Jun 08 2004
Movie: “Night of the Living Dead” (1990)
“Night of the Living Dead” (1990) - Directed by Tom Savini.
Starring Tony Todd, Patricia Tallman, Tom Towles, McKee Anderson, William Butler, Katie Finneran, Bill Moseley and Heather Mazur.
Zombie Film Rating:
Summary: Staying (for the most part) true to the original story line. This movie follows the same basic plot as the ‘68 version. We follow Johnny and Barbara on a visit to their mothers grave, while Johnny mocks Barbaras fear of the graveyard they are accosted by a man shambling towards them. Unlike the original, this man is an injured human, immediately following him is the zombie.
Johnny is knocked down (and presumably killed), and Barbara flees to a nearby farmhouse, where she makes an effort to understand what is going on, her reflections on the afterlife are cut short by a zombie trying to gain entry to the house, and she dispatches him with gusto (actually it’s a bit of a struggle, but in the end we’re short one zombie, and she’s still standing).
Naturally Ben makes an appearance at this point, and together they begin to barricade themselves into the house. In a slight departure from the original, Barbara slips into Rambo mode instead of a catatonic state. While barricading the house they discover a group of survivors in the basement (Yep, it’s the Coopers and Tom and Judy). A minor power struggle again occurs between Harry Cooper and Ben, but the majority of the group assists with the makeshift fortifications.
Naturally this group makes a run for the fuel pumps, and in the confusion over the keys Tom and Judy are crispified. Meanwhile in the basement Karen Cooper (who has suffered a zombie-bite) has turned into a zombie, and has killed Helen Cooper.
Ben and Barbara are trying to prevent the zombies from breaking into the house, it’s a desperate struggle and Harry Cooper is not being much help. As his daughter shambles upstairs both Ben and Barbara beg with Harry to kill his daughter, but he refuses and shoots Ben when he tries to kill the zombie-daughter.
As Ben and Harry begin a shoot-out, Barbara makes a run for it.We see her running through the yard, as both Ben and Harry (wounded from their gun battle) crawl off to their respective hiding places (Harry in the Attic and Ben in the basement).
Barbara manages to link up with redneck zombie hunters, and finds some relative safety in their camp. She returns to the farmhouse in the morning with the zombiehunters, and as they cut their way into the basement Ben (the zombie) shuffles through the door, and is almost immediately gunned down. Barbara has run into Harry (who survived) and she shoots him in the head, telling the rednecks he was another zombie…
Citique: While directed by Savini, I have to admit I really like this remake. It was close enough to the original that it felt really familiar, but featured a number of nice touches that gave it its own style (this would be Savinis forte, special effects and gore, no?).
Also nice were the minor modifications to the characters, and the story that brought it more up to date.
Highly recommended.
One Response to “Movie: “Night of the Living Dead” (1990)”
I actualy like this better then the original, it is written by romero, and I have heard that Mr. Savini contacted Romero often for advice with directing.