With the recent commercial
success of the zombie franchise, with hits like The Walking Dead or World War Z, we at Horror Camp wants
to roll back the clock to a time when zombie flicks weren’t adrenaline-pumped over
the top human emotional dramas. That’s why this week we are screening the 1990 remake of the horror
classic “Night of the Living Dead”.
With the ‘68 version of
the Romero
classic being the grandfather of the modern zombie flick, and required watching
of all attendants of Horror Camp. We chose to focus on the lesser known re-vamp
that came out in 1990 for several reasons. First, it is the directorial film
debut of Tom Savini,
the legendary SFX man of the 1980’s who worked on many of Romero’s other “dead”
franchise series. Second it drastically re-explores (in an almost subtle and
imperceivable way, that you would never notice) the roles of Ben
and Barbara,
characters from the first film that, incidentally and unintentionally, fell into
racial and sexist profiling in the original. And Third it’s an awesome flick
that celebrates the most classic of horror movie arguments, Are we safer barricaded
in the basement or better off upstairs.
Although written off by
movie critics at the time, such as Siskel and Ebert, who
claim that the remake offers little to the franchise, I personally disagree. Although
the full color slow-walking zombies are certainly tame by modern standards of
the franchise, it really speaks volumes to the living cast who have to deal
with an unknown situation and make human mistakes, people who make failings
when forced to communicate with fellow survivors, who come from different
social standings and cultural backgrounds.
What makes NOTLD 90
remake shine is the interplay of the cast. Real sensible arguments emerge from
people who have no idea what is happening to them, and although at this stage
of zombie development it seems everyone has made some sort of what-if scenario
for when the dead rise and walk the earth again, it’s refreshing to see a movie
that treats the issue as if the dead walking were an inconceivable and foreign
concept.
We at Horror Camp fully
endorse this movie, not as a replacement of the original, but as a complement
to Romero’s classic. It’s strong sentiment to the spirit of humanity, that good
men make selfish decisions to protect his loved ones, or that when its decision
time it's the man with the gun who calls the shots regardless of democratic consensus,
really speak volume to the zombie genre. Especially, when current zombie movies
project the protagonist in the hero’s role, and the bad guy always gets served
his comeuppance in the final act, I feel it’s nice to see a zombie flick that
can address these issues without the standard storytelling rhetoric.
So Check out the 1990’s
remake of The Night of the Living Dead, and let me know if you thought the experience
to be laughable or if you could see the diamond in the rough like I have, in a
great and wonderfully acted homage to the original. Happy Viewings from your
Head Counselor.
The Original Trailer
The Full Movie.
Tags: Movie Night at the Rec Hall, NOTLD, NOTLD 1990, Night of the living dead, Zombies, Horror Camp
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