Night Of The Living Dead 3D changes the famous ending of the original - and it sucks. Night Of The Living Dead is one of the most groundbreaking horror movies of all time. This 1968 classic introduced zombies as audiences know them today, establishing rules such as headshots being the only way to stop them. George A Romero’s documentary-style direction, the black & white cinematography, and its infamous ending are just some of the reasons it became a genre landmark.
Sadly, the producers behind Night Of The Living Dead failed to copyright the movie correctly, leading to an endless supply of rip-offs. Romero would eventually write a 1990 remake just to see some profit from his creation. Romero also write and directed several follow-ups, including 1978’s Dawn Of The Dead. From the Resident Evil franchise to The Walking Dead, the impact of Night Of The Living Dead can’t be underestimated.
One of the most famous elements of the original Night Of The Living Dead is its shock ending. In the final scene, Ben (Duane Jones) is the sole survivor of the siege. He hears a posse shooting zombies outside but after he emerges to look outside, they mistake Ben for a zombie and shoot him in the head; he’s then thrown on a burning pile of corpses. The ending is not only a gut punch, but it carries extra weight as Ben was African-American, which was incredibly rare for a film of that era. Night Of The Living Dead 3D is a 2006 remake that attempted to cash in on the popularity of the zombie and 3D fads of that time and gave the story a toothless new ending.
Night Of The Living Dead 3D follows the same basic story of the original, with reinvented takes on the original characters, including a dull, college student version of Ben. The movie adds more gore and sex and a subplot revealing sinister mortician Gerald (Sig Haig, 3 From Hell), is actually the one bringing the dead to life. This leads to a showdown in a garage filled with zombies, where Gerald is eaten and Barbara and Ben barely make it outside. They have a gun with one bullet, and Barbara decides they can’t escape and asks Ben to kill her. That’s when they notice Ben has been impaled with a tire iron - which somehow he didn’t feel - and he turns into a zombie. Barbara shoots him and then the garage door breaks open; Barbara makes no attempt to flee as they swarm her, and her scream is heard as the screen freezes on the hand of a zombie.
Night Of The Living Dead 3D is a cheap, cheerless remake that attempts to go for black humor, but aside from Haig’s endearing hammy turn, it’s a slog. Adding insult to injury, it plays clips from the original on TV in some scenes. It’s ending was never going to top the raw shock of George Romero’s movie, but even with those low expectations, it sucks. The remake’s version of Ben is a non-entity so his demise carries no weight and Barbara’s decision to not run is just weird. The remake later received a 2012 prequel in Night Of The Living Dead 3D: Re-Animation, which is even more skippable.
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