Night of the Living Dead

One of the best horror remakes out there and easily one of the best horror films of the 1990s. The 4k transfer looks great and contains both the original and the new uncut edition with the black-and-white opening sequence. The disc contains both a 7.1 and 5.1 mix, and the sound in general is terrific, with clearly audible dialog, booming action, and a creepy score that pops at just the right times. The original is a classic, but this version improves on the original both technically and story wise. Barbara's character arc is particularly well executed. Both Patricia Tallman and Tony Todd give memorable performances. Worth a watch if you haven't seen it, and if you have, the new 4k is worth the upgrade.

I grabbed this release after missing out on the Twilight Time release that came out a few years ago. Night of the Living Dead (1990) was one of the first "remakes" of its kind, and it's great. There's enough changes from the original film that makes it unique, yet it keeps the feeling of bleakness and despair from the original film intact. Quick story: The original Night of the Living Dead (directed by George Romero) was originally titled "Night of the Flesh Eaters." Literally a day before release, they recieved a letter from an attorney stating that the title "Night of the Flesh Eaters" was already used. So George and Co. changed the title and the rest is history. HOWEVER, George and Co. forgot to trademark the title. Someone took notice and now there's hundreds of VHS and DVD releases of the original film. It's public domain. In 1989, Tom Savini (who did the makeup for George on "Dawn" and "Day" as well as "Friday the 13th") was contacted by George to remake the film. Well, Mr. Savini did a fantastic job and was a really cool guy about it. He even discussed how he tried to involve as many people that worked on the original 1968 film so they can "make some money" from the work they did in the first place. Awesome guy. Anyway, Night of the Living Dead (1990) came out on DVD many, many years ago and the first Blu-Ray release in the United States was via Twilight Time Entertainment back in......2013/2014? Now, Twilight Time Entertainment is a niche label and because of this, their releases are expensive AND limited (3000 copies in this case). In fact, most new releases from them is $30-$35 at pre-order and in the case of NOTLD (1990) was sold out in the pre-order stage. Time passed, pre-orders completely sold out and the Twilight Time version releases..........well, its botched. The transfer is too dark, color is off, there's a blue-ish tint to the film (despite supposedly being approved by Savini). Needless to say, US fans are NOT happy. To boot, due to the rareity of the Twilight Time release, expect to pay $80-$90-$100 on ebay for it. Fast forward to 2016. The Australian label, Umbrella Entertainment releases this version, completely corrected to the original theatrical release, presented in 1080p, no blue-ish tint, not dark, completely a MUCH better transfer. It's not perfect, don't expect a 4k scan, there are some minimal artifacts (pops and scratches) but its not unwatchable by any means. In fact, its the best we're going to get for now. Included are several bonus features including commentary, a "The Dead Walks" doc which covers a bit about the original film and the remake, makeup tests, etc. This disc has more features than the really expensive Twilight Time release by far. Also, although the disc is marked as a Region "B" release, I have tried the disc on both a Region A locked standalone blu-ray player and a United States Sony Playstation 4 console. Both the film and the special features played just fine on both devices. This item can be bought directly from the distributor's (Umbrella) website and here on Amazon. Amazon I believe is a couple bucks more expensive, BUT you'll probably get it faster than getting a shipment from Australia.

I can see why this movie was sold out so quickly and that I was fortunate enough to pre order a copy. I consider this one of the best horror movie remakes and I was thrilled to see that this was announced. The new uncensored directors cut is even better than the theatrical and gives off more impressive makeup and gore effects. It features my favorite performance of the late Tony Todd who played Ben here to perfection. Even though this steelbook really was limited I can say this to fans that it was definitely worth the hype.

This film gets an undeserved trashing from many critics and fans of the original 1968 George Romero film. I am a fan of the first film which I saw under ideal conditions in the summer of '68 at a drive-in theater located in the Ohio countryside and surrounded by cornfields (talk about spooky...). I'm a fan of the remake as well and don't really see why some people don't. Of course there's the general rule that you don't remake a classic and as a rule that's true. Remakes of classics almost never live up to the originals and usually are total failures. I think a lot of people were mad that this film was even made and automatically dismissed it. But this film was a product of George Romero (executive Producer and writer) who wrote the script based on his original, written with John A. Russo. It was directed by Romero's make-up artist from Dawn of the Dead, Tom Savini. Therefore it's not some studio's rip off attempt but something coming from the source of the original. Most people know Romero didn't copyright the original and basically never made a dime out of its enormous, genre-changing success, and so some say the remake was done so he'd have a copyrighted version. Though this must have figured in, I don't believe it was the only concern. Romero went on to make two sequels (and later more) in color and may have aesthetically felt that the black-and-white original seemed like it was from another era entirely and that the Trilogy needed a first chapter in color. Secondly, there was the well-publicized change in the character of Barbara, who went from traumatized mute to active defender. Many people liked this change, but some felt it was some kind of politically correct move and reacted negatively. I like the new Barbara much better than the old, who only sat around catatonically until her untimely end. The new Barbara assists in defending the farmhouse and is eventually shown to make good decisions. The film pretty much follows the original except for the change in Barbara until the ending, which is quite different. The rest of the cast is good with the exception of Tom Towles as Harry Cooper, who over delivers his angry lines turning everything into a shouting match., though some of that is simply the way the part is written. Cooper always was an unsympathetic character but here he's practically diabolical. My only other quibble with the remake (and it can apply to the original as well) is where are all these zombies coming from? This is an isolated farmhouse in western Pennsylvania, yet there seem to be scores of the creatures. Even counting the fact that there are some neighbors and Pennsylvania isn't Wyoming, it still seems like too many in a short time. If there is a real problem with this film it's just that it lacks the shock and deep, disturbing effect of the original. But this was made in 1990, ,after all the Eighties slasher-films and gorefests and any number of films with cynical endings. The power of the first film was due to the fact that it was so transgressive with its nice young couple getting killed, its downbeat ending and the fact that it was the ultimate gore film of its day. A movie like the original, coming in the heyday of the Mid-Sixties in its optimism was like a bucket of cold water to the face. It was a shock that will never be forgotten. This movie does not reproduce that because it can't. Times have changed, even more-so since 1990. But it's a solid film that is worth seeing.

