Too much of everything

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Probably some spoilers here, but if your viewing experience is ruined by spoilers, then it probably wasn't a good movie, anyway. The military sends a bunch of canisters containing zombies to be held in a medical supply warehouse , but they seem to forget that they did so, and they don't have any records of it. So the two bumbling employees accidentally crack the canister with an ol' pat on the back and breathe the stuff in, while the fumes are also circulated to a cadaver and everything escalates from there. Nothing is really all that funny. It's just sort of goofy and absurd, like zombies calling for backup so they can eat more BRAINS. The split dogs content is hysterical—other than that, it's all exaggerated acting, a bunch of silly punks who listen to '80s trash. And comedy elements are obviously going to diminish the horror aspects. Like most comedy horror, it's a bastardized oddity that never really merges the two well.The pacing is quite slow, and the gore is often rather tame compared to many movies of the era. Not really any pig intestines or effects outside of zombie makeup—most of the zombies, other than the one in the canister, also look quite normal and bland. They only eat brains, not people, as one of the captured zombies tediously elaborates upon, so it's far less messy... Hell, when the aptly named "Trash" has her fantasy of being torn apart by men ironically and unsurprisingly met, she's subsequently left wandering around naked, not a mark on her body and no evidence of head trauma. There's not much tension because of the silliness either, so it's just boring. The ending is rather hilarious after everything the characters have been through, and, in typical '80s fashion, leaves an opening for a franchise, which did occur. Some footage, however, is reused during the ending, which makes it appear even cheaper.Decent for fans of '80s schlock, but mostly a waste of time.

I have to admit the first time I watched this movie I hated it. I guess I was looking at it a more of a horror movie than a comedy. I watched it again last night, and got a different perspective. I actually thought it was funny. To me it wasn't scary at all, yes a little creepy; but more humorous than anything. I loved Tarman and the zombies wanting more paramedics and cops- yum. I love George Romero classics, especially Day Of The Dead. This is more of a parody to his work. I thought one of the scenes with the punks could have been cut. The one were Miss takes it all off in the graveyard was tasteless; but other than that it was O.K.. To sum it all up it was funny, and creepy in spots. The ending was kind of predictable, but it is a great comedy.THX, Kris L. CocKayne

During the IMDb Horror board October Challenge I got the chance to watch a number of excellent movies starring "Scream Queen" Linnea Quigley.Talking to a fellow IMDber,I got told about one of Quigley's most well-known titles that I had somehow overlooked,which led to me getting ready to see the living dead return.The plot:Sorting out human skeletons to be sent to medical schools,Frank tells new employee Freddy that the factory they are working in has a basement filled with military canisters which contain an army toxin that went wrong,which on the one time it was unleashed,inspired a group of film makers to shoot Night of the Living Dead.Going down to the basement,Frank & Freddy clean the drums up,and discover that the toxin is actually zombies.Moving the drums around,Frank accidentally opens one of them up,which leads to him and Freddy suddenly being knocked out.As Freddy lays KO'ed,his pals Tina,Spider,Suicide, Trash, Scuz, Casey and Chuck decide to drive down and pick Freddy up from work.Arriving early,the gang decide to wait round for Freddy by hanging out at a near by graveyard.Waking up,Frank and Freddy find the tin drums empty. Initially believing that the zombies have melted away,Frank and Freddy soon discover that along with unleashing the zombies,that they themselves will soon join the walking dead.View on the film:Looking like a prime piece of Pop-Art,Linnea Quigley (who also appears naked) gives a terrific performance as Trash,whose swinging dance moves and flaring red hair perfectly set the wonderfully strange atmosphere of the film.Joining Quigley, Miguel A. Núñez Jr. (who was homeless when he got the role) gives a whip-smart performance as Spider,whilst Don Calfa gives the movie a touch of the "Mad Scientist" as Ernie.Backed by a sinister score from Matt Clifford and roaring Punk Rock songs,co-writer/(along with Rudy Ricci/John A. Russo and Russell Streiner)director Dan O'Bannon & cinematographer Jules Brenner open up a stylised,blood-drenched Comic Book.Splashing the credits over the title in dripping red,O'Bannon and Brenner turn the movie into a dazzling living cartoon,thanks to Punk leathers,burning blood and slimy gore being drizzled across the screen.Along with the animated atmosphere,O'Bannon also digs his teeth into vicious horror,with O'Bannon giving each of the zombies unique,eye-gauging designs from half cut dog skeletons to a deformed bodybuilder-like super zombie.For the screenplay of the film,the writers smartly decide to make the characters well aware of what zombies are from movies,which leads to hilariously frantic chase scenes,as the surviving humans discover that all the "guides" that the films gave in how to defeat a zombie are completely useless in real life.Whilst the movie largely has a colourful mood,the writers hit the film with some sly satirical jabs,by having the army/government be completely disconnected to the terror taking place on the ground,and the device that they use to kill the zombies (complete with cartoon sound effects!)making the situation go from bad to worse,as the living dead return.

The Return of the Living Dead (1985) *** 1/2 (out of 4) A couple warehouse workers accidentally free some chemical gas, which eventually leaks into the ground and brings the dead back to life and seeking brains to eat. A group of punk rockers who are partying in the cemetery come under attack.THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD is a rather incredible little gem that has a fine line to walk as it wants to go for mainly laughs but also some gory violence. Writer-director Dan O'Bannon had already put his name on the horror genre thanks to films like ALIEN but here he went to a whole new level and really delivered one of the most memorable and entertaining horror films of the decade. When you think about this picture, really, everything should have gone wrong but somehow everything ended up going right and you're left with something extremely fun and rather special.I think the greatest thing about this movie is the screenplay by O'Bannon and the performances that the cast are able to bring. The movie is just so cleverly written and all the characters are so much fun that you can't help but cheer them through their situations, have fun with them and root for them to survive. James Karen and Thom Matthews are simply great together and their comic timing off of one another is terrific. Clu Gulager perfectly brings a more serious tone to the picture with Don Calfa wonderfully zany. Then you've got the cast playing the punk rockers and they too are simply great in their roles. Plus, you've got Linnea Quigley doing her nude tombstone dance and who doesn't love hot women doing nude dances on tombstones? The zombies in the film are pretty simple, although they have a couple excellent ones that stand of. There's the memorable half woman and of course Tarman who easily steals the picture. There's so much comedy throughout the film but it never becomes a spoof of the genre. I think that's what makes the film work so well is that the comedy comes from the drama and terror of the situation. The comedy isn't in your face or over-the-top but instead it just human nature that funny stuff can be brought out of horror. THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD is a true gem of the genre and while there have been many imitators, none of captured its magic.