Night of the Living Dead 1990

Greetings all! Now I will start reviewing all of the remakes and rip offs of NOTLD. Today will be The 1990 Remake of Night of the Living Dead. Directed by Tom Savini, this remake is closer to George Romero's original vision.  This movie combines the talents of Candyman's Ton Todd and stunt woman/actress Patricia Tallman.

This one starts out basically the same as the original with Barbara and her brother visiting a grave sight. Instead of their father they are visiting their mothers grave. They get attacked by not one but two zombies. It is obvious that the effects have been amped up and the show will move at a faster pace. 

 Johny is dispatched with quickly and Barbara makes a run for the car but of course, no keys. As with the first NOTLD the undead are aware of enough to use tools to smash in windows. Barbara makes it to the farmhouse to find it deserted or show she thinks. She quickly discovers that she is not alone, their is one monstrously huge undead in the upstairs area that decides to do a swan dive over the railing onto her. She runs back outside only to meet Ben. 

Here is where we see a shift in the characters. As Ben is dealing with one of the undead, Barbara deals with another in a fashion that is unlike her previous counterpart. She appears catatonic but quickly regains her composure as she helps Ben reinforce the house. All the while the rest of the cast is locked in the basement as per the original story. Ben seems to be truly distraught as he dispatches the undead,  and shows emotions that his previous character did not.

The story that he tells is similar to the original story but not as in-depth. Barbara is more proactive in this rendition. The other characters such as Judy, Helen, Harry and Tom are similar to the original. Judy is more protective of the house and willing to kick everyone else out for her own benefit. 

While Harry and Ben are busy fighting between themselves Barbara takes the initiative to start boarding the place. Now would be a good time to note that the relationship between Helen and Harry is the same, the only difference is that Harry is visually physically abusive. Sarah their daughter is of course bitten and dying as they fight amongst themselves. More undead start to swarm around them. It is Barbara that comes up with the idea to leave. She realizes that locking themselves in is not the best idea. They move slowly so it would not be possible to walk by them. Judy is the scream queen of the bunch and she does her job well. A little to well. 

Barbara  proves to everyone that she is in control of herself and that the rest of the group needs to get a grip. Eventually, they decide to make run for the gas pump.  Anyone that has seen the original knows how this ends. BarBQed Tom and Judy. Harry continues to play the stubborn jackass refusing to help. 

Once it has become clear that staying upstairs is not the best options, all hell breaks loose. Helen runs downstairs only to be assaulted by her daughter Sarah. In a nod to Romero's original plot we see blood splattered across a garden trowel. Also we see a name placard on the house bearing the name of M. Celeste. The famous boat that was found abandoned in the Atlantic ocean. Harry and Ben shoot each other, Ben locks himself in the basement and finds the gas pump keys ( a little late their dude). Harry scampers his chickenshit ass into the cellar. 

Barbara eventually finds herself confronted with a truck load of corpses and rednecks anxious to shoot something. Cut to a scene of a group of rednecks basically torturing the undead by stringing them up and using them for target practice. Once again leaving the viewing audience with the question do we deserve to be rescued from this plaque of undead.  As they make a sweep the next morning, they happen upon the farmhouse. They find Ben, having bled out one of the undead and Harry still alive and kicking. As a good ole ending should be done Barbara puts a single bullet between his eyes. A fitting end to such a cowardly bastard.

Considering Savini did this film you would expect more gore but instead he chose to remain true to the original vision of Romero's work.

I give this 5 severed thumbs. And Remember,

I watch this shit so you dont have to!

Shane

	Tony Todd	...	Ben
	Patricia Tallman	...	Barbara
	Tom Towles	...	Harry Cooper
	McKee Anderson	...	Helen Cooper
	William Butler	...	Tom
	Katie Finneran	...	Judy Rose
	Bill Moseley	...	Johnnie (as Bill Mosley)
	Heather Mazur	...	Sarah Cooper
	David W. Butler	...	Hondo (as David Butler)
	Zachary Mott	...	Bulldog
	Pat Reese	...	The Mourner
	William Cameron	...	The Newsman
	Pat Logan	...	Uncle Rege
	Berle Ellis	...	The Flaming Zombie
	Bill 'Chilly Billy' Cardille	...	T.V. Interviewer
	Greg Funk	...	Cemetery Zombie
	Tim Carrier	...	Autopsy Zombie
	John Hamilton	...	Kyle - Crowbar Zombie
	Dyrk Ashton	...	Truck Zombie
	Jordan Berlant	...	Porch Zombie
	Albert Shellhammer	...	Cousin Satchel
	Jay McDowell	...	Front Door Zombie
	Walter Berry	...	McGruder
	Kendal Kraft	...	Bob Evans Zombie
	David Grace	...	Policeman Zombie
	Stacie Foster	...	Doll's Mom Zombie
	Charles Crawley	...	Window Zombie