Tom is a character from George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead and its 1990 remake. He is a survivor of the zombie menace sweeping across America and the only original resident of the farmhouse left alive. He is portrayed by Keith Wayne in the original and by William Butler in the remake.
History[]
Tom and his girlfriend Judy Rose are hiding in the cellar with the Cooper family by the time protagonists Ben and Barbra arrive. Tom is a kind-hearted youth and is happy to allow the others to stay in the house, quickly and obediently following Ben's advice on boarding up the windows to keep the undead out. He tells the others that there is a gas pump not far from the house that they can use to refuel the truck and escape.
Death[]
Tom's and Judy's deaths are similar in both versions of the film. In the original, when he and Judy take the pickup truck to the pump, Ben tries to keep the zombies at bay by throwing Molotov cocktails from the top floor of the house. Unfortunately, in his panic-driven haste, Tom spills gasoline on the truck and the flames from one of the Molotovs envelop the truck. Before Tom and Judy can drive away, the gas ignites and the truck explodes. The young couple are blown to pieces and the zombies then feed on their roasting remains.
In the remake, Tom finds a key on the body of his Uncle Rege which is supposedly for the gas pump. But when he and Judy go up to the pump, Tom discovers that it's the wrong key and he still can't unlock the pump. In his frustration, Tom idiotically uses his shotgun to blast the lock off the pump. Of course, this results in the fuel being ignited and both he and Judy are flash-fried by the explosion. Tom's barbecued corpse is later seen being devoured by the zombies.