-Night Of The Living Dead (1968): 10/10
-Night Of The Living Dead (1990): 6/10
Ground zero for the entire zombie genre, George A. Romero's Night Of The Living Dead needs little introduction for horror fans. Despite a plethora of sequels remakes( see below) and rip-offs, it retains its ability to chill with its queasy, documentary realism. Chronicling a plague that sweeps the nation, causing the bodies of the recently deceased to rise up with an insatiable craving for the warm flesh of the living, the film follows a small group of desperate survivors -- including the hysterical Barbra (Judith O'Dea) and the heroic; level-headed Ben (Duane Jones) -- who barricade themselves inside a deserted farmhouse and hope to wait the wave of mass murder and cannibalism out, only to be brought down from within by their own petty squabbles over decision-making and assertions of power.
While the film's threadbare production values might seem quaint for a generation weaned on The Walking Dead, Night Of The Living Dead still works, thanks for its committed performances, tight, economical storytelling and Romero's gifts for blending social commentary with stomach-churning grue. Featuring one of the most chilling lines in cinema history ("They're coming to get you, Barbra...!"), and filled with tense situations, it remains one of the great cinematic freakouts of its day, and of all time.
Sadly, Romero and his cast and crew saw little profit from the film over the decades, thanks to a failure to properly copyright it, so a 1990 remake (helmed by makeup master Tom Savini, who worked with Romero on many of his 70s and 80s classics) was created with little in mind other than profits, and it shows in the final product. Oh, Night Of The Living Dead redux is far from the worst remake of a classic horror movie you'll see...it's reasonably tense, boasts fine makeup effects supervised by Everett Burrell (sadly heavily compromised by MPAA cuts), and the casting of a pre-Candyman Tony Todd in the role of Ben is inspired. Yet the film does precious little to differentiate itself from the original, and while it's laudable to make an attempt to update Barbra's character from a cowering, catatonic lump into an Ellen Ripley/Sarah Connor-style badass (here played by Patricia Tallman), the film doesn't give us a gradual, believable transition between these two extremes. One second, Barbara's shrieking like any run-of-the-mill Scream Queen, the next she's suddenly she's effortlessly mowing down zombies with the skill of a Special Forces sniper (and sporting the standard tough-girl snug tank top). Plus, the film cuts the balls off the original's haunting, bitterly ironic conclusion, with that movie's cultural subtext here blatantly put into Barbara's mouth ("We're them, and they're us". Thanks, we never would have got that on our own...). Plus, a lot of the supporting performances are pretty bad, especially Tom Towles as caddish Harry Cooper, ranting about the "Yo-Yos" putting he and his family in peril. Compared to some other remakes of Romero movies (which we'll get to in due time), Night Of The Living Dead '90 isn't an embarrassment, but it is little more than a rote Xerox of what came before.
-Bloodthirsty (2021): 6/10
Psychological shocker about a pop singer, Grey Kessler (Lauren Beatty) who is invited to the remote home of a music producer, Vaughn Daniels (Greg Byrk) hoping to help her shape her all-important sophomore album. Arriving with her girlfriend (Katherine King So), Grey -- who is already suffering from vivid hallucinations about beastly transformations and unnatural cravings despite her vegan diet (Michael Ironside plays her concerned doctor) -- finds her creative spark reignited even as her fantasies about rending and consuming flesh right off the bone haunt her dreams and start to spill over into her perceived reality.
Stylish, well-acted and sporting a good song soundtrack, Bloodthirsty just doesn't have a terribly compelling mystery at its core, which probably is why it couldn't even be stretched to 90 minutes. There are a few spurts of memorable gore, but otherwise this plays like a student film with pretensions. A food effort, but not especially satisfying.
). Generally, if it's not a sell-out, you can pick and choose where you want to sit, which is why I always pick the handicapped seats when they're available. not too close, not to far back...just right (provided no one's in the third row back from the screen, which always gives me that MST3K silhouettes feeling). The first 007 matinee this Friday is at 10:55 AM, and there's no way in hell one that early will sell out. 
Best thing about that is I can tell which size screen it's on now without having to call the theater to ask! (The Warwick RI complex has 3 huge screens I prefer to see everything on if possible)
