The 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead had a troubled production, which hurt the quality of the released film. Tom Savini’s take on the George Romero classic was greatly compromised due to conflicts with numerous producers.
Though the 1968 release of Night of the Living Dead became a huge moneymaker for its distributor, the Walter Reade Organization, the original investors were cheated out of millions in profits. Image Ten, a company Romero helped put together to fund Night, raised approximately $114,000 for the production. The investors were mainly co-founders of The Latent Image, an industrial video outfit that created commercials and industrial films. John Russo, who co-wrote the script, and Russ Streiner, who played Johnny, were his partners. They were a tight group of people who were also friends, which made the financial concerns a personal matter as well.
The Walter Reade Organization also neglected to copyright the title Night of the Living Dead, which proved to be an even greater problem for the creative team. The film fell into public domain, which allowed any company that could obtain a print to make money off of it. For decades Night was sold on video releases that showcased poor prints – profiting from the title while also compromising its reputation. In the late 80s, Romero began thinking about ways for the original creative team to get some of their money back from the property. He had the idea to remake the film with many of the Image Ten players back in production roles.
Savini’s Night Of The Living Dead Remake Suffered Because of Producer Interference
Romero had heard that 21st Century Film Corporation was already interested in producing a remake, so he contacted them and put a deal in place. Tom Savini, who had created the violent effects for Dawn of the Dead, was initially contacted to do the same for the Night remake. However, Romero suggested that Savini direct the film, which he agreed to do. Romero crafted the screenplay, which relied heavily on the original narrative with only a few cosmetic changes made to modernize the characters. Though the intentions of the cult filmmaker were pure, the production proved to be headache for Savini once cameras began to roll.
The make-up and special effects wizard had a detailed storyboard for the film, most of which was nixed by the producers on the set. With so many people involved from the original film, along with various new investors only looking at the bottom line, the budget became a major issue. Savini was constantly at odds with the myriad suits who had a financial interest in the release. He has spoken at length about his time on the set – which only went smoothly when Romero was there to ensure he wasn’t bothered. By the time principal photography had finished, only about 40% of what Savini wanted to accomplish had been realized.
While not received well at the time, the 1990 Night of the Living Dead remake, starring a pre-Candyman Tony Todd, has recently been reevaluated and embraced by a supportive fan base. Plans for reunion events have been scheduled throughout 2020.