The Zombie Remake As Good As The Original Horror Classic

By Brian Myers
| Published 2 minutes ago

Remakes are a source of a great divide among horror fans, seemingly split into even-numbered camps that either welcome new visions of old classics or consider the very thought of reimagining a beloved film blasphemous. When it was announced in 1989 that George Romero’s zombie cult classic Night of the Living Dead would be remade for modern audiences, the news was met with mixed reaction. For those who have seen the finished 1990 version, most will agree that it is every bit as much of a gem as its 1968 predecessor.

The Night of the Living Dead remake begins in the same way of the original, with brother and sister Johnny and Barbara (played by Bill Moseley and Patricia Tallman, respectively) visiting their mother’s grave in a country cemetery in Pennsylvania. While putting flowers on the plot, the siblings are attacked by an elderly man. In the scuffle to protect his sister, Johnny is killed.

Barbara runs from the graveyard and finds what she thinks is an empty farmhouse. But a small group of zombies, much like the one that attacked her and Johnny in the cemetery, are there to greet her. She is suddenly joined by a man named Ben (Tony Todd), who helps her keep the undead at bay.

The Night of the Living Dead remake continues along much of the same path as the Romero original, with the farmhouse being occupied by a group of survivors in the basement. Conflict between the newcomers and the squatters arises, with devastating consequences. With limited resources and even fewer options, the small group tries to develop a plan to escape and find better digs.

The Night of the Living Dead remake marks the directorial debut for special effects and film makeup wizard Tom Savini. While he did not work on the 1968 Romero original, Savini became a staple of Romero‘s subsequent films. The filmmaker/special effects master helped to bring the undead to life on screen with Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead, as well as lending his acting talents to small roles in several of Romero’s films that include Dawn of the Dead and Martin.

The Night of the Living Dead remake brought the horrors of the original in full, gory color. Little is left to the imagination in this version, and Savini was forced to edit out some of the more brutal scenes to avoid an NC-17 rating. The added gore aside, the movie sticks pretty close to the original as far as plot and character development, with one glaring and welcomed exception.

For the role of Barbara, Savini had actress Patricia Tallman (best known for her role on Babylon 5) evolve the character over the course of the film into a powerful player who takes no prisoners. This is a far cry from the original Barbara from 1968, who was meek and pretty helpless.

The Night of the Living Dead remake delivers better performances from its stars, particularly Tallman and Tony Todd. Sharp-eyed horror fans will recognize two faces from the 1968 version in Bill Cardille (who played a TV news reporter in both versions) and Russell Streiner, who played Johnny in the 1968 version and was cast as Sheriff McClelland in the 1990 reboot.

You can stream the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead on Amazon.