Excellent product no complaints. Order placed December 19, 2025. Authorized charge January 8th. Delivered on the 10th. Why was the item sitting on a shelf for 2 weeks. Amazon failed with delivery service this time. Beware of the timeline. That could mess up your balances.

So you're George Romero, writer and director of one of the most influential horror movies ever, Night of the Living Dead (1968), and it's some twenty odd years later and you're executive producing a remake of said movie. Who do you get to direct? How about special effects master Tom Savini, the man responsible for the horrifying effects in Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985)? Seems a pretty good choice to me... Night of the Living Dead (1990) stars Tony Todd and Patricia Tallman as Ben and Barbara, respectively, two individuals who seek refuge in a farmhouse as a legion of hungry corpses descend upon them and soon find the house not so much a haven as a claustrophobic nightmare. They also discover they aren't the only ones in the house, as there are five people locked in the basement. Emerging from their hidey-hole are Harry and Helen Cooper, a married couple, and Tom and Judy Rose, a younger couple, Tom's uncle being the owner of the house. Also in the basement is the Cooper's daughter, Sarah, who has become ill after being bitten by one of the undead (guess where that's going). A diverse group, for sure, and one that finds itself at odds in if it's better to fortify the house or retreat to the fairly secure basement. Harry thinks it's best to go into the basement and bar the door, but Ben would rather board up all the doors and windows, using the basement as a last option, as there is only one way in and out and he doesn't want to trap himself down there unless he absolutely has to...Harry, who is quite vocal throughout, thinks this plan foolish and says once he goes into the basement and bars the door, he won't open it for anything, regardless. As tensions flare, night falls, and the dead begin arriving in greater numbers, I guess sensing the warm, living flesh they so crave to be inside the house. As the situation grows worse, an escape plan is formulated, but the plan soon falls apart, and it's back to the house. Who lives? Who dies? Is rescue in the wings, or should they just put their heads between their legs and kiss their hinders good-bye? It's always a sketchy affair remaking a film, especially one that's deemed a classic and definitive representation of its' genre. Look what happened in 1998 when director Gus Van Sant released a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. A total and tremendous flop...Yes, I am sure there was a awful lot of apprehension to redoing a movie that really didn't need to be redone, but the end result turned out an interesting update, remaining true to the original while adding a few surprises along the way. Tony Todd is excellent as Ben, and is definitely the strongest characterization in the film, bringing a lot of what Duane Jones did in the original, while adding personal nuances to make the character his own. Patricia Tallman's character of Barbara starts out the same as the original played by Judith O'Dea, but goes through some serious changes by the end, allowing for the a modernization of the character to fit more along the lines of the strong female lead, as seen in the Alien films with Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver. Was this for the better? I am still undecided, but it certainly made interesting viewing. The character I found most annoying was that of Harry Cooper, played by Tom Towles. His portrayal was overblown to the point of being silly, with his constant yelling, screaming, and berating of other characters. The Harry Cooper in the original was a jerk, for sure, but at least you got the feeling it was a jerkiness borne of overriding desire to protect his family, even if his plans were at odds with the rest of the group, allowing for viewers to develop some empathy for the character. Here, the character is played as a bonehead to the nth degree, and it only served to, in my opinion, disrupt the flow of the film. The biggest difference between the original an the remake is obviously the color factor, but one will also notice that the undead are much more detailed than in the original, due to a much larger production budget. You can tell a great amount of effort was taken in this area, enhancing on the original film. The film wasn't quite as gory as I thought it was going to be, but that's pretty well explained in a making of featurette. Seems in order to avoid an X rating, these scenes were either removed or toned down. Savini didn't seem too upset about it, as he felt, and I agree, that sometimes what you don't see is just as effective as what you do see. The disc has the wide screen presentation on one side and the full screen on the other, and includes some good special features like trailers, production notes, commentary by Savini, and a 25 minute making of featurette called `The Dead Walk' that highlights a lot of interesting facts about the movie, along with comparisons to the original. Also in this featurette are some of the scenes that were deleted to get an R rating, along with alternate, more visceral scenes that were toned down in the release. If you liked the original, chances are you'll get a kick out of this film, as I wasn't disappointed, and I usually despise remakes. Cookieman108

The best it's ever looked or sounded! I'm so lucky I was able to score a copy of this. Hopefully Sony pumps out more copies so the other fans can see this restoration. The main reason I wrote this review was to inform other buyers who might run into the same issue I did. During playback, the film froze at one point and would not progress. I couldn't even fast forward past it. I thought I had received a defective copy and was disappointed to say the least. Well, while reading a review for another movie, I learned about "offgassing" that occurs from the manufacturing of the polypropylene case. The offgassing can create an oily film on the case that can also end up on the disc. The disc looked clean at first glance, but after wiping it with a micro fiber cloth, it played right through the problem spot without a hiccup! I then inspected the case and gave the inside a wipe. Sure enough, I could see the residue being removed. Hopefully this review helps some people out who may run into this issue, so that they too can enjoy this timeless zombie classic.

Great remake. I have been meaning to add it to my collection for years. Bluray is fine, a zombie movie needs to look a little cruddy. This one looks fine. The last missing link in my "dead" collection