La notte dei morti viventi

I'm usually opposed to remakes of classic movies. While the remake did not have the groundbreaking impact of the original, The Night Of The Living Dead 90' is a damn good film for the genre and one of the 1st zombie movies I saw( along with Dawn Of The Dead and Return Of The Living Dead) on cable as a teenager. Tom Savini does a fine job in his directorial debut and was overseen by George Romero as writer and producer. This is not the gorefest that fans have come to expect as a lot of it was left on the cutting room floor by the MPAA to get an R rating. Even without it, it's a good horror film with great atmosphere and score and tension. Patricia Tallman was excellent as the leading lady Barbara and was approached differently than the Barbara in the original film. Also impressive was Tony Todd as Ben in a pre Candyman role. The support cast was very good as well with horror icons Tom Toyles and Bill Mosely giving memorable performances as well. This was a good remake that introduced Romero zombies to a generation (my generation). Night Of The Living Dead 90' is a nice companion piece to the original black and white film and is much better than a lot of less effective zombie horror that recieves more fanfare.

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."

"This is pure hell on earth." Actually, what Tony Todd meant to say was "This is one hell of a movie." Tom Savini and George A. Romero have succeeded in recreated a classic (which is quite hard to do). Night of the Living Dead '90 is faithful to the original, but still manages to scare and surprise you by throwing in a few unexpected twists. Director Savini creates a great atmosphere. This is one of my favorite claustrophobic films. It has the feel of an old, secluded farmhouse, and thankfully lacks that Hollywood gloss. The characters feel real as well. The cast is perfect. Tony Todd, William Butler, and Tom Towles are the re-incarnations of the original Ben, Tommy, and Harry Cooper. And longtime Romero collaborator, Patricia Tallman, revamps her character Barbara for the nineties. And you gotta love Bill Moseley ("They're coming to get you Barbara. They're horny Barbara."). All of the classic elements (the feud between Ben and Cooper, the claustrophobia) and a few new ones (a smarter female lead, new ending) make this one unforgettable.

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+