Giphy - night of the living dead horror GIF

I'm not a huge horror fan, so Night of the Living Dead has never really been on my radar, but it was not my turn to pick what movie we watch on movie night and Night of the Living Dead 1968 was put on and this was followed by the next week by the 1990 remake and to get right to the point I prefer the original but not in every aspect.

Firstly, I'm a sucker for Monochrome - I think it makes things sharper and pops just a little more, when done nicely of course - the version we watched was the restoration if I recall correctly by a museum of some sorts (possible modern art?)

So the original or 1968 version as it'll be known as from here on in, I loved the look and while it didn't take its time in getting going I did feel the 1990 version was much more eager to skip over the intro screen and get right into the zombies but of the intros, I think I prefer the remake... this purely stems from the fact that they have more than one zombie going after Johnny and Barbra and the format of what a zombie is, feels more nailed in.

Giphy - night of the living dead art GIF by hoppip

The one thing I would change is in the 1968 version Johnny may be alive or he may be dead - granted he bashed his head in but it's left a little open if he's dead or not - the remake kills this notion very quickly with a fairly brutal death...

In the remake, the idea that she doesn't have the car keys and cannot move the car makes a lot more sense than in the original where it just came across that she's a bit of a pleb

Giphy - scared night of the living dead GIF

I'm trying not to do a plot by plot breakdown but point out what I enjoyed more between the two but right after the crash of the car in both Barbra ends up at some farmhouse and the 1990s remake it wins this round too as you did get the scope that Barbra is a bit broken but scared out of her wits as more zombies from the farmhouse have turned up and they want flesh and it's about now our male leads turn up

Duane Jones in 1968 and Tony Todd in the 1990s equivalent both portray Ben, but in very different ways, right away the 1968 version takes charge, he's in control of the situation and himself, despite not knowing what's going on he sorts out what's left of the zombies within the house, takes out the bodies and gets to work on boarding the house up.

The 1990s Ben seems a little more confused and while able to dispatch the zombies in the house he doesn't get them all and Barbra herself unlike the original where she's kinda useless takes out the biggest one with a fire poker .. while shift's between the two are constant this feels like the biggest one '68 Ben is driven by logic and they want to survive

Giphy - night of the living dead horror GIF

'90s Ben on the other hand seems more human in the sense that he is fully aware of the nightmare he's in but is doing his best to not break down and just move forward, this feels prominent the most when he talks to Barbra and basically tells her yeah, shits bad but now is not the time to break down - suck it up, survive, deal with what you need to deal with later.

We then meet Harry Cooper and Tom (Bitner) (seems Tom doesn't have a last name in the original) Harry comes across in the '68 version as a Red Foreman type, the man of the house breadwinner, rule maker etc but I couldn't tell you why but in the '90s version you see Harry and instant dislike.. perhaps seeing the original and knowing or having an idea of what this character could be like it's just pure

this guy I hate him

Between the two versions at this point, I felt like the original had a better pace, it slowed things down and again the rules for zombies were a little different with it being new and all but light scared them off, they used tools and even protected themselves when walking through trees ... 90s zombies were fleshy robots, they had a purpose of consuming and converting and stuck to it .. we do see some of the concepts like finding alternative ways in when one doesn't work but the '90s version is less about the one and revolves around the horde

Giphy - Night Of The Living Dead Horror GIF by filmeditor

The '68 version you get the impression that provided Harry shuts up and behaves .. all will be fine, he doesn't and it isn't - the '90s version skips that noise and wants you to dislike Harry. It's not just the fact he doesn't help them look for the keys (and has them all along) and almost gets them killed by being an absolute coward or that he had a radio this entire time or that he wants to isolate in the basement .. which is possibly certain death if they get in ... it's all that and more - the anger without reason, the sneaking around and the whole thing with the TV (did he plan to take it down to the basement?) .. in short, the '68 version you don't have to like him but .. he's not all bad .. maybe...'90s version he's a prick from the onset.

Judy (Judy Rose) and Tom you'll no doubt notice I skipped over a fair bit, but here goes, prefer the original Judy although she did present herself as FAR too calm and eager and I kinda prefer the Tom from the '90s version as he fit the theme a little more, not the biggest guy but it was his relative's house.

Judy Rose seemed to fill in that broken girl needed for the movie that Barbra originally was but I didn't really connect with this version... either way in both versions they die avoidable deaths but the '90s version does make logical Tom look like a light snack to the zombies with how he BBQ'd himself .. idiot...

Helen Cooper was interesting in both movies, as her husband was a prime prick in the '68 version she is somewhat laid back, helps everybody out and just brushes off the verbal abuse her husband flings at her.

Helen dies at the hands of the same creature in both (her daughter) but in very different ways, the remake does the classic daughter bites mom which has become the go-to now for zombie movies (the ones I have seen) while the original has her stabbed repeatedly with a trowel .. not a very zombie death but the 90's version does have a nod with blood splattering all over the trowel
Giphy - Night Of The Living Dead Horror GIF by filmeditor
The '90s Helen Cooper seems like she is used to him but that perhaps even for him it's gone a bit too far, I get the impression that she takes no shit however as when Harry goes to slap her she fires right back at him - surviving the apocalypse likely results in divorce papers for Harry...

Barbra ... I feel like both Barbra's are rabbits of the time, the '90s version wanted an Ellen Ripley type, the worst things get the more she women up and face them head-on... '68 version is the one the '90s version slaps and tells her to snap out of it before handing her a gun... neither were the leads for me as Ben in both was the driving force behind trying to get stuff done, Harry was the anchor and Barbra in the '90s version was the muscle... '68 she was in the house...

The final talking point for me would be the end, the '68 version caught me completely off guard - having survived a zombie apocalypse ... he couldn't survive racism .. it felt like Romero reached into my chest and ripped the hope and heart right out of me... it was angering... I was somewhat mad at the ending, not that I felt it was a wrong ending but that's how it ended and I guess that was the point...

The '90s version switches things up with Ben hiding in the basement littered with bullets and finding a working radio and! the petrol pump key .. meanwhile Harry the tool is hiding in the basement.

Barbra meanwhile does what she kept blabbering about for most of the encounter .. goes for help because the zombies move about as fast as a snail in reverse, she comes back to the house and the basement is being opened by the militia and sadly Ben has turned.. he's quickly put down and just before you forget about Harry the pissant shows up and thanks Barbra for coming back and just when you think fuck he got away with it .. Barbra does what I was wishing she would and puts two between his eyes...

I know I barely touched on Sarah, not sure I even mentioned her but in the '90s version.. by far the scariest zombie

So that's it, I suspect hardcore fans and general fans will likely correct me on a lot of things and it's all written a little hazy and possibly out of order but I thought if I just sit down and write what I remember it'll be more personal so that's what I'm aiming for but if you are a huge fan of these movies let me know what you think I got wrong, missed or just what you prefer...

I did at the end of the day prefer the original, I think that ending hurt so much it just stuck with me.. the remake was excellent and did offer a more modern zombie but also modernise some of the characters for better or worse...

Highly suggest if you have not seen them, watch them!