The dead are coming back to life! When her brother, Johnny (Bill Moseley), is killed by a zombie at the cemetery, Barbara (Patricia Tallman) flees and makes her way to an isolated farmhouse. It’s there that she’s joined by Ben (Tony Todd), a traveling salesman who is also fleeing from the zombies. Also hiding out at the farmhouse are young lovers Tom (William Butler) and Judy (Katie Finneran) and Harry (Tom Towles), his wife (McKee Anderson), and daughter (Heather Mazur). While the living dead lay siege to the house, Ben and Harry argue over whether it would be better to hide in the basement or to stay upstairs. Even in the face of an unimaginable crisis, the living just can’t stop bickering.

If the plot sounds familiar, it should. Unfortunately, this is not George Romero’s original Night of the Living Dead. This is a remake that came out in 1990. Apparently, when the original film was made, Romero forgot to include a copyright notice on the film and that, combined with a long court battle over the film’s profits, meant that he made next to no money off of its subsequent popularity. (In Romero’s defense, no one originally suspected that his low-budget zombie movie would go on to become a cultural phenomenon.) In the late 80s, when Romero heard that Menahem Golan was considering doing a remake, Romero contacted him and signed on to write the script and serve as an executive producer. Romero’s plan was to establish his copyright over the material while heading off a potentially terrible remake. And, of course, Romero hoped to finally make some money off of the whole thing. Tom Savini was originally brought in to do the special effects but Romero subsequently persuaded him to direct the film. Savini later said that directing the film was a nightmare. While Romero was supportive of Savini’s ideas for the film, the other producers were not and Savini estimated that only 40% of the film was his vision. Once filming was finished, Savini was contractually obligated to cut some of the film’s most gory moments to get an R rating.

Unfortunately, the remake doesn’t really work. Shooting the film in color robs the film of the harsh atmosphere and the almost documentary-style realism that made the first film such a nightmare-inducing success. What was once subtext is made explicit by the film’s script. As opposed to ending with a series of increasingly grainy still shots that bring to mind the records of real-life war atrocities, this film features Barbara watching a trigger-happy posse and literally saying that the living are just like the dead.

The biggest update is that Barbara no longer spends the entire movie in a state of shock. Instead, she grabs a rifle and turns out to be the best shot in the movie. Of course, after spending 90 minutes watching her shoot zombies in the head, it’s a bit hard to take seriously the idea that she would be offended by the sight of the posse. The remake tries to make Barbara a stronger character but then they cast someone who gave an absolutely terrible, one-note performance in the role, which kind of negates the whole thing. In the original film, Ben shoots Harry and it’s a sad moment because it shows that people cannot work together. In the remake, Barbara shoots Ben and we’re supposed to cheer because it’s a 90s film. Beyond that, though, one of the reasons why the first Night of the Living Dead was so effective is because Barbara had the reaction that we all secretly suspect we would have. I may not be happy to admit it but if the dead did come back to life, I’d probably be catatonic as well. Most people would. Not everyone is going to turn into an action hero whenever a crisis breaks out. I would be totally worthless in the face of a zombie apocalypse and so would you. The original Night of the Living Dead had the courage to admit that. The remake does not and that’s why the remake is ultimately just another zombie film.

(Of course, one could argue that by taking the original and spelling out its subtext and making Barbra into a stereotype, this film actually predicted everything from American Horror Story to Mike Flanagan’s Carrie.)

When it comes to the Dead, stick with the Romero originals.