Return of the Living Dead, 1985.
Directed by Dan O’Bannon.
Starring Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa and Thom Mathews.
SYNOPSIS:
A mismatched group of chemical plant workers, punks and a mortuary worker find the living dead knocking at their doors in ever increasing numbers following the accidental release of a mysterious toxin that has not only brought the dead back to life, but also left them hungry for the brains of the living.
Now as you can probably guess from all the previous films featuring the living dead, I have a special affinity for zombies. In fact, at the risk of sounding like a hipster type, I liked zombies before it became cool.
But thank you nonetheless to The Walking Dead for helping to make this slightly niche horror sub-genre a lot more popular than it frankly deserves. Perhaps now you might consider ending soon – seven seasons of zombies is really starting to push it.
Back on topic, for today’s review we’re taking a looking at Return of the Living Dead, a quintessentially 80s undead horror comedy that has proven more much influential on the public consciousness than most would realise.
Those of you expecting a gorefest on par with Dawn of the Dead or one of the Romero zombie works will be disappointed by this film. Those of you expecting an intelligent social satire about modern America with zombies serving as a metaphor will also be disappointed. Those of you expecting a ludicrous comedy with a pumping 80s punk rock soundtrack will very much be at home here.
The film’s cast do a fine job in their roles, with an early favourite for me being the characters of Frank and Freddy whose bumbling antics kick-start the zombie rising in the first place, and make the opening minutes feel like an old double act film, Abbot and Costello meet The Walking Dead perhaps. Also, you have the characters of Bert, a sort of Jimmy Stewart tribute act, and Ernie the blonde haired gun toting undertaker. Yes, this is probably the only zombie film to feature characters named Bert and Ernie.
You can’t discuss this film without discussing the oddly named character of Trash, a strange punkish woman, seemingly aroused by the thought of being horribly killed and thinks a graveyard is the most appropriate place to strip naked and dance. Seriously most of her scenes have her in the nude, it’s completely unnecessary but it is a little bit funny.
The zombies on display here are certainly different from the kind that was standard for the period. These zombies can run (perhaps the earliest instance of the running zombie), they can speak and they are damn near invincible – not even a pickaxe to the head can kill them, and burning them only makes the situation worse.
They are also the zombies that have arguably influenced public perception of the walking dead the greatest. You know how when people do impressions of zombies by saying “BRAAAIIIIINS”? This is the film they got it from.
The film’s tone is largely comedic with an emphasis on slapstick humour and numerous funny lines of dialogue, Although if I am honest not all the jokes land with the desired effect, and those expecting a laugh riot might be a bit disappointed.
Overall Return of the Living Dead is very much a mixed bag of tricks. On one hand, it is an immensely fun zombie flick, with funny performances and a pretty enjoyable punk rock soundtrack (especially the cult hit Party Time which appropriately kicks in as the dead rise from their graves). However I find myself hesitant to give it a glowing recommendation, it could be that there have been funnier zombie comedies in the years since and my view is perhaps due to my own personal bias when it comes to zombie movies.
So check it out if you wish, you might just enjoy it.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Graeme Robertson
Originally published October 23, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
