It's not a favorite of mine, either. I don't know if that's to do with the high esteem in which I hold the original, or if it's to do with this film on its own merits. I wonder how I'd feel if I'd seen this version first.
I understand why they remade the original, to reclaim the copyright, and I don't hate them for that. However, the movie really dishonors the original by turning Barbra into a Ripley-style kick ass protagonist, which is not what this particular story needs. Night of the Living Dead is a cautionary tale about the way we live, the way we relate to one another, and the way we ultimately fail one another. To my mind, both Ben and Harry fail, and not only literally in their bid to stay alive; they also fail in their humanity. When Ben kills Harry, he's regressing to a pre-thought, instinct-driven state that makes him no better than the ghouls. That he is mistaken for one with the rising of the sun the day after is ironic but not really unexpected. The remake throws all that tough love out the window to reboot Barbra as an action movie heroine, whose killing of Harry is greeted by fist pumps and "awRIGHTs," which kind of breaks my haunted heart. The remake does nothing more than tell us what we want to hear, while the original reminded us of a truth we don't like to face.
I don't really hate this one...and as far as remakes go, I have seen far worse (see: 2008's Day of the Dead). But Ben's demise in the original always seemed more horrific... I always got the impression that his death in the original was no "accident of mis-identification" but rather the shooter always struck me as recognizing Ben was of the living-but the shooter shot him because... Living Dead? Black Man? Whose less human to the shooter? I guess I always saw it as a statement on race relations in the civil rights era. The remake robs the ending of that. But I really like Tony Todd, and especially enjoy when I get to see him play something of a normal Joe.
If you really wanna nail Ben, black socks are not the way to go about it.
ReplyDeleteThis shot is like Bizarro Graduate or something!
ReplyDeleteLooks like Lindsay Crouse in House of Games back there.
ReplyDeleteIt does look like Lindsay!
ReplyDeleteOr maybe Mia Farrow.
ReplyDeleteThe more I think of this movie, the more I hate it.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a favorite of mine, either. I don't know if that's to do with the high esteem in which I hold the original, or if it's to do with this film on its own merits. I wonder how I'd feel if I'd seen this version first.
ReplyDeleteI understand why they remade the original, to reclaim the copyright, and I don't hate them for that. However, the movie really dishonors the original by turning Barbra into a Ripley-style kick ass protagonist, which is not what this particular story needs. Night of the Living Dead is a cautionary tale about the way we live, the way we relate to one another, and the way we ultimately fail one another. To my mind, both Ben and Harry fail, and not only literally in their bid to stay alive; they also fail in their humanity. When Ben kills Harry, he's regressing to a pre-thought, instinct-driven state that makes him no better than the ghouls. That he is mistaken for one with the rising of the sun the day after is ironic but not really unexpected. The remake throws all that tough love out the window to reboot Barbra as an action movie heroine, whose killing of Harry is greeted by fist pumps and "awRIGHTs," which kind of breaks my haunted heart. The remake does nothing more than tell us what we want to hear, while the original reminded us of a truth we don't like to face.
ReplyDeleteI don't really hate this one...and as far as remakes go, I have seen far worse (see: 2008's Day of the Dead). But Ben's demise in the original always seemed more horrific... I always got the impression that his death in the original was no "accident of mis-identification" but rather the shooter always struck me as recognizing Ben was of the living-but the shooter shot him because... Living Dead? Black Man? Whose less human to the shooter? I guess I always saw it as a statement on race relations in the civil rights era. The remake robs the ending of that. But I really like Tony Todd, and especially enjoy when I get to see him play something of a normal Joe.
ReplyDelete