It takes guts to remake a movie that is considered a classic and loved by so many people. No matter what you do, peace probably going to be pissed at you and hate your movie just on principle. The truth is, though, as much as I love the original (and it's one of my favorite movies) it had a teeny tiny budget and it's not perfect. There was room for improvement here, if only to see what could be done with the story with an actual budget involved. I really was excited to see this remake, and I remember liking it when I watched it, but it's been years, so I decided to give it another watch again this year for the challenge.
They stick with the same basic plot. A brother and sister drive to visit their mother's grave, they encounter an older guy stumbling around strangely, he attacks them, the sister runs and takes refuhe in a house, there's a guy named Ben there who helps her fend off the lurching attackers, and both of them try to figure out what's happening and how to survive. It seems that the dead are coming back to life and eating the living. Ew.
The filmmakers inject more action into the opening sequence, and they manage to give us a little backstory on the brother and sister duo. Tony Todd plays the character of Ben in this version, and I love him, so it makes me happy seeing him in this. Patricia Tallman plays Barbara, and I actually might like her character better in this version. In the original movie, Barbara is so traumatized and in shock that she's basically incoherent for most of the movie. In this remake, Barbara is allowed to talk and have actual agency. I love it when she says "whatever I lost, I lost a long time ago, and I don't intend to lose anything else." Same, girl, same.
The whole movie seems...I don't know, angrier? Meaner than the original? This one is directed by Tom Savini, who is better known for his special FX work, but he does a great job directing here. The movie is gorrier, but it's also got an attitude that the original movie lacked. Barbara isn't helpless the whole time, and she transforms from weakly pushover to ass-kicking bad bitch, which is cool to watch. Her friendship with Ben is better developed, too.
The other side characters are more than background noise, and I thought they were better acted than in the original, at least as far as the teenage boy and his girlfriend are concerned. The husband and wife and their daughter (who is sick, bitten by a zombie, back before any of us knew what that meant) are played well. The husband is more of an abusive ass than he was in the original movie, as far as I remember, so his story arc felt more satisfying than in the original, at least to me. I also like how the "well-armed militua" of local rednecks roaming the streets killing zombies are more well-organized in this version of the film. Call me crazy, but with the way things are going in this country, I can see at least that part of this movie coming true sooner than later.
Overall, I think this remake is really well done. I don't like it as well as the original, but it hits a lot of the right notes for me.
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