9 Horror Movie Remake Deaths That Were Way Better Than The Original

5. Johnny - Night Of The Living Dead

Night Of The Living Dead Johnny
Continental Distributing/Columbia Pictures

It's always tough to remake something that's viewed as iconic, and that was the task at hand for the legendary Tom Savini when he put a fresh coat of paint on George A. Romero's Night of the Living - complete with Romero writing the film's screenplay to update the tale for the modern day.

Much like the 1968 film, Savini's take had the opening act death of Johnny as a way to introduce the undead ghouls of the picture.

In Romero's effort, Russell Streiner's Johnny is killed after a scuffle with a zombie broke his neck. From there, Johnny's sister Barbra holes herself up in a farmhouse as she and some fellow survivors fight for their lives.

For Savini's Night of the Living Dead, Johnny was played by major genre fave Bill Moseley. And while it was still the same fate awaiting Moseley's Johnny during the film's opening scene, the death here was a whole lot more fun and definitive.

Having Moseley as Johnny in the first place was a stroke of genius. Throw in a genuine back-and-forth fight rather than the one-sided, brief affair of the '68 film - complete with amped-up, stunning make-up effects of Savini - and this death far surpasses what was seen from Streiner's Johnny 22 years prior.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.