Done To Death: Horror Movie Remakes, Rip-offs, and the Classics that inspired them

It all starts here. We talk George A. Romero and Night of the Living Dead 1968 and Tom Savini's 1990 remake.

Happy Spooky Season to all and to all another bunch of Done To Death episodes in October! This October we'll do 4 of our Original Vs Remake-style episodes covering 4 of the the most well-known films in George A. Romero's filmography, alongside their "proper" remakes.

It's Rich, it's Justin, it's Vanessa all back and we've even pulled a guest co-host or two along the way. Actually, Vanessa's schedule has become increasingly incompatible and while she's in 3 of our 4 Original Vs Remake episodes, that might be it for Vanessa for the foreseeable future. So be all the more ready to listen this October for what may be the final episodes with our classic power trio incarnation of the D2D co-host lineup.

Rich and special guest Shannon Candy take a broad overview of Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, and Survival of the Dead. These were Romero's final 3 films that also made up his second trilogy of Living Dead films.

Did you know that George A. Romero almost directed the first Resident Evil movie? Here's a tougher question: Did you know Brandon Salisbury DID direct George A. Romero's Resident Evil? It happened and we talked about it pretty much for the entire episode save for a fairly brief sidebar about teen heart-throbs of the 1990s.

We put a period on 2024 and let y'all know each of our 5 favorite horror movies of 2024. Justin's here for this one, too, as is Tim Mather, head curator of VHSGoreStore (@vhsgorestore on IG).

Also, if you've got any room in your heart for an anthology of bleak sci-fi check out Panopticon: Volume 1 https://a.co/d/2WDwKZU

And if you don't, definitely check it out and help throw off the algorithm.

Rich covers his Top 5 Holiday Horror films and rates them on a scale of how "Christmas-y" they are.

For this episode I run through the 5 most proper horror remakes of 2024. Plots are recapped, directors and actors of note from either the original or remake are discussed. Those 5 "remakes" are Nosferatu, Salem's Lot, Speak No Evil, The Crow, and Witchboard. They may not all fall under the purest definition of a proper remake but who's got time for purity.

Tony Todd passed away on November 6, 2024. He became a horror icon when he took on the title role of the 1992 classic Candyman, 2 years after he took on the role of Ben in the Romero-penned remake of Night of the Living Dead. I talk about a few of his other notable film and tv roles and close out the episode with an excerpt from a Q&A with Todd and Romero at DragonCon 2006.

Here's a link to video of the full Q&A session on Youtube: https://youtu.be/Nfjl2jkQk1c?si=na5aHBF5XgtmZBhZ

Like the films of George A. Romero but tire of the consummate craftsmanship on display in those films? Then maybe it's time to treat yourself to the films of John Russo, Bill Hinzman, Rudy Ricci, and Russell Streiner.

D2D retells the story behind how Night of the Living Dead became a public domain film.