Night of the Living Dead
Short description
A trip to a family grave in rural Pennsylvania goes wrong when the dead begin to rise and attack the living. Barbara escapes the attack that kills her brother and takes shelter in an isolated farmhouse, where she is soon joined by Ben, a stranger whose car has run out of fuel. More survivors are already hiding in the cellar. Together they barricade the house against the flesh-eating ghouls gathering outside, though the greatest danger may come from tensions among the people trapped inside.
This is a remake of the 1968 horror film of the same name, with the original's director, George A. Romero, serving here as screenwriter rather than director. It marks the directorial debut of Tom Savini, who had previously worked in special effects. The cast is led by Patricia Tallman as Barbara and Tony Todd as Ben, with supporting turns from McKee Anderson, Bill Moseley, Heather Mazur and Tom Towles, among 34 credited cast members.
Made on a budget of about 4 million dollars by Columbia Pictures, 21st Century Film Corporation and Menahem Golan Productions, the film received a wide release on October 19, 1990, and returned roughly 6 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a 6.8 rating from around 49,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.9 from about 1,010 votes.
What's left behind the scenes
- Over 150 people were used as zombies.
- Originally, director Tom Savini planned to start filming in a black and white palette, and then gradually add color to the screen.
- At one point in the film, a female zombie is shown walking across a field, hears sounds from a nearby house (people inside are trying to barricade and board up the windows and doors), turns around, and begins to hobble towards the building. The owner of the house, who agreed to provide it to the filmmakers for filming in exchange for a small role, played the female zombie.
- The Mercedes driven by Bill Mosley's character at the beginning of the film belonged to Tom Savini. According to the director, it was his first car, purchased after he found success, and it was not easy for him to part with it.
- Several scenes from the film had to be cut, otherwise it would have received an 'X' rating (no one under 17 years of age admitted). Tom Savini attributed the film's lack of popularity among genre fans to this circumstance.
- The special effects artists deliberately restrained themselves and did not give free rein to their imagination and skill in demonstrating the corresponding scenes, in memory of George A. Romero's original 1968 film. They achieved realism in the special effects by visiting pathologists and observing their actions during autopsies, reading relevant literature, and studying archival footage from concentration camps during World War II.
- The scene at the end of the film, where several zombies are hanged and then shot, was written into the script of the original 1968 film but was not included due to the racial tensions sweeping the country at that time.
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