'Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition' - A Cautionary Tale in Filmmaking

Written by John Edward Betancourt

There was a time, when the horror market consisted of bold new films that were immediately followed by a bevy of sequels, a move that of course, drew ire as the years wore on in that there wasn't enough original content being produced in the genre anymore and well, those cries were answered with a touch of irony because as the years progressed, the sequel gave way to the wonder of the remake/reboot and the appetite for the re-creation of horror classics has been downright ravenous since they continue to enjoy massive financial success at the box office.

However, while one can spend hours pouring over the possibilities as to why this remake phenomenon has and continues to occur with incredible success, I think we can agree on one particular thing, that there are some stories that are simply too iconic to tinker with and while some may scoff at that, and are able to cite the success of remakes as the basis for their argument, there are examples that exist that prove otherwise, and there is one on my mind that to this day leaves me shaking my head in surprise that it was ever green lit...the 30th Anniversary remake/special edition of ​Night of the Living Dead.

Yes, you read that correctly, in 1998, John Russo, the co-writer of this iconic motion picture felt the need to release an enhanced version of the film that featured new scenes and a beefed up storyline that he firmly believed would give this legendary horror story the gravitas he felt it always needed and well, if you haven't heard of it or never knew that it existed, there's a good reason for that...it was absolutely awful and an outright failure and never should have been made in the first place. ​

---

For starters, the remake of ​Night of the Living Dead that arrived in 1990 (which was also written by George Romero) was the revisiting that the film sort-of deserved by giving the story modern day characters and updated effects but beyond that...let's be honest, the 1968 iteration of NOTLD was absolutely perfect. It was a powerful story that left the audience confused for all the right reasons as they sat down to witness the beginning of the end of the world. It was filled with mystery and tension and it played out like real life disasters play out on television, making Russo's decision to 'enhance' this film downright silly.

Why he truly did it, aside from money I will never know, but what he added to the mythos was absolutely laughable and counterintuitive to what the original film accomplished. For example, we never needed a backstory for the Cemetery Zombie. He was merely a force of nature, a resurrected corpse whose rotten brain was focused on consuming human flesh. Yet here, he's a child murderer, and everyone is celebrating his passing as a gift from God, and my issue with this, is that it adds a Biblical overtone to a story that never made use of such concepts. In addition to that, Beekman's Diner, the titular place that was overwhelmed by the dead takes on new life here with an expanded story and well...who cares? Ben telling the story about what happened at that diner was all we ever needed and this little side plot of giving said diner more weight merely bloats an already well-paced motion picture.

But perhaps the greatest offense of all, is that the performances that go with these new scenes (minus horror legend Debbie Rochon, the only bright spot in all of this) are simply abysmal. It's over the top schlock that truly adds insult to injury. So if anything, this film needs to serve as a cautionary tale for the horror industry and its love of remakes in that...if the film is that iconic and beloved, leave it be and commission something new. But if a producer simply has to remake or reboot that property, respect it and take it in a bold new direction. Don't let another abomination like this be created, and for fans of George Romero's work or zombie films as a whole, avoid this one like the plague, and revisit the original Night or Dawn of the Dead ​instead. 

---