Tag Archives: Night of the Living Dead

Night of the Living Dead (1990)

Night Of The Living Dead 1990“They’re coming to get you, Bar-bara!”  You loved the original Night Of The Living Dead and you’ll get a kick out of the re-make.  Quite frankly, I’m not quite sure what to make of this at first — probably because I thought it had some 1980s camp to it, and then it grew on me.  So let’s break this down…

The 1968 Night Of The Living Dead is not only a cult favourite, it feels like it has some vintage class due to the black & white filming.  The 1990 version — made by the same group of people who made the original — has a presence that feels real.  Patricia Tallman plays Barbara — and instead of being the wilting flower in the 1968 film (played of course by Judith O’Dea), Tallman is more of a Sigourney Weaver / Warrant Officer Ripley character from the 1979 film “Alien.

Patricia Tallman
Patricia Tallman as get-tough Barbara

What really did it for me about this version of Night Of The Living Dead is that it came across as a study of how people might react in a crisis — both good and bad.  In particular, their retractions with respects to those who dig down and do what they need to do to survive.  While it did have some instant-Rambo elements among the characters (bad Hollywood, BAD HOLLYWOOD!), it had some true grit.  Once I saw past the 1980s-ish camp-vibe, I liked the film — I give it a Light Green Ooze rating! LIVING

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Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Night of the Living Dead – Green Ooze OF COURSE!

The seminal zombie film of zombie films that wasn’t originally meant to be a zombie film — so zombie-genre fans everywhere just may look at this as a happy accident.  As for the rest of this review, I’ll write it when after I’ve seen it again.

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Apparently there have been remakes of this film &/or re-uses of the name — I’ll have to see….