La notte dei morti viventi

I'm always wary of remakes of horror and science fiction classics as they are almost always inferior to the original versions, in many cases REALLY inferior. There have been a few successful and worthwhile attempts, especially John Carpenter's 'The Thing' and David Cronenberg's spin on 'The Fly'. Tom Savini's 'Night Of The Living Dead' is another good one. Even though Savini is a legend in the special effects world I really expected this to be awful. It wasn't. While not as literal as the misguided 'Psycho' remake by Gus Van Zant, Savini sticks very close to the source material, and doesn't mess with it as much as Carpenter or Cronenberg did. George Romero scripted, adapting his original screenplay co-written with John A. Russo, and both men co-produce. The main difference in this version, apart from obvious ones like being filmed in colour and with some more sophisticated special effects, is the expansion of the Barbara character, who is much less passive and more important to the plot. Barbara is played by Patricia Tallman who worked with Savini on Romero's cult favourite 'Knightriders'. She is probably best known for her recurring role on 'Babylon 5'. Tony Todd ('Candyman') plays Ben, and is very good, and the underrated Tom Towles ('Henry:Portrait Of a Serial Killer') is excellent as the slimy Harry Cooper. The scenes between the two are really strong, and add a lot to the original. I also enjoyed seeing Bill Mosley (Chop Top from 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2') playing Barbara's brother Johnny in the opening sequence. My only real gripe about the movie is the surprising lack of gore, and also the new ending which to me is nowhere near as good as the original. Apart from that it is much better than I expected, and I highly recommended it to anyone who enjoys Romero's "Dead" trilogy.

Night Of The Living Dead is a 1990 horror film about a group of strangers who are forced to take refuge in an old farmhouse after the dead come back to life and attempt to eat them.

I know most horror fans will definitely prefer George A. Romero's 1968 original Night of the Living Dead, but I feel like Tom Savini's remake deserves more love than it gets. Being the special makeup effects genius that he is there was no shortage in the gore department, and the cast did a great job with all their performances. Although I think the original is good and a remake was probably not necessary, I personally always liked this one better.

If you're a fan of Romero, Savini, or zombies in general and haven't seen this one or the original, I would definitely recommend checking them out.

"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.

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.

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+