Night of the Living Dead (1990)

Night of the Living Dead (1990), a remake of the famous original film of the same name, seemed poised for success. Romero, director of the original and grandfather of the genre, convinced practical effects wizard Tom Savini to direct the film. John A. Russo and Russ Streiner, both associated with the original production, were attached to the project as well. With the involvement of so many of the people central to the past success of Night of the Living Dead (1960) and Dawn of the Dead (1978), it seemed impossible to fail.

But fail, it did.

The film experienced a troubled production, with reported interference by producers hampering Tom Savini's first feature directorial effort.

The film immediately establishes the trademark qualities of its performances: hokey, over-the-top, and delivered with the timing of an epileptic drummer. This is unfortunate, as some of the performers, particularly Tony Todd, perform well in other films; here they are limited both by script and direction.

The movie makes obvious alterations to events within the house, such as the mishap with the TV. Still, some story beats hew too closely to the original for their own good, creating a "been there, done that" effect. Some changes, however, have potential. In the original, Barbara was near catatonic; in this film she shows herself to be adaptable. She even successfully identifies the way out of their situation, though none of the group takes heed of her advice. It may be an overstatement to call this an improvement on the character, but it is certainly a compelling version of Barbara.

Though Barbara and the group face violence, completely confoundingly, the blood and gore effects of the film fall flat. How this is possible with Savini at the helm is unclear; his past work speaks for itself. Yet none of the violence lands.

This remake even manages to take Romero’s original insights and cool the associated IQ to room temperature. The original tells us through story and action over and over that the threat posed by the zombies is parallel to the threat posed by the living. The remake boils this nuance down into two words which it proclaims with pseudointellectuality. “They’re us,” Barbara says confidently as she appraises the violent humans around her. The reviewer is almost surprised she didn’t repeat herself and then literally spell it out letter by letter.

Ultimate fans of the genre will be more forgiving but they remain a modest minority. Night of the Living Dead (1990) is a needless iteration on a timeless classic which manages only to pick at the bones of the original.