The Night of the Living Dead (1968/1990)

THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (18)
D: George A. Romero
Image Ten (Russell Streiner & Karl Hardman)
US 1968 (released 1969)
98 mins
 
Horror
 
W: John A. Russo
DP: George A. Romero
Ed: George A. Romero
 
Judith O'Dea (Barbra Blair), Duane Jones (Ben), Karl Hardman (Harry Cooper), Keith Wayne (Tom)
 
Despite a humble cast, a very simple story (a group of people hide from bloodthirsty zombies in an abandoned barn) and a virtually non-existent budget, writer-director George A. Romero still delivers one of the seminal, groundbreaking horror films and amongst the first to feature zombies as murderous, utilising its gloomy atmosphere to build the tension in the absence of blood and gore effects.
A bigger-budget sequel (Dawn Of The Dead (qv)) was even better.
8/10
 
The Night of the Living Dead
The Night of the Living Dead
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (18)
D: Tom Savini
Columbia/21st Century (John A. Russo & Russ Steiner)
US 1990
89 mins
 
Horror
 
W: George A. Romero [based on a screenplay by John A. Russo]
DP: Frank Prinzi
Ed: Tom Dubensky
Mus: Paul McCollough
 
Tony Todd (Ben), Patricia Tallman (Barbara), Tom Towles (Harry Cooper), McKee Anderson (Helen Cooper), Heather Mazur (Sarah Cooper)
 
Bigger budget remake of George A. Romero's 1968 classic, directed by Tom Savini, a makeup artist who specialised in gore effects (as seen by his work on Dawn Of The Dead).
The austere atmosphere of the original film is lost in favour of excessive violence and gore, and though it's not a terrible remake, it doesn't come close to the shock factor of its 1960's counterpart and doesn't have many particularly memorable moments, especially not the same way the original film does.
6/10

Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead