Night of the Living Dead

Night of the Living Dead

George A. Romero

(1968)

A ragtag group barricade themselves in an old Pennsylvania farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls ravaging the Northeast.

George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Cast

Judith O'Dea
Barbra: Judith O'Dea
Duane Jones
Ben: Duane Jones
Marilyn Eastman
Helen Cooper: Marilyn Eastman
Karl Hardman
Harry Cooper: Karl Hardman
Judith O'Dea
Barbra: Judith O'Dea
Duane Jones
Ben: Duane Jones
Marilyn Eastman
Helen Cooper: Marilyn Eastman
Karl Hardman
Harry Cooper: Karl Hardman
Judith Ridley
Judy: Judith Ridley

Crew

Special EffectsRegis Survinski
EditorGeorge A. Romero
Script CoordinatorJacqueline Streiner
ProducerKarl Hardman
ProducerRussell Streiner

Hook

The world has already ended. What remains is an isolated farmhouse, a dwindling group of survivors, and the growing certainty that the living are more dangerous than the dead.

Identity

Tom Savini, who directs the remake, had worked as the makeup effects artist on Romero's Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead, making him one of the most technically knowledgeable people alive regarding the practical realization of zombie horror, though this was his first feature directorial effort. The film was shot in color rather than the original's black and white, with Savini and cinematographer Frank Prinzi developing a deliberately desaturated palette intended to honor the visual texture of the source material.

Collector Focus

Tom Savini directing a Romero script — with Tony Todd as Ben and a radically reimagined Barbara — makes this a genuine creative statement rather than a cash-in. The reconfigured gender dynamics and Savini's accomplished practical effects give it a distinct identity that collectors have increasingly recognized.

Context

Directed by Tom Savini, Night of the Living Dead 1990 was produced on a budget of approximately $4.2 million, with the production offsetting its lean resources through craft and camera technique. Night of the Living Dead received a mixed critical response upon its October 1990 release, with reviewers divided between appreciation for its technical accomplishment, Tony Todd's performance, and the intelligent revision of Barbara's character on one hand, and a sense that the remake offered insufficient reason to exist alongside the untouchable original on the other.

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