Night of the Living Dead
(1990)

Make no mistake, the original Night of the Living Dead (released in 1968) is my favorite movie of all time. And given my general stance of horror remakes, it probably comes as a shock that this is one that I actually like pretty well. I'm sure that it has something to do with the fact that a lot of the people behind the original had their hands in making this update. As the original film has fallen into the public domain, it's nice that we have the opportunity to support the creators of the seminal classic... the fact that it is a pretty decent movie in its own right? Well, that's just icing.

News of the NOTLD remake came at a pivotal time in my first wave of horror fandom. When news came down that the king of splatter, Tom Savini was gonna make his debut as a feature film director on this one... well, that practically sent me into convulsions. I followed the production closely. I HAD to see this movie. And when it finally dropped, it was one of the first major "film events" of my life.

Needless to say, there's a lot of nostalgia attached to this film for me. Still, I'm not above admitting its flaws. William Butler turns in an absolutely cringe-inducing portrayal of Tom, while a number of the effects fall short of what you'd expect from an FX team handpicked by Savini. Uncle Rege getting hit by the steel poke looks exactly like the lump of rubber he is and when Johnny's head hits the tombstone... let's just say that I've seen more lifelike manequins at JC Penneys.

Still, there are some things in this film that are just stellar. The updated storyline plays with the viewers expectations of the film. It takes the things you know by heart and skews them just enough to catch you off guard with a new twist. Likewise, the new zombie makeups are phenomenal. Based on actual, grisly death photos they look less like homely townies and more like the lumbering corpses they are. But the most impressive thing about this movie are the performances of the two leading men. Tony Todd as Ben gives every bit of a riveting performance as Duane Jones did in the original. And on the other side of the coin, Tom Towles as Harry Cooper is the perfect a-hole foil Ben. These two really serve to bail out a movie that could have been dead on arrival and propel it into the sublime.

On the wall in my office I have a pressbook from Night of the Living Dead (1990) signed by Tom Savini and Tony Todd. At the convention I'll be adding Tom Towles' name to that list and, just like when I was a kid waiting for the premeir of the NOTLD remake, I can't hardly wait!

Video Goodness!

Night of the Living Dead (1990) - Trailer

Night of the Living Dead (1990) - Twist on the Classic Cemetery Scene

Night of the Living Dead (1990) - Uncle Rege's Big Rubber Head

Night of the Living Dead (1990) - Redneck Zombie Hoedown (Mega-Spoilage!)