Tom Savini is 79 years old today. He was born on 3 November 1946 in Pittsburgh. I only mention this because Ohio and Pennsylvania were something of a hotbed for horror when Savini was making his name.
We know Savini primarily for special makeup effects. Dawn of the Dead and other Romero films are a high point. And his many appearances showing off his work on Late Night With David Letterman were a highlight of my college days.
But he is beloved in the industry. As a result, he has appeared as an actor in dozens of films. This includes From Dusk Till Dawn where he wears Robert Rodriguez’s most bizarre invention, the crotch gun.
Savini directs a fair amount. His work is limited to segments of anthology films and TV series. But there is one major exception. And it is the main reason I’m writing about him today. Night of the Living Dead.
I’m not talking about the original film. It’s a classic. I enjoy it. I don’t need to see it again. I’m talking about the 1990 remake. The one everyone said should not be made. But then it came out and the critics had to admit: they hated it as much as they thought they would. All these critics would have hated the original if they had been writing at the time. It’s not even clear if Owen Gleiberman saw the film based on his review.
It’s an outstanding film. It is the best zombie film ever (at least by an American). I’ve only heard one complaint about the film that has any credence. Barbara kind of turns into Ellen Ripley in the third act. But so what?! Do we really expect fresh and original characters to populate our films — especially our horror films? It’s an unreasonable ask.
But more important: it sets up the very disturbing ending. “That’s another one for the fire.” And it fixes the ending of the original film, which has always seemed tacked on and pointless.
What’s sad is that most people will talk about the original like it is holy scripture. But they don’t watch it. And they could be watching the remake. Fix that now! Celebrate Tom Savini’s birthday by watching his best film!
Image cropped from Ryota Nakanishi and Tom Savini by Brother87 under CC BY-SA 3.0.