Night of the Living Dead (1990)
This remake of George A. Romero’s hugely influential genre classic isn’t awful so much as it is entirely pointless — especially with Romero staying on as screenwriter and executive producer. While the story remains basically the same — a group of survivors hole up inside an abandoned farmhouse during a zombie attack — the original’s unnerving, documentary-style realism is replaced with a generic horror flick atmosphere.
This time, Barbara (Patricia Tallman) isn’t a fragile woman scared for her life, but an accomplished killer of the living dead. While the zombie makeup effects are noticeably improved (thanks to director Tom Savini, an accomplished makeup artisr), the remake fails in nearly every other aspect — especially in regards to the ending, which royally screws up the shocking, powerful finale of the original.
When it comes to horror remakes, we’re always going to prefer a movie that improves on the best aspects of an imperfect original — like 2004’s Dawn of the Dead — over a film that tries fix what ain’t broke.
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