The Return Of The Living Dead [1984]

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Return of the Living Dead is a parody-cum-sequel spin-off from George Romero's superior Night of the Living Dead films. A corpse-containing canister gets breached and releases an oily, loose-limbed, brain-eating zombie tatterdemalion and a gas that revives anything dead in the vicinity, even a bisected dog preserved as a vet's teaching specimen and a case of pinned butterflies. The dim-bulb leading characters--earnest Clu Gulager, goofy James Karen and Thom Matthews--burn up a mess of surplus living body parts, but the rains wash the ashes into the earth of a nearby cemetery and a whole crowd of brain-eating zombies claw their way out to terrorise a group of teens who sport the kind of 1985 fashions, hairdos, slang preferences and musical tastes that will never feature in a TV nostalgia programme.

There are plenty of in-jokes at the expense of the Living Dead films (learning that shooting 'em in the brain doesn't work, the appalled Matthews gasps, "You mean the movie lied?"), and director Dan O'Bannon, the writer of Dark Star and Alien, hurries things along through some gruesome action and terror-by-zombie bits until the surprisingly cynical anti-government conclusion. It's not as wittily outrageous as Re-Animator or Braindead, but it has an amiable, drive-in-cum-home video grunge about it. Frequently naked exploitation regular Linnea Quigley makes an impression as the punkette zombie who goes on the rampage wearing nothing but leg-warmers and body make-up.

The frill-free DVD is full-screen (boo hiss!) except for the titles, offers only the trailer and inadequate cast and crew notes as extras, but it looks okay. --Kim Newman

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Synopsis
Two medical supply company workers unwittingly release several zombies from cylinders, where they've been trapped for many years. The nasty brain-eating creatures are starving hungry... Also available as part of a double pack. See 'Night Of The Living Dead / The Return Of The Living Dead'.

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Customer reviews

review by: s.vernon date: 2007-11-04 rating:
ONE OF THE BEST ZOMBIE FILMS OUT
While working in a top secret medical supply center, Frank (James Karen) and Freddy (Thom Matthews) happen upon a container carrying a chemical called trioxin, which raises the dead. They accidentally release the chemical, causing the cadavers to come to life. Their boss Burt (Clu Gulager) suggest they take the body to the cemetery across the street, where a group of punks are having a party until Freddy gets off work. As the body is being cremated, the gases are released and bring the dead bodies to life in the cemetery. The zombies upset the party by the punks, infecting the leader, Scuz (Brian Peck). Trash (Linnea Quigley) and Chuck (John Philbin) are soon infected. Tina, (Beverly Randolph) Freddy's girlfriend, Spider, (Miguel A. Nunez Jr.) and Suicide (Mark Venturini) are soon the only one's left. Finding their way to the mortuary, they struggle to figure out how the zombies were created and how to stop them.

The Good News: To me, this is one of the better zombie movies for one main reason: some of the creepiest zombies this side of Italy. Italy has always had really creepy zombies: films like "Zombie 2," "City of the Living Dead," and "Burial Ground" are some of the best examples of creepy Italian zombies, but here we also get some really spooky ones. Here, we get one really creepy zombie covered in rotting black goo dripping off his skin and his eye holes rotted out, leaving his eyes completely clear in the skull. With body movements resembling his body falling apart, it adds a lot to the zombies' overall creepiness. There are also a few zombies that emerge as skeletons, so that also adds greatly to the theme. We also get a lot of gore in the movie. We get a lot of head biting, including one that sprays blood all over the place from the wound on his head. There are several bloody blows to the head, a pickax lopping off body parts, and skin chomping. There is an equal amount of violence committed to the dead and the undead in here. There is also two really great scenes in here that I have to comment on. The zombies call for the ambulance to arrive and ambush them in a giant mass that is simply seen to be believed. The swarm that appears is a massive one that most zombie films haven't capitalized on. The second great scene is an ambush on police officers who arrive in squad cars and emerge from the jungles right next to them. It was a great new and original idea. Both were cool scenes in a good movie. Another great quality is seeing how much nudity Linnea Quigley has in the movie. She has full nudity for about a good five minutes in the film. Considering that it is only an hour and a half long, that is a lot amount of nudity for one person in a non-porno film.

