the film as a purely financial effort that lacks the shock of the original film now that zombie film tropes have become clichéd. Dave Kehr of the Chicago Tribune rated it three out of four stars and wrote that although Savini's direction is a bit too literal, the film "contains some intriguing further development of the ideas of the first film, as well as some mistakes corrected and dramatic relationships tightened." Modern criticism has been more appreciative. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 67% based on reviews from 33 critics, with an average rating of 6.3/10, and a critical consensus that reads "Night of the Living Dead doesn't quite reinvent the original's narrative, but its sleek action and amplified gore turn it into a worthy horror showcase. ". On Metacritic it has a score of 54 out of 100 based on reviews from 18 critics. Bloody Disgusting rated it four-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote, "This film works on so many levels. Normally, remakes are horrible, and diverge so much from the original film. This one is so close to the original it's scary." Reviewing the Twilight Time Blu-ray, Adam Tyner of DVD Talk rated it 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "We'll never get a chance to see the remake that Tom Savini set out to direct. Still, despite the many missteps of this severely compromised version, Night of the Living Dead manages to distinguish itself as one of the more effective horror remakes out there." Reviewing the same disc at DVD Verdict, Patrick Naugle rated it 83 out of 100 and called it "one of the superior zombies movies available". In a retrospective at PopMatters, academic Cynthia Freeland compared the racial politics of the original film and the gender politics of the remake. Freeland concludes that the original film's depiction of Barbara makes for better cinema, and the more feminist-friendly update of Barbara is too derivative of standard "final girl" tropes. See also Dawn of the Dead: The 2004 remake of A. Romero's 1978 film of the same name. References Bibliography External links 1990 films 1990 horror films American zombie films Columbia Pictures films Remakes of American films Horror film remakes Night of the Living Dead (film series) Siege films Films about cannibalism Films set in abandoned houses Films set on farms Films set in Pennsylvania Films shot in Pennsylvania Matricide in fiction 21st Century