20 Surprisingly Great Horror Movie Remakes

14. Night of the Living Dead

Night of the Living Dead is the single most iconic zombie film ever made, and so the prospect of anyone remaking it seemed patently ridiculous, even if it happened to be directed by George A. Romero's legendary make-up artist collaborator Tom Savini, with a new script penned by Romero himself.

Expectations were low at the time of release and it opened to generally apathetic reviews while also flopping at the box office, but time has been much kinder to the film which, honestly, is pretty damn great.

For one, Savini's film features outstanding gore and make-up effects, but more than that it offers up a thoughtful reimagining of the original story. 

The biggest and most successful change is reworking the female lead, Barbara (Patricia Tallman), into a more active participant in fending off the zombies, while the late Tony Todd gives a stellar performance as Ben.

As "unnecessary" a remake as this is, its esteem has grown considerably over the last 35 years, and rightly so.