So the original Night of the Living Dead from 1968 is an undisputed classic. It made the rules for the format and formula for zombie movies for decades to come. It had the underlying social commentary of what was going on in real life America at that time and all the rest of the really clever things that people take from that movie that might not have even been intended. I just look at the living dead series straight up for what they were and thats amazing zombie movies. Yeah you can look deeper into it that it has a black guy as a main character or you can look at Dawn of the Dead as being satire on consumerism but I personally think as I said before.. they are just cool zombie movies nothing more nothing less and when you put all of that extra stuff in there it somewhat takes the fun away from it all.
I am a fan of the original for what it was and the success it had for being a B-movie made in black white on a pittance of a budget and it was guerrilla film making at its finest. However the original Night of the Living Dead is my least favorite of the series. I am not saying its a shit film but out of the three... (well I will stop there I would say four but Land of the Dead was made soo long after the original three that with its futuristic feel it feels like a completely different film and nothing to do with the rest of the series) but but whenever I watch them in a row the first movie is somewhat of a chore compared to watching Dawn or Day. Some people will agree with me a lot more will disagree but thats freedom of speech for you.
I am not a fan of movie remakes unless its a movie that needs remaking and what I mean by that is if the original movie was a classic but lacking in either budget, special effects, camera shots or bad plot holes. I am not a fan of needless remakes that Michael Bay feeds us on a regular basis of massive movies that didnt need to be remade just to draw cash for no reason what so ever. If you have seen the Nightmare on Elm Street, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hills Have Eyes, Friday the 13th and the list could go on forever of shit needless remakes you will know what I mean.
The Night of the Living Dead remake is different. It was remade by the original crew (plus gore master Tom Savini) with a real budget and this time they could do things with the movie that they couldnt do with the original. Another reason for the remake was due to a copyright fuck up the original Night of the Living Dead ended up becoming a public domain film and everyone involved ended up getting screwed out of the movies earnings kinda the same way that the cast an crew of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre did. So this time round they were going to reboot a classic and reap the rewards.
This time round the zombies are nothing short of amazing and they have more of a presence than the original. In the original you would sometimes forget that you were watching a zombie movie due to the amount of boring dialogue that would go on for too long without seeing any undead. This time round the hands are frequently coming through the windows and they are always around to jump out when least expected.
This time round Barbara isnt as annoying as the first movie and is not scared of pumping a few zombies full of lead and doesent just sit there being a mong all the time. Ben is played by Tony Todd out of the Candyman and nails the role spot on. I really enjoy this movie and I may be making a bold statement by saying its better than the original but I really think it is. Its in color, the performances are better, hardly anythings been changed story wise, the performances are better, its full of action and the zombie special effects are awesome. Go watch it!