The Bad News: One of the many negative things people have said about this film is that the comedy weakened the overall terror in the screenplay. Unfortunately, there is no comedy in here. I don't find zombies screaming "Brains!" particularly funny at all, and there weren't any real so-called jokes in here either. No one was really a smart aleck and provided any really good quips or observational humor. The sequels are far funnier, however this one is the one that is played like a horror film. It is still very tongue-in-cheek, and some people may find certain parts hilarious, but don't expect tons of jokes or sight gags like the two sequels.

The Final Verdict: It may be the scariest entry of the franchise, but it is certainly very enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half. Some humorous parts depend on the viewers' tastes, so keep an open mind, it may be a little more enjoyable than some might think. Zombie fans will definitely want to check this one out.

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review by: MadBob date: 2007-03-27 rating:
Love it to death!
This is not your typical Zombie cash-in. This is quality intellectual property theft, skillfully repackaged with more overt comedy than Romero, and the ubiquitous 80s punks getting their comeuppance. The idea runs from Romero's films, that the army are storing the undead in a dilapidated medical goods storeroom after successfully defeating them and creating a dodgy cover story for the death toll. Cue the ignorant attendant and the inevitable storage mishap! Zombies rise from the grave, their only goal - to eat brains! You see, brains stop the pain of being dead, if only temporarily.

It's top-notch cracker-jack fun, and there's some pretty funky gore and even a noble zombie destroying itself before it kills someone! You'll only buy it if you're into zombie movies, but it'll take pride of place on your display shelves when you do!

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review by: date: 2007-02-13 rating:
You will laugh till you die!
My favourite Zombie movie (and I've seen a lot!!) Brilliant performances, great post-punk atmosphere and soundtrack. It has tragedy ("It hurts to be dead") comedy that will seriously have you falling on the floor laughing, and in a bizarre way it's scarier than most Zombie films. The fact that you actually care about the dumb humans gives it an edge.

Also the ultra cynical ending is perfect (who says it's not political)

Personally I can't stand CGI effects, they always look the same and nobody believes their eyes.
In this film you won't believe your eyes either but for different reasons; the sheer grotesque imagination of the film makers will stun you!
[...]

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review by: date: 2007-01-05 rating:
Interesting but not an earth shattering yarn
Not something I'll be inclined to watch a second time. A reasonably good way to spend an hour or so without having to engage brain but having seen it once there's little in it to tempt me back. The greatest mystery to me is how this managed to earn itself an 18 certificate. It's far tamer then most 15 certified films in all respects.



review by: date: 2006-12-27 rating:
Not a classic, but enjoyable for cheese fans
Due to the fractured ownership of sixties classic Night Of The Living Dead, this one is a kind of pseudo-sequel to that film, completely separate from George A Romero's own sequels. But where Romero's films were more serious, with all the subtext and whatnot, this Return Of The Living Dead is played more for laughs. Also, it has a hot naked punk chick zombie.

The story here is that the events of Night Of The Living Dead actually happened, and that the remaining zombies are being kept in storage at a medical supplies warehouse. When one of the storage cannisters is damaged, zombie gas leaks out and, after a somewhat convoluted series of events, the dead begin to rise.

To be honest, this one wasn't as good as I remembered it being. It does a good job of setting things up, not to mention introducing some of those bizarre new wave punk characters who were all over eighties horrors, but it takes too long to get going and doesn't ever become quite as demented as you're hoping. Also, the film barely has a third act, so after all the fuss you don't get any real resolution. The story starts, it goes on for a bit, and then it ends abruptly with what are obviously shots cobbled together from other parts of the film.

This is a proper eighties horror the likes of which they don't make any more. What this means is bad acting, rubbery effects, artless lighting, terrible dialogue, and a cheesy smothering of synthesiser sauce. To those of us who grew up on that kind of thing, this film will offer some entertainment (even if it's only of the nostalgic kind), but there's a chance a contemporary audience might find Return Of The Living Dead a little too stupid.

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Similar products

Return Of The Living Dead 2 [1987]
The Return Of The Living Dead 3 [1993]
Day Of The Dead [1985]
Braindead [1993]
Zombie Flesh Eaters [1980]

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Similar categories

Video . Video . Categories . Horror & Suspense . General
Video . Video . Refinements . Condition (condition-type)
Video . DVD & VHS . Categories . Horror
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . BBFC Rating (intended_use_browse-bin) . 18
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Release Date (feature_three_browse-bin) . 1980 - 1989
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Editions (feature_two_browse-bin) . Standard Edition
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Language (theme_browse-bin) . English
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Format (binding_browse-bin) . VHS

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