NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1990 FILM)

'''Night of the Living Dead''' is a film released in 1990. It is a 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

Plot

Cast

Chronological death list

Trivia

External links

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 rednecks 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 (Patricia 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.

Cast

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

Chronological death list

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

★ '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 Landry' & 'Judy Rose Larson': 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 became a zombie. He is then shot in the head by Pennsylvania State Troopers.

★ '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 (and resorting to shooting at Ben and Barbara). While he didn't become a zombie, Barbara shot him in the head in retribution for his actions.

Trivia

★ The scene of Barbara shooting the shirtless zombie and asking "Is he dead?!", was initially meant to be a scene of Barbara visuallising one of the zombies turning into her mother and asking her "Where's Johnnie, Barbara?", which is the reason her mother's grave was shown with her picture on it earlier in the film.

★ 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.

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★ Additionally, the character of "Johnny" is renamed "Johnnie" in this version.

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★ In the original film, it was their father's grave Johnnie and Barbara were visiting.

★ Roughly 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.

★ 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, and he recruited some of the original camera and sound crew to participate.

★ Family members of the zombie McGruder (Walter Berry) also appeared as zombies in the film including his brother (Philip Berry) and father (Charles Berry).

External links

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★ Amazon.com: Quotes, Nominations, Trivia, Goofs, Movie Connections, from the 1990 movie. Copy of the internet movie database information, but no registration is required.