Night of the Living Dead (1990)

this totally unnecessary remake of George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) doesn't measure up to or significantly diverge from the original, but i like it. one key difference, the one that makes it worth watching, is the strong female protagonist – Barbara, who was largely useless and in the way in Romero's version, becomes the most levelheaded character in this one. she doesn't talk much after her traumatic experience in the cemetery in the opening scene, so i headcanon her as an autistic heroine with selective mutism Harry Cooper, the drunken wife beater who hides his family in the cellar, becomes the more irritating character, largely due to poor acting on Tom Towles's part: the escalating tension between Cooper and Ben that was a driving facet of the plot in the original film just isn't very effective here there are some memorable scenes and zombie designs; the altered ending is far less impactful than in the original, but satisfying nonetheless. if you're a fan of zombie films, check it out, but don't expect a cinematic masterpiece

WARNING: This will be very rant-y, read at your own risk, also contains spoilers. First off, this remake is an insult to the original! Everything chilling about the original is instead poorly parodied as campy, goofy cheese. It's like the writers and directors purposefully set out to lampoon the original and ruin its legacy! Even by 90s standards, this movie it terrible (and that's saying something). The whole movie just screams "low budget", and the writers/director obviously didn't care how the movie turned out, as long as it was finished so hellywood could crank out another by-the-numbers remake. The main character woman magically goes from a helpless feeb into a rambo-esque bad-ass that almost never misses a head shot to a zombie and, at one point, literally just mosies on past all the zombies as she leaves the farm, even though before it was a life and death struggle where she barely escaped from only one or two of them.What really kills the movie for me is how they made it into a liberal politically correct propaganda film. Most of the characters are hillbillies of the worst kind, and at one point they're having an almost carnival-like "county fair" deal, with the movie showing some guy in a ring with a zombie and people taking potshots at zombies strung up on ropes, clearly using the zombies being "victimized" by the hillbillies as an analogy for blacks being lynched/attacked by "racist whiteys". The lead actress even makes an insipid little snark about it, telling the audience that the hillbillies are just as bad or worse as the zombies are.Shame on you, Savini! >:O

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."

The original creators of the seminal Night of the Living Dead (1968) reconvene 22 years later to, well, make some money!It was a compromised production, with director Tom Savini announcing that the finished cut is not half the film he set out to make. Surprising, then, to find it still works to the point of being viable. It's a very effective zombie pic, one performed with quality by the cast, with the concept of a group of people holed up in a house - under intense attack by the walking dead - still terrifying. Group dynamics again explode, heroes and villains are born, and the creatures are high grade in scary construction. Caveat, though, is that although it's a faithul(ish) remake, where with the new tools to hand it's understandable why the makers thought they could create another horror classic, but one for the 90s horror hordes, it still remains that it's utterly bloodless. While the finale is a bit stinky... 6/10