21. Night of the Living Dead (1990/DVD)
This remake of the 1968 classic was directed by horror special effects legend Tom Savini. I didn't come away very impressed, even by the special effects.
It's mostly the same story with a few big changes to the characters. Tom is now a relative to the owners' of the farmhouse, which gives his character more depth. Judy is Judy Rose for some reason. And the biggest change is to the shell-shocked Barbra, who now becomes an action hero.
The problem is that the characters come off as caricatures. Harry, the selfish man in the basement, is egregiously cartoonish. Barbra is a character out of an action movie. And the gun-toting rednecks at the end are stereotypically dumb and cause a groan-worthy observation.
The middle of Night of the Living Dead is where it really starts to tread water. I know the original takes its time as well, but was there this much hammering? At least half an hour of the runtime is accompanied by the sounds of hammering. There's also a lot of petty arguments that don't add up to much.
Overall, it's interesting to see some changes to the classic movie, but most of them aren't improvements.
22. The City of the Dead (1960/Tubi)
This British film is about a New England town that was cursed by a dying witch in the 17th century and still suffers from her wrath. A college student visits there to study its history and comes under the watchful eye of the mysterious inhabitants.
I love the atmosphere of this movie. The town of Whitewood is dark and gloomy, with secret underground passages and a huge cemetery. There's also a hell of a lot of fog everywhere. Whenever someone is outside, they are at least ankle-deep in fog. I don't know how they drive in that stuff.
The plot of City of the Dead isn't very unique, but there's a development that brings to mind another 1960 thriller. It was unexpected and really brings home how dangerous Whitewood is. Christopher Lee is always welcome as a villain and he does good work. The ending is pretty cheesy, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.