30 years ago today Tom Savini and George A. Romero released the only Night of the Living Dead remake that matters.

I never watched the original but I bet it's better than this crap.

**T**_heme_- 6/10
**R**_ewatchibility_- 7.5/10
**A**_cting_- 7/10
**K**_inematography_- 8/10
**T**_ime_- 9/10
**Total** - 37.5/5 = ==7.5==

"They're coming to get you Barbara." Luckily she'll be ready this time around. This remake does what I feel is the absolute minimum that any remake should do and that's improve upon it's predecessor. While there is no denying the contribution of Romero's original to the horror genre, it was rough around the edges to say the least. While I will say this one doesn't fully smooth those edges, it certainly does a mighty good job at showing the range of reactions to an unknown life-or-death crisis within a 24 hour period. 'Night' also exhibits the proper use of social commentary, where it's not shoved down the throat but it is present. The original played on racism while this switches it to sexism but neither sacrifice story for social spotlight. This is not a zombie movie, but rather a movie with zombies in it and same can be said to its original. I really dug it and it's relieving to see a proper remake.

This month's surprise horror film at my local arthouse cinema was “Night of the Living Dead” - not the original, but the remake from 1990. And even though I thoroughly enjoyed the flick as a B-movie, it's quite clear why Tom Savini hasn't had a successful career as a director. Some of the actors could have used at least a few more takes.

In addition to the sometimes laughable acting and the not always optimal pacing, the characters are also generally written a bit weirdly. Nobody behaves even remotely rationally, and the main character Barbara (Patricia Tallman) can't quite decide whether she wants to be Sarah Connor from Terminator 1 or 2.

In the end, the occasional decent gore and the quite effective finale saved the movie for me. With an audience, you can certainly have a good time.