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Night of the Living Dead (1990 film)

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Night of the Living Dead
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTom Savini
Written byScreenplay:
George A. Romero
1968 Screenplay:
George A. Romero
John A. Russo
Produced byDeclan Baldwin
Christine Forrest
StarringTony Todd
Patricia Tallman
Tom Towles
McKee Anderson
CinematographyFrank Prinzi
Edited byTom Dubensky
Music byPaul McCollough
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
October 19, 1990
Running time
92 minutes
88 minutes (edited)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4,200,000
Box office$5,835,247

Night of the Living Dead is a 1990 American horror remake of George A. Romero's 1968 film of the same name and was directed by Tom Savini. Romero rewrote the original 1968 screenplay co-authored by John A. Russo.

Another remake would follow in 2006, titled Night of the Living Dead 3-D; however, none of the original cast or crew had anything to do with it.

This version of the story offers multiple, never confirmed causes for the zombie plague; someone on the radio of Ben's truck explains it as a prison break, and another explains it as a chemical spill. Ben dismisses both of these theories as nonsense, although the chemical spill theory is much more plausible. Other theories include depletion of the ozone layer, the use of chemical weapons, voodoo, aliens, and a new kind of virus, although it is stated that it is unknown how the disease could have appeared in all corners of the world at the same time.

Plot

The film begins with siblings Johnny (Bill Moseley) and Barbara (Patricia Tallman) visiting their mother's grave in an apparently remote, rural cemetery. During their visit, Barbara is attacked by a zombie. Her brother comes to her defense but falls and smashes his head on a gravestone.

Barbara flees the cemetery and discovers what at first seems to be an abandoned farmhouse. She is joined there shortly after by Ben (Tony Todd) and the two clear the house of zombies and begin the process of barricading the doors and windows. They discover other survivors are already hiding in the cellar of the house: Harry Cooper (Tom Towles), his wife Helen (McKee Anderson), their daughter Sarah (who is ill after being bitten by one of the infected), Tom Landry (William Butler) and his girlfriend Judy Rose Larson (Katie Finneran). What follows are the attempts by the survivors to defend the house under siege from the undead. The group is left divided over what their next course of action should be. Harry believes everyone should retreat to the cellar and bar the door to wait for the authorities. Ben thinks the cellar is a "death trap" and that they would be better served fortifying the house, which at least has alternate escape routes. This leaves the Coopers in the basement tending to their daughter and the remaining members of the group upstairs to continue their work reinforcing the doors and windows.

A plan is ultimately devised to escape using Ben's truck, which is out of fuel. There is a gas pump on the property but it is locked. A search of a corpse on the property produces a set of keys. Judy Rose, Tom, and Ben proceed up the hill toward the gas pump but their plan begins to unravel when Ben falls from the bed of the truck and is left to defend himself against the undead. After discovering the key to the gas pump is not among the bunch they brought with them, Tom attempts to shoot the lock off. The resulting explosion kills both Tom and Judy.

Ben returns to the house to find things beginning to devolve into chaos. Harry has wrestled Barbara's gun away from her and is now armed. Unbeknownst to the survivors upstairs, Helen has been attacked and bitten by her daughter, who is now a zombie. When Sarah makes her way upstairs she triggers a shootout between her father, who is trying to protect her, and Ben and Barbara, who are trying to protect themselves. Both Ben and Harry are badly wounded. Harry retreats upstairs to the attic. Ben makes his way to the cellar. Barbara leaves the house, now being overrun by the undead, to attempt to find help.

Barbara eventually joins a posse of locals who are attempting to clear the area of the undead. She returns with them to the farmhouse the next day to find Ben has died of his wounds and reanimated. Harry emerges from the attic alive. Barbara shoots him and turns to leave the house, telling the vigilantes they have "another one for the fire".

Cast

Production

The film was handled by the same team as the original, with the exception that directing duties were handled by famed special make-up effects artist Tom Savini, who originally signed up with hopes of doing the make-up effects as he was not able to for the original film. Romero served as producer for the remake, and he recruited some of the original camera and sound crew to participate.

Laurence Fishburne, Ving Rhames, and Eriq La Salle were all considered for the role of Ben. Subsequently, Rhames would go on to play a male lead in the remakes of Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead.

To avoid an X rating, Savini had to cut several scenes from the film, some of which can be seen on the DVD. Savini sometimes shows the entirety of the cut scenes at conventions.

Reception

Initial reaction to this remake was largely negative. Roger Ebert awarded the film a mere one star out of a possible four stars. Leonard Maltin assigned it two out of four stars. Recent criticism has been more appreciative, and the film currently holds a 70% "fresh" approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

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