Night of the Living Dead 1990

 

 

A few years ago, the last time I was involved in the Halloween Blog-A-Thon in fact, I reviewed the original Night of the Living Dead.  In order to sum up the review quickly l'll just say that when it comes to the original NOTLD I'm not a big fan.  So why would I go out on a limb and review the remake knowing how remakes tend to go?  Especially remakes of films that are considered groundbreaking masterpieces might I add.  Well the fact that I'm not a big fan of the original (I gave it two and a half stars out of five) gave me the freedom to watch and review the remake because the way I looked at it, it couldn't be worse, could it?      

 

 

 

 First thing I have to mention is this remake actually has it's roots in the original in that George Romero wrote the screenplay.  Except for a few minor details it is basically the same movie.  The difference comes in how the characters are presented.  This is all my opinion now but the jobs done by Tony Todd and Patricia Tallman as Ben and Barbara are each remarkable.  Tony Todd is the epitome of "grace under pressure" as Ben and pays tribute to the role originally played by Duane Jones very well.  I can "feel" all the anger, desperation, frustration, and strength he exudes in every scene.  From how he handles the tension between himself and Harry Cooper to how he emotionally supports the young couple Tom and Judy Rose in their struggle to survive.  

 

 The biggest difference I find here is the job Tallman does playing Barbara.  Here Barbara is less of an emotional mess and more of a driving force and the one, I feel, kills the most zombies (once again never actually called "zombies" like in the original but we know what they are) and other than Ben has the most survival skills in the group.  I don't know I'm backwards I guess in that I really like this one compared to the original.  Perhaps it's because I wasn't around when the first one was released and don't understand how it captured the feel of the times.  Anyway, I dig up three and a half gardening trowels out of five for this very impressive remake.