Product: Night of the Living Dead (1990)
Rating: 3.0
15 minutes later and you'll be Hungry again...
Let's just say you're a zombie fanatic.You've seen Romero's classic "Night of the Living Dead" a million times and you've even picked up the gold standard of that tasty little gem of zombie goodness, the Millennium Edition. You've had many a night of popcorn and beer watching all four of the movies in the infamous "Living Dead" series back to back.You're easily pleased with the bucketloads of linguine with red clam sauce served up by Italian Master Chef Fulci in "Zombie", "House by the Cemetery" and "The Beyond", you've gone punk and rocked the Casbah with "Return of the Living Dead", and you've grooved to the End of the World in Merry Olde England with the nihilistic "28 Days Later" and "Shawn of the Dead".In other words, if it involves flesh eaters, you've been there, done that, and seen it all. So what's not to love about the idea of a remake of "Night of the Living Dead", only in glorious techni-color (think red---bright, glossy, gory, glorious RED!), with the leering Candyman himself Tony Todd in the lead, and with Gore Maestro Tom Savini helming up the production?Good question. Look, I'm no remake snob; if a director has something new to say, or a different way of saying it, by all means slap a fresh coat of paint (or blood and gore!) on that bad boy! But this 1990 remake of "Night of the Living Dead" says pretty much the same old thing, only with less flair, less suspense, less sheer bone-chilling horror, less style, and surprisingly---given that Savini helmed this little outting---less gore. Where's my red clam sauce, Savini?Once again the Dead Walk: Barbara (played by Patricia Tallman, a career stunt-woman and all-around tough cookie who played the Deadite witch in the Pit in "Army of Darkness") and Johnny go to a lonely cemetery, Barbara and Johnny run afoul of the Living Dead, Barbara seeks refuge in an abandoned farmhouse, and ultimately teams up with a frightened ragtag group of fellow survivors. We've heard this little song before, but for my money, zombies ambling about the Pennsylvania countryside looking for flesh to chew on never gets old.The editing is tight, the pacing is pretty good, and the acting is all spot-on: Tallman ditches the hysterics and grabs a rifle, Tony Todd is eerily note-perfect in his homage to Duane Jone's Ben, and Tom Towles glowers and acts spineless as Mr. Cooper (Towles showed up as the doomed Deputy in "House of 1000 Corpses", and also played the evil Otis in "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer")---and is it just me, or is Heather Mazur the cutest flesh-eating little girl in movie history?There are also some deft little twists at the end, and all in all the remake of "Night" is a fun little romp, and while it can't measure up to the ghoulish brilliance of the original, it gets lots of mileage for its $4.2 million budget.So why am I still hungry after this zombie snack? Gore, that's why---there really isn't any of it. Evidently the initial cut would have gotten a triple-X rating, and Savini had to make some liberal slices off his film to get an "R"---so I reserve the right to add two more stars once I get my hands on a juicy unrated Director's Cut.Final Verdict: Savini's "Night of the Living Dead" tastes great, but is way less filling. Have a backup copy of the original just in case.JSG