Night Of The Living Dead DVD > Reviews > They Only Come Out At Night

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Satisfactory
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	A worthy remake  |  Some nice differences
Disadvantages:	Script

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Night of the Living Dead may not be to everyone's liking but it's certainly one of the horror genre's biggest names. Released in 1968, it certainly stood out, not only for the base subject matter but also the undertones of social commentary running through the film, albeit in a subtle way. It also made George A. Romero a household name and master of the zombie sub genre. It wasn't that surprising, then, that a remake would pop its head up at some point in time. So, in 1990, Romero agreed to give the rights to director Tom Savini, no stranger to the horror genre, for a remake. This 1990 remake wouldn't be able to stand out as much as the original did but it would give a chance to try and update a few things as well as shoot in colour. Remakes, though, nearly always pale in compassion so was it worth making the dead walk again?

Being around for so long and being such a landmark horror film the story of Night of the Living Dead is pretty much well known. Starting off in a cemetery, Barbara (Patricia Tallman) and her husband are making the 200 mile trek up to Barbara's mothers grave. Unfortunately for them they have a closer encounter to the dead people than they'd like. Barbara escapes the shuffling corpses and manages to find a farm house to hide out in. There she meets Ben (Tony Todd) and they pair up together to try and fend off the walking dead. They soon find out that they're not alone and are joined by a few more unscathed people, including a loud mouth uncooperative man, Harry Cooper (Tom Towles), his wife Helen (McKee Henderson) and their sick daughter. Also coming along for the ride is young guy Tom (William Butler) and his girlfriend Judy Rose (Katie Finneran). As night falls the army of undead grows bigger and it doesn't take long for tension in the house to build up to breaking point. This is sure to be one night that these people won't forget or…if they make it out alive.

For the most part this remake does do quite a few things well and director Tom Savini does an admirable job of updating the classic film. Things are kept nice and simple, we still don't know just how the dead are walking, they just are and most of the film takes place within the house. From the off the film serves up just what you want to see, dead people chasing the living, and it doesn't really let up. Yet don't think this is a just a film that just gives you a multitude of dead people, this isn't Dawn of the Dead after all. The pacing is quite slow, it's a gradual build up as we see more and more dead people surround the house and the film is peppered with occasional bursts of shocking moments (though some are fairly predictable) to keep interest with the film going. Savini doesn't let the film get too bloody and gore filled, indeed the main acts of violence come from the living people fighting amongst themselves, there is obviously some blood spilled, heads shot and dead people pummelled but for all their numbers only a few dead people actually suffer. Speaking of which there's plenty of them and they all more or less look, well, as dead people would look really. There's a few questionable inclusions (we really don't want to see a naked dead woman wandering around) and sometimes they can look a bit cheesy but that's pretty much expected from a film like this. It seems the film is keener to focus on the situation and the people having to cope with it. With a fairly small cast and the film effectively being shot in just one place the characters are fleshed out far better than most horror movies and the situation can be made feel more real for that.

Sometimes, though, the film falters. Some of the dialogue is pretty dire, no surprise there as such but when Cooper calls the people 'yoyo's' for about the third time then you have to question what the writers were one, you have loads of undead people walking around, you're trapped in a house and you call someone a 'yoyo', I think I can find a few other words I'd use in that event. Some of the other dialogue is also a bit redundant and the old trick of repeating lines 'You're all gonna die up here. You're all gonna die' is used a few times but just sounds a bit hammy. The ending different to the original and it may cause a bit of upset for those hoping that it stays faithful. Credit to the film for trying something different, it can't just be a carbon copy all the way through. The ending is less dramatic, though reflective in a way, which isn't so bad but it does all come about rather suddenly and there isn't really a big climax nor does it really go out with a bang which seems like an opportunity missed. Also the fact that the ending features some of the biggest stereotype casting around really doesn't do it any favours. One of the most annoying aspects, however, is the constant bickering between Ben and Cooper. It just begins to grate when they constantly confront each other and really seems trivial when the fact is there's a bunch of dead people walking around wanting to kill them.

For a horror movie the acting is actually pretty credible. Tony Todd is as good as you would expect him to be. Sometimes he may go a bit overboard and dramatic but for the most part he holds it up very well indeed. Tallman is probably the person that stands out the most. Thanks to the approach of making Barbara more of a fighter than a victim in this remake she will start to grow on you. Her gradual transition from typical screaming female to a kick ass, strong headed woman is pleasing to see. Tallman portrays this in a credible way and you'll certainly be rooting with her throughout the movie. The weakest lead is Towles who seems to be constantly overreaching with every action and line he speaks as well as his eyes bulging out of their sockets at every single shot. He doesn't play a likeable character in the first place and his overacting certainly won't help matters. Butler, Henderson and Finneran prop up the mostly fine cast. Though their screentime isn't as much as the others and they do tend to slot into stereotypical roles (Finneran is the cute blonde screaming woman) they are never unlikeable. It's a good thing that the cast is almost uniformly good. Stick a bad group of people into a film that rarely changes location and can sometimes take breaks to build up on the story and it's asking for trouble.

Night of the Living Dead is certainly a worthy remake. It may also suit people better than the original if they can't abide watching black and white films or want something a bit more modern. Not only is it a good remake but also a worthy horror film by itself. It doesn't try too hard in order to try and shock the viewer. It's not perfect and it may not be cause for too much hiding behind the sofa but it's well made with a cast that (mostly) pleases. If you are looking for good, old fashioned horror with no frills then this film will certainly fit the bill.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD IS

Full of dead people
A worthy remake
Simple

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD IS NOT

Full of blood
A brainless horror flick
High on action all the time

Part of the HALLOWEEN SEASON 2005