Day 24. Released in 1985 “Return Of The Living Dead” spawned five additional sequels. This cult hit shook up the zombie movie sub-genre adding laughs and talking zombies. Aside from part 2, the rest of the sequels were, in my opinion, lackluster.
Dan O’Bannon had a hand in writing and directing this film. Clu Gulager stars as ‘Burt’. James Karen and Thom Mathews play the bumbling ‘Frank’, and ‘Freddie’. Beverly Randolph portrays ‘Tina’, while Linnea Quigly plays ‘Trash’, Miguel Nunez was ‘Spider’ and Don Calfa is the character ‘Ernie’.
A disclaimer claiming all of the following events are true is shown on screen. An average day in July of 1984, Frank is showing Freddie the ropes at the “UNEEDA” medical supply company. From the start the film has that old 70′s “grindhouse” style look to it. Low-budget aside, it is self aware and has a humorous feel, making me enjoy the movie that much more. The dialogue isn’t the greatest, but the actors performances were fun and a bit over the top. Cut to a group of friends including Tina who is Freddie’s girlfriend, Spider, and Trash. The fashion is a testament to the 80′s. There is the obligatory punk rocker with a mowhawk, and a guy with one of the skinniest tie’s i’ve seen in a movie. Back at UNEEDA, Frank and Freddie discuss the truthfulness of the movie “Night Of The Living Dead”. Frank tells a story about a chemical that can bring back the dead. He shows Freddie the corpses, the movie was based on, after accidentally receiving the shipment of them. A mishap occurs and a gas leaks out of one of the cylinders that are holding the bodies, infecting the pair. Through the glass in the cylinder we see a corpse start to reanimate. The gas continues to spread through the rest of the facility, bringing more dead back to life.
Freddie’s group of friends go to pick him up from work. Waiting for him to get off, they decide to break into a cemetery and hang out. The two UNEEDA employees awaken after passing out. Hearing a noise in the warehouse they investigate, only to come across something which turns out to be pretty gross. Dog owners will definitely dislike this part, but at the same time what the pair discover is kind of silly. Frank’s reactions during these scenes and the couple that come directly after are priceless. What Freddie was wearing, was also comical. Cut to the cemetery and the red head punk rock type chick ‘Trash’. She gets naked and starts dancing on a grave, while ridiculously bad 80′s music blares out of a ghetto blaster. Aside for a line or two, it made no sense why this particular scene was included. At UNEEDA Burt, Frank and Freddie’s boss, tries to help remedy the situation. A naked zombie furiously attacks them men and is subdued. Watching these scenes, I didn’t know if I should be laughing or frightened. It was graphic, but I started to laugh after hearing the zombie’s reaction to getting a pick axe to the dome.
While looking for a solution the trio pay a visit to the mortuary near by to talk to Ernie. During their conversation, the men’s true motive for being there is revealed The moving garbage bags the men brought with them from UNEEDA was a spooky little touch. We can see that Frank and Freddie are getting progressively sicker. The men’s solution to their dilemma only makes things worse. The gas is mixed with the sudden rain, and begins to seep into the soil at the cemetery. I feel like these parts could have been scarier, but the music was distracting. Having the wrong kind of music over a scene can really take away from a movie. A little while later we see zombies start to rise from the ground. As Freddie’s girlfriend Tina is searching for him, a zombie chases her and groans the classic line “brains”. Tina’s friends go to rescue her and one of them is viciously taken out. They then make their way over to the mortuary. From then on they have to survive, and unfortunately for them, not all make it.
I recommend “Return Of The Living Dead”. It’s scary, there’s a fair amount of gore, some nudity, and is packed with humorous moments. Makeup EFX for the zombies looked great. Aside from one conversation and the “brains” line, it did bother me that the zombies were able to speak and hold conversations. I prefer the zombies in films to be mindless. I liked the slow transformation of a couple of the characters that turned into zombies. “Return Of The Living Dead” is B-level movie making at its finest.
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