Night of the Living Dead remakes

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Night of the Living Dead (1968) title card Livingdead.jpg
Night of the Living Dead (1968) title card

Numerous Night of the Living Dead remakes have adapted and reimagined the seminal 1968 horror film. It has been remade more than any other movie. [1] The distributor mistakenly released it without a copyright and directly into the public domain. [1] When changing the title from Night of the Flesh Eaters, The Walter Reade Organization also removed the only copyright notice in the film. This absence of copyright protection allowed filmmakers to adapt the original work without permission from the film's production company. [2] A protracted court case found that the creators, Image Ten, did not hold the copyright, [2] and the film's creators received little of its millions in revenue. [1] Bill Hinzman, who played the cemetery zombie in the original film, directed Flesheater in 1988. Flesheater has similarities but is considered an homage rather than a direct remake. [3] The first official remake in 1990 roughly followed the original film's script and involved members of the original crew. They were partly motivated by the missed revenue from the original film. [3] The 1990 version was atypical for a Hollywood remake in having the support of the original film's director, George A. Romero, and other creators. [4] Rumors of another studio planning to remake the public domain film without his involvement spurred Romero into action. In the following years, there were many unofficial remakes. [4] The film has seen an official color remake, an unofficial 3D version, and many independent remakes. [2]

Contents

Night of the Living Dead (1990)

Night of the Living Dead , also known as George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, is the official 1990 remake directed by Tom Savini (in his feature directorial debut) and starring Tony Todd and Patricia Tallman. [5] Savini had planned to work on the 1968 film before being drafted into the Vietnam War. [6] [7] After the war, Savini worked with Romero on the sequels. [8] The 1990 remake was filmed in color with a much larger budget. [2] The film grossed $5.8 million against a $4.2 million budget. [9] [10] Columbia Pictures released Night of the Living Dead in the United States on October 19, 1990. [5]

Like the original, the film follows seven strangers as they meet and survive in a rural farmhouse following the awakening of cannibalistic zombies. [5] It received negative reviews upon initial release, but modern reviews have been more positive. [11] The remake was based on the original screenplay but included a revised plot that portrayed Barbra (Patricia Tallman) as a capable and active heroine. [12] Barbara's narrative arc in the remake subverts the final girl trope in horror films. [13] Film historian Barry Grant interprets the new Barbara as a reversal of the original film's portrayal of feminine passivity. [14]

List of independent remakes

Due to its public domain status, many producers have created remakes of Night of the Living Dead. In the United States, the film was mistakenly released into the public domain because the original distributor failed to replace the copyright notice when changing the film's name. [15] [16] Several years after the film's release, its creators discovered that the original prints distributed to theaters had no copyright protection. [16] The themes of the original film have had broad appeal, and its titular "living dead" have been used as an allegory for racial tension, terrorism, nuclear war, and beyond. [1]

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<i>Night of the Living Dead</i> 1968 American horror film

Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, written by Romero and John Russo, produced by Russell Streiner and Karl Hardman, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven people trapped in a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania, under assault by reanimated corpses. Although the flesh-eating monsters that appear in the film are referred to as "ghouls", they are credited with popularizing the modern portrayal of zombies in popular culture.

<i>Day of the Dead</i> (1985 film) 1985 American post-apocalyptic zombie horror film by George A. Romero

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<i>Dawn of the Dead</i> (1978 film) 1978 zombie horror film by George A. Romero

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">George A. Romero</span> American filmmaker (1940–2017)

George Andrew Romero Jr. was an American-Canadian film director, writer, editor and actor. His Night of the Living Dead series of films about a zombie apocalypse began with the original Night of the Living Dead (1968) and is considered a major contributor to the image of the zombie in modern culture. Other films in the series include Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985).

<i>Dawn of the Dead</i> (2004 film) 2004 film by Zack Snyder

Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 action horror film directed by Zack Snyder in his feature directorial debut, with a screenplay by James Gunn. A remake of George A. Romero's 1978 film of the same name, it stars an ensemble cast that includes Sarah Polley, Jake Weber, Ving Rhames, and Mekhi Phifer, with Scott Reiniger, Tom Savini, and Ken Foree from the original film appearing in cameos. Set in Milwaukee, the film follows a group of survivors who try to survive a zombie apocalypse holed up in a suburban shopping mall.

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<i>Night of the Living Dead</i> (1990 film) 1990 film by Tom Savini

Night of the Living Dead is a 1990 American horror film directed by Tom Savini and starring Tony Todd and Patricia Tallman. It is a remake of George A. Romero's 1968 film of the same title; Romero rewrote the original 1968 screenplay he had originally co-authored with John A. Russo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Savini</span> American actor, stuntman, director and makeup artist

Thomas Vincent Savini is an American prosthetic makeup artist, actor, stunt performer and film director. He is known for his makeup and special effects work on many films directed by George A. Romero, including Martin, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Creepshow, and Monkey Shines; he also created the special effects and makeup for many cult classics like Friday the 13th, Maniac, The Burning, The Prowler, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.

Living Dead, also informally known as Of The Dead is a blanket term for the loosely connected horror franchise that originated from the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead. The film, written by George A. Romero and John A. Russo, primarily focuses on a group of people gathering at a farmhouse to survive from an onslaught of zombies in rural Pennsylvania. It is known to have inspired the modern interpretation of zombies as reanimated human corpses that feast on the flesh and/or brains of the living.

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<i>Night of the Living Dead 3D</i> 2006 American film

Night of the Living Dead 3D or Night of the Living DE3D is a 2006 horror film made in 3D. It is the second remake of the 1968 horror classic Night of the Living Dead. The first remake was released in 1990 and was directed by Tom Savini from a revised screenplay by George A. Romero. Unlike the first remake, no one involved with the original is involved with this version. The original film was never properly copyrighted, and so it has fallen into the public domain, making this remake possible with no permission from the original's creators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John A. Russo</span> American film director

John A. Russo, sometimes credited as Jack Russo or John Russo, is an American screenwriter and film director most commonly associated with the 1968 horror classic film Night of the Living Dead, which he co-wrote with director George A. Romero. As a screenwriter, his credits include Night of the Living Dead, The Majorettes, Midnight, and Santa Claws. The latter two, he also directed. He has performed small roles as an actor, most notably the first ghoul who is stabbed in the head in Night of the Living Dead, as well as cameos in There's Always Vanilla and House of Frankenstein 1997. He was the publisher and managing editor of the magazine Scream Queens Illustrated, which featured popular stars of horror films and other genres.

Night of the Living Dead may refer to:

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Stavrakis</span> American artist, filmmaker and writer

Christian Constantine Stavrakis is an American fine artist, filmmaker and writer. An authority on the works of filmmaker George A. Romero, Stavrakis sculpted the bronze bust of Romero which was installed at the Monroeville Mall near Pittsburgh, PA on the 40th anniversary of the filming of Dawn of the Dead. He also appears on several DVD commentary tracks as a historian and moderator, notably the 1999 BMG release of Dawn of the Dead and the 2000 release of Knightriders by Anchor Bay Entertainment. In the latter, Romero himself states that "Chris has an encyclopedic knowledge of my films."

<i>Night of the Animated Dead</i> 2021 American film

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">George A. Romero's unrealized projects</span> Unrealized projects by American filmmaker

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