A few thoughts: Remaking such a groundbreaking, genre defining classic is no easy task, so I can't hold it against Tom Savini for failing to live up to the material, but with this unnecessary adaptation come a few distinct improvements and character overhauls that work pretty well. While several characters remain basically unchanged, the main improvement comes with a total change for the female lead, here portrayed by Patricia Tallman. In the original, Barbara is one of the most useless, catatonic characters in horror history, but here she has a lot more to do, and her behavior is aggressive and self-reliant while still believably frazzled. Tony Todd does well, too, and Cooper is injected with an even more villainous streak, which sadly takes away from the urgency of defending the home against zombies. With Savini directing, it seemed like more emphasis would be placed on the gore and makeup effects, but that's not so. Not heartbreaking, but I wanted to see him nasty the film up a bit. It's solid, overall, but lacking in atmosphere and thrills.
Anyone interested in seeing a more well-written character driven Living Dead remake, or people curious by Savini's film debut as a director.
My grade: C
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