Product: Night of the Living Dead (1990)
Rating: 5.0
One Of The Best Zombie Movies Ever, And Essential Horror
The 1990 version of the immortal "Night Of The Living Dead" tale - the newly dead rise from the graves and a group of strangers seeks safety by barricading themselves in a farmhouse that is quickly beseiged - is in many ways actually even better than its legendary predecessor. Certain elements from the original are admittedly truncated - the 'news-reel' footage from the first in which a tv set in the farm house plays out reports across the country as the characters inside go about making preparations - is virtually absent, for example. But that was one of the better parts of the first NotLD, and shortening the parts that were already perfect, and building up other aspects that weren't as developed the first time around, may have been wise. The character of Barbara is a good example of this. One of the pair of siblings (in both versions) that first encounters a zombie in the graveyard, in the first movie the character had little to do once inside the farmhouse; the male characters took over the focus of the movie. In this remake the character (played by Patricia Tallman) becomes one of the two leading figures of the survivors, along with Ben (Tony Todd). With the other characters, the 1968 original set them up very well with differing reactions to the situation and differing personalities; in the 1990 remake those same characters are expanded on and used to even greater effect.The action this time is ratcheted up, with a more violent, intense and gory assault by the dead; excellent special effects stand up brilliantly 18 years after this one's release. Inividually not as dangerous as the fast, savage zombies in theDawn of the Dead (Widescreen Unrated Director's Cut)remake or28 Days Later (Widescreen Edition)/28 Weeks Later (Widescreen Edition)the zombies are a bit more aggressive and monsterous-looking than in the '68 original. All the different takes on the living dead - the slow, human-looking shamblers of the original, the berserk beasts of 28 Days/28 Weeks, or the ones sort of inbetween, can work great if done well; this remake may be the definitive take on this particular breed of living dead. And the movie itself is a quintessential horror film, definately one of the field's essentials.