Let me start off by saying that I loved the original Night of the Living Dead shot on black-and-white in the late sixties and directed by George Romero. This film defined the modern zombie film and has been a cult classic over forty years. In this day of horror remakes coming out in droves, it might surprise you that a remake of Night of the Living Dead was actually made in 1990 before remakes and the current zombie craze was actually cool. Directed by Tom Savini and scripted by George Romero, who was executive producer as well, this remake of the original is very good. Shot in color with excellent acting and state of the art zombie make-up this turns out to be an excellent retelling of the original. I had seen it when it came out in the theaters back in 1990 and I seem to remember it as a Halloween release at the time. Fast forward 22 years later and as I'm winding down the final chapters of my own zombie novel, I decide to revisit the film. (You can watch it free online on HULU by the way). I was surprised at how well this remake really is; especially in light of all the failed horror remakes that have been made since then including Halloween, Nightmare of Elm Street, etc. This film captures the spirt of the original, but with a few twists added by Tom Savini's vision. I shared an elevator with Tom Savini at Texas Frightmare in Dallas earlier this year. If you don't know who the man is then you're reading the wrong blog, but I'll refresh your memory. He was the premiere make-up effect artist who is responsible for a mulitude of horror's top movies including Dawn of the Dead (the original), Friday the 13th (original) etc. He's also an actor who has played
in various films including Knightriders ( another Romero film you should check out), Dawn of the Dead (original) and Dusk til Dawn. Inspired by Lon Chaney in Man of a Thousand Faces, he saw first-hand the carnage of blood and violence as a combat photographer in Viet Nam which helped hone his craft as a make-up effect artist. I was surprised at how well he directed this film. In the middle of the current zombie craze it is also very relevant and ground-breaking by being one of the first horror remakes. If you want to watch a really good zombie movie by two masters of the genre then Night of the Living Dead (1990) is for you. I give it 4 stars out of 5.
Let me start off by saying that I loved the original Night of the Living Dead shot on black-and-white in the late sixties and directed by George Romero. This film defined the modern zombie film and has been a cult classic over forty years. In this day of horror remakes coming out in droves, it might surprise you that a remake of Night of the Living Dead was actually made in 1990 before remakes and the current zombie craze was actually cool. Directed by Tom Savini and scripted by George Romero, who was executive producer as well, this remake of the original is very good. Shot in color with excellent acting and state of the art zombie make-up this turns out to be an excellent retelling of the original. I had seen it when it came out in the theaters back in 1990 and I seem to remember it as a Halloween release at the time. Fast forward 22 years later and as I'm winding down the final chapters of my own zombie novel, I decide to revisit the film. (You can watch it free online on HULU by the way). I was surprised at how well this remake really is; especially in light of all the failed horror remakes that have been made since then including Halloween, Nightmare of Elm Street, etc. This film captures the spirt of the original, but with a few twists added by Tom Savini's vision. I shared an elevator with Tom Savini at Texas Frightmare in Dallas earlier this year. If you don't know who the man is then you're reading the wrong blog, but I'll refresh your memory. He was the premiere make-up effect artist who is responsible for a mulitude of horror's top movies including Dawn of the Dead (the original), Friday the 13th (original) etc. He's also an actor who has played 
in various films including Knightriders ( another Romero film you should check out), Dawn of the Dead (original) and Dusk til Dawn. Inspired by Lon Chaney in Man of a Thousand Faces, he saw first-hand the carnage of blood and violence as a combat photographer in Viet Nam which helped hone his craft as a make-up effect artist. I was surprised at how well he directed this film. In the middle of the current zombie craze it is also very relevant and ground-breaking by being one of the first horror remakes. If you want to watch a really good zombie movie by two masters of the genre then Night of the Living Dead (1990) is for you. I give it 4 stars out of 5. 
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