What do you guys think about 'Night of the Living Dead' (1990)?

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This one has eluded me since it came out for some reason. I'm a huge fan of the original, so much so that I prefer it to Romero's Dawn. I haven't been avoiding the '90s remake, it's just never talked about and I never see it anywhere to watch. Well, last night I decided to watch it, and I gotta tell you, I was shocked beyond belief! How in the name of all that is unholy did the legend Tom Savani screw up the effects?

Well, you could make the excuse that he probably didn't have much to do with them, he was busy directing the actors and the camera. Why then would the legend of practical gore effects direct a zombie movie, a classic zombie movie, and not give the good stuff? Give us the stuff that made Dawn so cool. Was he trying to tone it down to match the original Night? Man, I gotta call bull**** on that one if that is the case.

So what do you guys think? When you first saw it, were you expecting a bloodbath? Did you enjoy it in spite of most of the kills being offscreen and really tame? Is there any value to this film? Do any of you own it? Personally, I can't find one thing of value, other that it's giving me something to bitch about online.



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hey @ironpony this mf's stealing your bit

Anyway, I obviously didn't expect something that would match up to the iconic original but I kind of appreciate that you get to see Tony Todd play Ben in a way that goes against his usual villainous roles and also see Barbara not be some catatonic damsel in distress but instead see her get reinvented as a character with agency as played by Patricia Tallman (to say nothing of how that carries through to the ending), but aside from that...yeah, I'm not fussed about it.
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hey @ironpony this mf's stealing your bit

Anyway, I obviously didn't expect something that would match up to the iconic original but I kind of appreciate that you get to see Tony Todd play Ben in a way that goes against his usual villainous roles and also see Barbara not be some catatonic damsel in distress but instead see her get reinvented as a character with agency as played by Patricia Tallman (to say nothing of how that carries through to the ending), but aside from that...yeah, I'm not fussed about it.
Yeah, the Barbara deviation was interesting to watch. I wouldn't say that it was an improvement by any means. In fact, I think the deviation in her character took away from the Ben character greatly. To me, it kind of feels like Savani really didn't understand Night. Or, maybe it's me who doesn't understand Savani. But for me, Ben is the hero of Night. Night of the Living Dead is not a horror movie with an empowered female becoming the classic "final girl." It's about the groundbreaking move to have a black protagonist run the show (in more ways than one). But, maybe Savani knew there wouldn't be much sense in trying to repeat this, and maybe he knew he probably couldn't recapture the brilliance of Dawn's gore. Which makes me wonder, why even do the movie to begin with? Oh, yeah, fans will want to see it.

Oh, and I like my Tony Todd bad to the bone.



It's available as a torrent file.
I meant that I never saw pop up on TV, or Netflix.

Honestly, it was easy to forget that it was out there, and now after seeing it, I can see why.



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I meant that I never saw pop up on TV, or Netflix.

Honestly, it was easy to forget that it was out there, and now after seeing it, I can see why.
It will never rival the original, which, by the way, is available on YouTube.



28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
I'm a fan of it, like the changes and didn't mind the zombie effects.
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Yeah, the Barbara deviation was interesting to watch. I wouldn't say that it was an improvement by any means. In fact, I think the deviation in her character took away from the Ben character greatly. To me, it kind of feels like Savani really didn't understand Night. Or, maybe it's me who doesn't understand Savani. But for me, Ben is the hero of Night. Night of the Living Dead is not a horror movie with an empowered female becoming the classic "final girl." It's about the groundbreaking move to have a black protagonist run the show (in more ways than one). But, maybe Savani knew there wouldn't be much sense in trying to repeat this, and maybe he knew he probably couldn't recapture the brilliance of Dawn's gore. Which makes me wonder, why even do the movie to begin with? Oh, yeah, fans will want to see it.

Oh, and I like my Tony Todd bad to the bone.
I mean, the alternative is to keep Barbara like she was in the original where she's catatonic for most of the movie and

WARNING: "NOTLD '68" spoilers below
only does anything when she sees her zombified brother and runs out to join him in the middle of a zombie crowd


and that's tolerable by 1960s standards but it would look extra dated in a 1990 film (and also be too much of a rehash of the original). After all, Dawn and Day both had far more capable female leads (and I don't think anyone really thinks of them as "final girls") so to go back to a character like the original Barbara after that would look especially regressive. Besides, it changes up the dynamic to have both her and Ben stand up to Harry and eventually

WARNING: "NOTLD 90" spoilers below
have her kill Harry in revenge for letting Ben die.


Pound for pound, this development by itself does not make the remake a superior film, but I appreciate that they tried something different. Besides, it's interesting to see Ben be played by Tony Todd - seeing him put that gravelly menace into a fundamentally good character is also nice for a change.



I mean, the alternative is to keep Barbara like she was in the original where she's catatonic for most of the movie and

WARNING: "NOTLD '68" spoilers below
only does anything when she sees her zombified brother and runs out to join him in the middle of a zombie crowd
Honestly, I think the best alternative would have been to leave this movie alone and not remake it. But if you have to remake it, and you were wanting to do something different and creative, make it about Barbara (like Savini did) but make her African American. And make her a complete badass like Naomie Harris in 28 Days Later. Also, add in twice as much gore as in Dawn. That might be asking too much, but at least hold your own when it comes to your kills. Especially if your name is Tom Savini.



Pound for pound, this development by itself does not make the remake a superior film, but I appreciate that they tried something different. Besides, it's interesting to see Ben be played by Tony Todd - seeing him put that gravelly menace into a fundamentally good character is also nice for a change.
If you wanted to be different, and you wanted to do something different, why remake somebody else's film? I will never understand the statement, "I appreciate that they tried to do something different." (when it pertains to remakes).

It's like copying somebody else's test answers, and then filling in one or two on your own. The two that you filled in were wrong, but your test comes back a 95% and the teacher knows you cheated and writes on your paper, "I really appreciate that you tried two answers on your own."

I think every alteration and deviation Savini did was wrong, therefor to me, this movie has zero value. I know, that's harsh, but it just feels like a cheat.



The scariest zombies ever. He uses MMA to kill without even having to bite.



The scariest zombies ever. He uses MMA to kill without even having to bite.