NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1990)

Back in the late 1980's the makers of the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD decided, because of some ongoing copyright issues, to remake their 1968 classic.  I use the term "classic" loosely because while it was hugely influential (and scary when I saw it for the first time as a child...late night on PBS of all things) it hasn't aged well at all.

Anyway, this remake is kinda weak.  It's not bad.  It's definitively watchable, but compared to so many other superior zombie movies out there (1978's DAWN OF THE DEAD and THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD) it's underwhelming.  The story is practically a straightforward retelling of the original: zombie outbreak, woman attacked at a remote graveyard runs through the woods until she and some other survivors hole up in an isolated farmhouse and fight off the attacking zombies while at the same time bitching at each other nonstop.  As far as improvements go, most thing are actually better on this film than the original...special effects, acting, violence...but since we've already seen the original a million times you already know everything that's going to happen.

NOTLD (1990) was a great opportunity to make an improved and exciting update of the original, but instead, it brings nothing new to the table.  As it is, it's a mildly entertaining look at early 90's horror but nothing to get excited over.  Still it's worth watching.

WOLF CREEK 2 (2013)

As you don't remember I was not a fan of Part 1.  I thought it was "slow as molasses".  Well...is Part 2 any better???  Kinda, a little, but not much.

Ol' Mick Taylor is still up to his old tricks.  Stalking and killing people in the Australian Outback.  Apparently there's absolutely nobody concerned about all of the dozens of people he's killed in the past (including two cops in the opening scene!), because he literally just drives around like a maniac crashing into everything, exploding a 18-wheeler and a Jeep, murdering kangaroos, killing an entire household, murdering tourists like it's going out of style and even maintaining some sort of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 underground lair with dead bodies littered all over the place!  It's insane.  But insane is good, if it's a highly entertaining movie.  WOLF CREEK 2 is not an highly entertaining movie.  It's simply more of the same shit from the first film.  There's even another scene where a victim gets the jump on Mick, smashes him on the head with a hammer...only to just stand there like a moron until Mick composes himself.

Mildly amusing at points (mainly in the middle of the film...the beginning and end are both weak), boring kills, a corpse getting his wiener cut off, zero tits, lots of funny facial expressions by John Jarratt, Final Guy instead of a Final Girl (you don't see that often...thank god), better looking production values and photography than in the first film.

Overall, it's a small (very small) step in the right direction.  Here's hoping that Part 3 will just be completely insane and way over the top.

Part 1 - Wolf Creek (2005)