Night of the Living Dead remake: Tom Savini

[fulci fan]

The reason why the makeup and effects are really good in Night 90 is because of a company called "Optic Nerve". They might not have worked on the best films but they always did top notch work. I don't know if they just do CG now or what. They just did Legion, and by the looks of the trailer, the CG looked really bad.

[darth los]

If I recall, Savini was in a taxi and that guy was the taxi driver, and Savini asked him to be a zombie in the remake. What gets me about that scene is to me (a) it just looks just like a zombie should, no over the top teeth, ridges for eyebrows, big teeth, silly contact lenses or godzilla screams, (b) the bullets going into him, which of course were not CGI, just looked amazing! The Crazies 2010 has a shedload more going for it than Yawn04, and has definitely got more smarts about it, even if it has less than the original ... and what's more, it doesn't have some stupid teenage girl fucking everyone's already stupid plan up by going after a frickin' dog. Here's what I made of it, by-the-by: http://deadshed.blogspot.com/2010/03/crazies.html To be fair to Big Daddy, that's 3 years into an outbreak, so he's probably quite an old zombie - the real problem was that the back of his head was pretty much as-is, which was daft. Biggy D's teeth look much better than some teeth recent zombies have been given. D's teeth just look skanky - like they haven't been cleaned for years - whereas some recent zombies suddenly get full-on orthodontic nightmares in their mouths after becoming a zombie, which makes no sense at all. The ridges around the eyes and brow ... obviously it's supposed to try and emulate a sunken face, but more often than not it just looks like what it is - prosthetics built on top of someone's existing, plenty healthy, face. Indeed, the zombies in Night 90 are perhaps the most realistic zombies - the milky eyes, the slightly larger ears, the emaciated look - even though that's very early into an outbreak, mind you, but the realism to the dead folk (such as the cemetery zombie - his coffin suit sliced up the back and everything, plus a Y-incision on his chest) in that flick was top notch. It really made them feel lifeless - like when Todd's Ben appears in the cellar doorway as a zombie, you really feel like it's an actual zombie, and not just Tony Todd wearing make-up - whatever Ben was, he's no longer there. I think more lessons should be learned RE zombie make-up from Night 90 than anywhere else, to be honest. There was a technical honesty to their look that really worked - if they'd taken that and added 3 years to it, then Land would have had top notch zombies (although I'm less critical than some of you folks are of them). Well, when i posted that pic it was more to prove a point. Neil was going on how he hated certain features on zombies, (listed in his quote above) most likely refering to dawn 04'. I just found it humorously ironic that Big daddy shares all if not all of those traits. But youu made some good points.

[general tbag]

No comparsion the original pwns the remake.why? Romero has a script with zombies as a back drop, people in a situation forced by events.All things considered like budget, this movie is a masterpiece from the script, and how it was shot to the final cut. . Myself i liked how all the original chracters were , for the reason it showed not only the complexity of the situation but the added complexity of peoples personailty and the groups demise. I liked how barbara was played in the original, it reinforced the idea that in a bad situation people do react different. One thing i didint like about the remake, barbara went from a middle class/wealthy family to being rambo.highly unlikely. The original retained that sense of reality that a spoiled person like that would have a hard time adapting to a life and death situation.

[CooperWasRight]

Nothing can take away 68's place in history... But 90 is on a technical level much better in every aspect... I have to say I love both and the black and white and vintage soundtrack adds to the nostalgic value of 68 but I watch 90 far more often. Tony Todd is amazing as Ben.

[Neil]

Nothing can take away 68's place in history... But 90 is on a technical level much better in every aspect... I have to say I love both and the black and white and vintage soundtrack adds to the nostalgic value of 68 but I watch 90 far more often. Tony Todd is amazing as Ben. I also love Patricia Tallman's Barbara. Far more interesting than the original's..

[bassman]

I prefer the remake's Judy Rose. Seriously though - between Tallman, Todd, and Towles....Night90 had an awesome cast. Especially Todd and Towles. I can't imagine anyone else doing as well as they did.

[MinionZombie]

I also love Patricia Tallman's Barbara. Far more interesting than the original's.. On the other hand the new Judy Rose is dreadful ... gotta be honest ... makes me wanna eat my own head. Also, it's a damn shame the flick suffered from the MPAA ... the uncut snippets of gore seen on the DVD's making of are class.

[ryansson]

I really enjoyed NOTLD remake, good stuff and great atmosphere. Is the old guy who bumps into Barbara a zed or just a shell-shocked undertaker?

[bassman]

I really enjoyed NOTLD remake, good stuff and great atmosphere. Is the old guy who bumps into Barbara a zed or just a shell-shocked undertaker? He says "I'm sorry". He was living. As Savini says in the making of, it was one of the many times he used the audience's knowledge of the original as misdirection.

[ryansson]

Yeah but he says it in a weird kinda way then turns towards her as if to attack, then disappears in the commotion of the zed on barb, this is where it confused me as to his living status.

[Neil]

He says "I'm sorry". He was living. As Savini says in the making of, it was one of the many times he used the audience's knowledge of the original as misdirection. He was no doubt injured/traumatised by the creatures...

[bassman]

He was no doubt injured/traumatised by the creatures... Right. He had obvious wounds on his forehead and elsewhere, but the fact that he speaks and then walks away from Barbara makes it pretty obvious that he wasn't dead, imo.

[darth los]

Yeah but he says it in a weird kinda way then turns towards her as if to attack, then disappears in the commotion of the zed on barb, this is where it confused me as to his living status. Yeah, he was probably traumatized. He's been working with corpses his whole life. To see one twitch and get up was probably a bad shock to his system. I just wonder if he would have blended in, Shaun of the dead style? That's the real question my friends !!

[bassman]

Nah...I think the real question is whether or not he was helping the real zombie out. It was a tag team event. If you watch it, he comes from Barbara's right and the zombie ends up coming from her left. Surely the crazy old dude saw it? Then on top of that, as he's walking away he turns around as the zombie is attacking and does nothing but watch! Go to 4:00

[Trin]

I liked the original Barbra. She was a real person. Not some commando-ette in disguise who finds her inner Rambo. In any real situation as horrific as the dead rising and eating the living, you know a solid half the population would be totally freaked, panic stricken, checked out, whacked out, shut down ... whatever. She was a totally believable portrayal of a girl who had just watched her brother killed and had to escape the murderer, then discovers the countryside is crawling with ghouls.