely downbeat, depressing ending of the original. That ending left you with a feeling of hopelessness and a question mark over the fate of humanity. The new ending leaves you with little doubt over how humanity will fair in the struggle against the undead: We'll win, no question.
My final major gripe with this movie is with the zombies themselves. In the original, they were terrifying and mysterious, unstoppable killing machines. In the remake, they seem comically weak and monumentally useless. As Barbara says at one point (an intensely annoying version of the original character, by the way, i spent the entire movie hoping her fate would be the same as that of the original): "they're so slow... we could just walk past them, we wouldn't even have to run.". You see the problem? how are you meant to be afraid of something that couldn't pose a serious threat to a three year old on a trike?
However, despite all the above, and the monotony of some of the zombie attacks (how many times can you watch the undead come smashing through a window the heroes were JUST about to board up? Well, if you want to watch this movie through, make sure it's at least four) Night of the Living Dead the remake is still a watchable film, a much shallower version of the first, that requires much less attention or thought. As a popcorn zombie movie, it works very well, and, it goes without saying, the special effects are quite fantastic for this version, though perhaps not used to their full potential.
Overall, this film is one to watch if your looking for a quick splatter-horror film and is reasonably entertaining. However, if your looking for a horror film with some depth, or one that creates a genuine feeling of unease and tension, then watch the original. There is a reason, afterall, why that is considered a horror classic and this isn't.

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2.0 out of 5 stars an underwhelming experience
this movie was disappointing,to say the least.i expected some suspense or at least some tension, but there was none of that. Read more

Published on Oct 10 2006 by falcon

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing remake
this is one of the best remakes ever made, just as good as the origional. My hats of to Tom Savini, that guy is a horror god!

Published on Mar 29 2005 by Deimos

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome remake
This is a great flick, and an awesome remake of a classic great movie, this is a must see for any Tom Savini/Zombie movie/Horror movie etc. fan! Gte this one now!

Published on Nov 16 2004 by Deimos

5.0 out of 5 stars NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD - TONY TODD
DEFINITELY A GOOD ZOMBIE MOVIE AND VERY WELL DONE,BUT NOT A GOOD REMAKE OF THE ORIGINAL.THE BARBARA CHARACTER WAS A BIT ANNOYING, AND NOTHING LIKE THE ORIGINAL,THE STORYLINE WENT... Read more

Published on July 15 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent remake!
I felt compelled to comment on this flick. I loved the first one. And, I love the remake. The addition of color and a bolder, sexier Barbara only adds to the film. Read more

Published on July 8 2004 by Robert B. Martin

3.0 out of 5 stars Night of the living remake
Ok, this is a rather pointless remake of the original classic. What makes it so bad is that it was directed by Tom Savini, who collaberated with George Romero on "Dawn of... Read more

Published on April 20 2004 by Vagabond77

4.0 out of 5 stars "They're coming to get you, Barbara!"
So you're George Romero, writer and director of one of the most influential horror movies ever, Night of the Living Dead (1968), and it's some twenty odd years later and you're... Read more

Published on April 8 2004 by cookieman108

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not as good
I have to give Tom Savini credit, this was not your average Remake. It captures much of the qualities that made the original so wonderful, the spontaneous attack, a fabulously... Read more

Published on April 8 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars not bad for a remake
I ordinarily hate remakes,but this one is surprisingly good.Devotees of the original should give this film a look. Read more

Published on Mar 28 2004 by Benjamin Wilkerson

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Remake.
This is the 1990 remake to the classic 1968 zombie classic " Night of the Living Dead", it's about a horde of walking dead corpses caused by a pleague that invades a... Read more

Published on Mar 6 2004 by John Lindsey

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