Night of the Living Dead (1990) **

With the 30th anniversary coming up in October (the release was the 19th in 1990), I know I'll be reviewing this again two months from now but there were some impressions I definitely wanted to share. So this might feel abruptly ended. I just know I'll have more to say in October.

Roger Ebert erroneously claimed that this reimagining of the classic 1968 film was so close to each other that there was no reason to make it. I think there are clear differences especially in Tallman's performance as Barbara in the 1990 treatment of her character, very much a take charge and gutsy heroine, a completely different take from the almost impotent and worthless Barbara of Romero's film. Yes, Tom and Judy still suffer from "panic stupids", driving Ben's truck crazily towards the gas pump, a lit torch in the bed of the vehicle set off when an errant shotgun blast sprays gasoline from the spewing hole into the fire, resulting in a big KABOOM! Yes, Ben and temperamental Mr. Cooper, ever bit the jerk and never wavering in his support for the basement, shout and fight at and with each other (especially over boarding up windows, a television set, and the next course of action). The bitten daughter still attacks her mother, Sarah Cooper (Heather Mazur), eventually turning her zombie, with Ben still later shooting her in the head when he must ultimately retreat to the basement. Cooper still fails to help a lot, barks at them for nailing boards to hopefully, but futilely, reinforce protection of the farmhouse, and tries to snatch the shotgun for his own safety. The zombies still emerge to form the expected horde and interrupt Ben's plans to protect the house, feast on the remains of Tom and Judy, and even eat bugs when not running afoul of Ben and Barbara, both equipping themselves well against such overwhelming circumstances unprepared for.

But Director Tom Savini doesn't fill the screen with gory setpieces as anticipated, much to the chagrin of his and the zombie genre fanbase. This was obviously edited heavily and was made during the travails of the MPAA censorship era even though it was reported to have been still Savini's choice to keep the bloodshed and visceral shocks restrained. I think that decision hurt the film and probably still haunts its reputation. I think Barbara being presented as a forceful, tough, brave heroine has received a mixed reputation, too, every since it first came out, but I personally have no qualms with that and I kind of dug the decision in the script for her to be the one who takes down the adversarial and cowardly Cooper. The decision to have Ben turn was always an interesting one to me, as Barbara returned to save him once she got help by local hunters (presented as yuck-yuck hillbillies who loves to shoot their guns, the risen dead perfect targets provided for their entertainment). Barbara and Ben combating the dead with whatever household items were available and guns found in the house was a nice touch, offered as resilient traits to be admired. Tempers and obvious tensions rising from a highly toxic situation don't help but egos and failures to work together and communicate sink any chances for Ben and Cooper to help solve their dangerous and perilous ordeal. The retention of that from the original classic is every bit effective here but Towles really lays the asshole on thick, always ratcheting up the bullish confrontational style, just rubbing Tony Todd's full speed ahead Ben the wrong way. I still really love Todd's scene describing what his Ben sees in a town five miles away, offering in great detail what would have cost millions of dollars perhaps to actually present...it's a great piece of acting and he is very much to me Duane Jones's equal from the original. We are told just how bad it's gotten. Jones did that, too, though, so it was very important to the filmmakers to once again get that point across.