Night of the Living Dead (1990)

Synopsis: This remake closely follows the original Romero classic from 1968. Johnny and his sister Barbara are off to visit a grave when the reanimated dead attack them. Barbara is soon on her own as Johnny is attacked and killed by a zombie. She ends up at an isolated farmhouse where we are introduced to the rest of the cast. Ben, who arrives in a truck with a nearly empty tank, the Coopers and their daughter who were hiding in the basement round out the cast. With the Coopers are a young couple Judy and Tom, who is related to the now dead owners of the farmhouse. The small group of survivors begins barricading themselves in the farmhouse as an ever-growing mob of zombies surrounds them. Finally Ben decides that they need to fuel up the truck from the gas pump that they see in the back yard and make a break for it. From here on out the group is slowly reduced in number. Will any of them survive until they are rescued? Check out this movie to see.

The Good: I’m not a big fan of remakes, but in some ways this movie gets a pass from me. First of all George Romero gave this movie his blessing and wrote the screenplay. A screenplay that makes a few adjustments from the original without loosing what made the 68 version of the film so classic. Also makeup effects wizard and longtime Romero collaborator Tom Savini directed this version of the film. Not only is the movie paced really well but you can tell that the effects shots were well planned out and shot with a lot of care. Not to mention that the lead zombies in this film will rival anything that appeared in either Dawn of the Dead or Day of the Dead. I was also very impressed by the cast that they assembled for this movie. Patrica Tallman embraces the entirely new take on the character of Barbara that the script provides and runs with it. No longer is she a catatonic weak link to the survivors. In fact by the end of the movie you will be cheering her actions by the end of the movie. Genre vet Tony Todd also does a really good job as Ben picking up where Duane Jones left off in the original.

The Bad: While this is an enjoyable movie and works very well it is still a remake and I just can’t ignore that. Still that is the only negative that I can find to mention.

The Score: 3 out of 4

If you enjoy a good zombie film then I guarantee that you will like this movie.

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