Product: Night of the Living Dead (1990)
Rating: 3.0
A remake will never be an original
I'm intrigued by how we Americans seem to be preoccupied with Zombie movies--I had a tour of middle school kids last spring at Arlington National Cemetery and the teacher/chaperone brought up to the students zombie movies and their relationship with reality--and vampire movies. But perhaps the granddaddy of zombie movies is the originalNight of the Living Dead (Millennium Edition)which put George Romero on the map.That's now part of a "Zombie" collection I got some time ago.Then George, in 1990, did a remake.I'm among the three living humans who prefers orginals; while the story, the characters, the special effect (etc. etc. etc.) of the originalStar Trek: The Original Series - Season One (Remastered Edition)don't even compare with the follow-ups, I still argue that nothing can compare with the original.To be honest (and God forbid!) I don't remember the original "Night" that well. (!) And I wanted to rate the remake based on its on merits--remembering that it is, alas, a remake.First, it was in color. (That's not necessarily and necessity; Woody Allen'sManhattanwas done in B&W; and he intended it that way. And there are other examples. But for a story without all that much substance, I kind of like the color.Next, this version made a political statement. First, one Harry Cooper (Tom Towles) was too chicken to face the turmoil. He ended up dead, an anti-hero, at the end.Next, all these dead cannibals were rounded up by a bunch of pick-up and motorcycle drivin' rednecks and put in rings like pro-wrestlers (or UCF "athletes.") The lead, Barbara (Patricia Tallman), the gun-totin' feminist hero of the story, says, "We are them," or something to that effect, i.e., we've become as bad as they are!The lead male, Ben (Tony Todd) died a living-dead former hero.Overall it was a great story. Now I'm going to have to watch the original and see if a comparison is appropriate. (Maybe I'll watch the others in the Zombie collection tooZombie Classics - COLLECTOR'S EDITION TIN!and try to discern what it is about zombies that mezmerizes the American viewing public.Enjoy this one, though. It's certainly worth watching.