An accident at a medical supply warehouse unleashes a horde
of zombies on a group of friends trapped in a funeral home. COMEDY/HORROR
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The Return of the
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The Return of the Living Dead is a balls-to-the-wall, punk rock zombie movie that's full of 80's nonsense in the best way. It's not particularly well-written and the actors are all forgettable, but it's a fun movie nonetheless. The horror community has rallied behind it for over 35 years, and it's not hard to see why. There's a lot here that lays a surprising foundation for the evolution of the zombie subgenre. It's got fast-moving zombies decades before 28 Days Later popularized them, and the zombies are intelligent, strategic, brain-eating monsters. I really just wish the story around them was better constructed.
In this universe, George Romero's Night of the Living Dead was based on true events that were covered up by the army. Tanks containing the chemicals that reanimated half of Pittsburgh were accidentally sent to the wrong place, and two hapless factory workers open it, unleashing the toxins into Louisville and starting a zombie nightmare. It's not a bad concept, and it introduces a lot of hilarious and vicious moments. But the gore isn't nearly as hardcore as I expected, and considering this came out the same year as Day of the Dead, I was expecting some gory shit. The Return of the Living Dead is an enjoyable flick if you want to turn your brain off and just unwind for a while. The zombies eat brains and they're very vocal about it. But with a super abrupt ending and a host of forgettable characters saying ridiculous dialogue, the film does leave a lot to be desired. But regardless of your thoughts on the film, you've gotta admit 45 Grave's "Partytime" is a hell of a catchy tune. |
From a story by Night of the Living Dead co-writer John Russo, comes a screenplay written and directed by the scribe of Alien, Dan O’Bannon. In the aftermath of a name rights issue that saw George Romero continue his socially conscious “…of the Dead” films, John Russo wanted to capitalize on the success of Night of the Living Dead. He would continue using “…of the Living Dead” and wrote a story taking place shortly after the events of the original 1968 film. Dan O’Bannon decided to inject humor into the piece and what he gave us is a smart, funny horror-comedy.
Dan O’Bannon’s film is a great blue print for a subgenre whose name is thrown around often without much consideration for what actually qualifies as one. Comedy, much like horror, relies on set-up and timing to achieve maximum effectiveness and Return of the Living Dead does this excellently. The story starts with Freddy (played by Thom Mathews in his first role) being trained on his first day at UNEEDA Medical Supply by Frank (a great performance by the late James Karen). In the tour of the warehouse, the viewer is being set up for later events when the shit hits the fan. They interact hilariously and they play off each other well with sharp, snappy dialogue making this a very quotable movie. Freddy is very gullible, believing all of Frank’s jokes about “skeleton farms in India” and “that movie Night of the Living Dead” was based on true events Frank isn’t too smart himself though as it’s his actions which lead to the initial outbreak of the zombies. Enter my favorite part of this flick: Freddy’s friends. One reason I really love this movie is the soundtrack featuring punk rock music from the 80's and they kick in when the crew is introduced. With names like Scuz, Spider, Suicide, and Trash (the latter played by legendary scream queen Linnea Quigley), they are my people and take the place occupied normally by cookie-cutter stereotypes. The film moves briskly from the introduction of the Tarman (you’ll see what I mean) to a full-blown zombie outbreak resulting from one bad decision after another. Rather than shift from comedy to full blown terror, the scares are balanced quite well. One moment, friends are struggling to escape the quick moving zombies to those same creatures getting very creative in calling in more fresh brains, not once but twice! These aren’t Uncle George’s slow-moving ghouls, they are smart, fast, and very hungry. Early on it is established that the Army will intervene at some point which leads to an unhappy ending for all involved. But that didn’t stop this film from becoming a franchise that had James Karen and Thom Mathews return in the sequel playing different bumbling characters (in this case grave robbers) and showing they have great chemistry. This is a fun, engaging film that will have you laughing one minute and cringing the next from all the blood and brains that flow in copious amounts. Another flick to add alongside my first review, Hatchet, for a party night double feature. You just gotta ask yourself: Do you wanna party? |