The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

I’ve always enjoyed horror movies and one of my favorite types of horror movies include zombies. Whether it’s straight up scares like Night of the Living Dead and 28 Days Later or horror-comedies like Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland, I always have a blast when watching survivors go up against reanimated corpses. And now I get to include The Return of the Living Dead among the list of horror-comedies. The movie was directed by Dan O’Bannon (one of the writers of Alien) and he created what many consider to be a cult classic many years later. I can see why it gained cult status. I have never seen a zombie flick like this one and I’m not sure if I will ever again but like all the other ones I’ve seen, it was a crazy wild ride and that’s all I could really ask for. I don’t know if I could talk about this movie without spoiling everything about it and I hope I don’t go too long on one of my so-called “limited interests” too much. I might even go past your level of interest, but let’s give it a shot.

     The film starts off with two workers at a medical supply warehouse named Frank and Freddy, who accidentally release a toxic gas from a military barrel in the facility. When that happens, the gas reanimates a corpse in the warehouse so Frank, Freddy, and their boss, Burt, seek out the help of a nearby mortician named Ernie. But things don’t go according to plan as the gas leaks to the cemetery, bringing the dead back to life. This is where the film takes an interesting turn. Meanwhile, Freddy’s punk friends who are hanging out in the cemetery get involved in the chaos. I don’t know any of the cast in this movie but I thought most of them did a good job. They even had some memorable lines that made me laugh. What makes the zombies in this film stand out from other ones is that the zombies are almost indestructible. Even decapitation and dismemberment don’t do much. And I don’t want to give too much away (actually, I kind of do), but these zombies are smart and have personality, making them even more of a threat and menacing. They are craving brains and I’m not sure that could have been made clear more times than I can count. You think I like to repeat myself? Try listening to the amount of times the zombies literally say they want brains, I won’t seem so bad. I feel like that’s all you need to understand about this particular zombie flick and if I say anymore, I might ruin the whole movie.

     This was definitely a fun film to watch when it was spooky season and it was cool to see a different kind of zombie. However, I did feel that the story could be a tad predictable at times, even with the punks, who have that one nice kid that shouldn’t be with the group. Not sure how many times I’ve seen that cliché, but you know what they say. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. I do feel that this criticism might be a little unfair because I don’t know any other movies before this one that used this cliché but that’s just how I feel. Overall, I had fun watching this film and it was nice to see something original and funny come out of the zombie genre. Plus, it was fun to watch zombies that have a more unusual speech pattern than mine. So, I’d have to give this movie an 8 out of 10. If you’re a fan of horror films or horror-comedies, especially zombie ones, then go check this one out. I promise it’s worth it.