Night of the Living Dead (1990 film)

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Night of the Living Dead
Directed by	Tom Savini
Produced by	Declan Baldwin Christine Forrest
Written by	1968 Screenplay: George A. Romero John A. Russo Screenplay: George A. Romero
Starring	Tony Todd Patricia Tallman Tom Towles McKee Anderson
Music by	Paul McCollough
Distributed by	21st Century Film Corporation Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	October 19, 1990
Running time	92 min. (Uncut Version)
Language	English
Budget	$4,200,000
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Night of the Living Dead is the 1990 remake of George A. Romero's 1968 classic, Night of the Living Dead, and was directed by Tom Savini. Romero rewrote the original 1968 screenplay that he had co-authored with John A. Russo.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Chronological Death List 4 Reactions 5 Behind the scenes 6 Trivia 7 External links

[edit] Plot

A group of embattled humans fend off hordes of walking dead in a secluded farmhouse in Western Pennsylvania. However, interpersonal feuding between the people in a house proves just as deadly as the zombie attack. In an ironic twist, at the conclusion of the film, salvation from the zombie menace is delivered by a posse of red-necks who hang and burn the zombies with the zeal of a southern lynch mob.

The story follows the same essential story of the original Night of the Living Dead, but with slight alterations. Barbara (Tallman), originally a screaming female horror stereotype, is stronger in this version and the only surviving person of the farm house. 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.

[edit] Cast

Actor	Role
Tony Todd	Ben
Patricia Tallman	Barbara
Tom Towles	Harry Cooper
McKee Anderson	Helen Cooper
William Butler	Tom
Katie Finneran	Judy Rose
Bill Moseley	Johnnie
Walter Berry	McGruder

[edit] Chronological Death List

This list is written in the order of which character died first and how.

• Johnnie: Barbara's brother, he tried to save her from a zombie and his head was cracked against a gravestone. He then comes back as a zombie and is shot in the head.
• Tom & Judy Rose: Tom shot the lock off a gas pump, spraying gasoline over a flaming torch in the truck that Judy Rose was driving, incinerating the truck and the two. The undead then feed upon their burnt remains.
• Sarah Cooper: Sarah is bitten by one of the zombies earlier in the film; she becomes one of them, bites her mother, and is then shot in the head.
• Helen Cooper: Helen is bitten by Sarah and is then shot in the head by Ben.
• Ben: Ben is shot by Harry Cooper but locks himself in the basement. Later, after Barbara flees the house and finds the rednecks, she returns to the house to find out that Ben has bled to death and become a zombie. He is then shot in the head.
• Harry Cooper: Sarah's father and Helen's husband, he hid in the attic after his wife and daughter died after sparking most of the arguments in the house. While he didn't become a zombie, Barbara shot him in the head out of disgust of his cowardice.

[edit] Reactions

Fans generally considered this remake to be an excellent addition to Romero's Dead films, and was very well received. The main detractors of the film were critics, who seemed to look past the film itself and merely derided the notion of remaking such a classic film. Although it did poorly at the box office, it found a larger audience on home video and DVD.

[edit] Behind the scenes

• Romero did the radio voiceover that Ben is listening to towards the film's end.
• 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.
• Laurence Fishburne, Ving Rhames and Eriq La Salle were all considered for the role of Ben. Subsequently, Rhames would go on to play the male lead in the remakes of Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead.
• Tom wears an "Iron City Beer" shirt, the same brand that can be seen in the original Dawn of the Dead.
• Original cast members Bill Cardille and Russ Streiner make cameo appearances.
• Romero served as producer for the remake, with the primary reason being that he could help gain some control of the rights to the original film, which had fallen into the public domain.
• Family members of the zombie McGruder (Walter Berry) also appeared as zombies in the film including his brother (Philip Berry) and father (Charles Berry).

[edit] Trivia

• It is Barbara's shoe that her brother trips over before hitting his head on the gravestone.
• A plaque outside the front door of the farmhouse reads "M. Celeste." Director Tom Savini stated on the DVD's commentary that this is a reference to the Mary Celeste. Further details include scenes of still smoldering cigars in ashtrays and food still cooking on the stoves, but the residents missing.
• In the original Night of the Living Dead, the Cooper's daughter was named Karen.
• Rougly 13 minutes into the film, when Ben is fighting with the zombie, a reflection of the camera man can be seen in the window of the door.

[edit] External links

• Night of the Living Dead at the Internet Movie Database
• Amazon.com: Quotes, Nominations, Trivia, Goofs, Movie Connections, from the 1990 movie. Copy of the internet movie database information, but no registration is required.