The return of the undead
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The return of the undead |
| Original title | Night of the Living Dead |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1990 |
| length | Cinema: 88 minutes Uncut: 92 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 18 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Tom Savini |
| script |
George A. Romero Tom Savini |
| production |
Declan Baldwin George A. Romero John A. Russo |
| music | Paul McCollough |
| camera | Frank Prinzi |
| cut | Tom Dubensky |
| occupation | |
| |
The return of the undead (original title: Night of the Living Dead ) is a horror film by Tom Savini from 1990 . It is based on the 1968 film of the same name by George A. Romero , which was released in Germany under the title The Night of the Living Dead . The German premiere (a slightly shortened version) took place on February 21, 1991 under the title Night of the Living Dead .
action
The undead attack Barbara and her brother Johnnie in a cemetery. When she manages to escape to a farmhouse, she first meets Ben there, and then five other people who are hiding in the basement. Instead of fighting together for survival, they quarrel, which doesn't exactly increase their chances of survival. Ben, who initially played the leader, succumbs to Harry's egoism, who has done more harm than good to the group through previous senseless actions, and becomes a zombie . Meanwhile, Barbara manages to get to a group of rednecks who are chasing the zombies. She kills Harry when she sees what happened to Ben. After the zombies are driven away, she is the only survivor of the farm in the end.
The plot is largely identical to the original Night of the Living Dead . However, the ending of the film is fundamentally different. In comparison to the original, where she portrays a traumatized woman who is completely overwhelmed by the events, Barbara is a strong person who is ultimately the only one of the group to survive.
production
The film was the debut film for Tom Savini. A budget of $ 4.2 million was available for filming . The locations were East Buffalo , Pennsylvania , where the farmhouse is, and Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania, where the rest of the scenes were shot. George A. Romero himself worked on the revision of the original script for this remake by his friend Savini. Romero, however, was not particularly enthusiastic about the finished film and refused to cooperate with the marketing.
Reviews
"Remake of the cult film 'The Night of the Living Dead', which has advanced to become a cult film and although it crosses the line of disgust, it contains noteworthy approaches due to its statement about the beast in humans."
Trivia
- The name tag on the house reads “M. Celeste ”. Tom Savini's comment on the DVD is that this is a direct reference to the Mary Celeste , a ship that was discovered drifting at sea with no passengers or crew.
- Bill "Chilly Billy" Cardille stars in both the original and the remake .
- The scene in which Barbara shoots a zombie in the chest and then finally in the head wasn't originally intended. Instead, a terrible female zombie should appear at this point, in which Barbara recognizes her mother. All members of the group should ask them to shoot him. The mother would look at Barbara and ask "Where is Johnny, Barbara?" Then she would transform back into the terrifying female zombie that Barbara would eventually shoot at.
- The zombie Mac Gruder was a man whom director Tom Savini had seen at a diner and told him he was going to make a great zombie; the man agreed. He then appeared as a zombie at all premieres.
- The autopsy zombie at the beginning of the film was not in the original script, it was added by Tom Savini.
- The car Johnny drives at the beginning of the film belongs to Tom Savini. According to the director, it was the first car he bought after he was successful. He was very sad when it was wrecked while filming.
- The scene at the end of the film, in which some zombies were lynched, was in the script of the 1968 film, but was cut because of the racist tensions that were emerging in the United States at the time .
- Director Tom Savini has known Patricia Tallman since they went to college together. Because of her strong-willed attitude, he decided to cast her .
- As is the tradition with most zombie films, the word zombie is not used once to describe the living dead .
- As in the original, there is a naked zombie woman walking towards the house. As in the original, it is shown completely naked from the side as well as from the back.
Versions
To avoid an NC-17 release in the United States, some scenes had to be cut out. As a result, the cinema version has 88 minutes and the uncut DVD 92 minutes. Even so, the film was indexed when it came out in Germany . In Germany the film was not released on DVD up to and including 2009. There are officially German versions only on VHS and laser disc . The indexing of the film was lifted again in June 2020, a re-examination by the FSK is still pending.
Confiscation according to § 131 StGB
According to the seizure decision pursuant to Section 131 StGB of April 27, 2007 by the Tiergarten District Court , The Return of the Undead has been seized. The sale or resale is therefore no longer permitted in Germany. The seizure was lifted in February 2020.
Web links
- The return of the undead in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Return of the Undead. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Comparison of the cut versions FSK 18 - rough cut of The Return of the Undead at Schnittberichte.com
- ↑ https://www.schnittberichte.com/news.php?ID=16096
- ↑ Report on schnittberichte.com, accessed on February 11, 2020