Review of Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988) by Katie W — 25 Apr 2012

Another military tub full of a deadly toxin that raises the dead to life has found its way to a small town, where young boy Jesse (Michael Kenworthy) and his friends uncover the tub, but he manages to get away before breathing in the fumes, unlike his friends. Now, the dead are coming back to life, and it's up to Jesse, his sister Lucy (Marsha Dietlein), cable technician Tom ( Dana Ashbrook), Brenda (Suzanne Snyder), and two grave robbers who might look familiar (James Karen, Thom Mathews) to stop the incoming horde of the dead.

What George A. Romero's zombie films do to make the zombie infestations serious and frightening, the "Return of the Living Dead" series takes it to a humorous role, giving them the ability to speak, think, and interact (the head in this film was just plain hilarious). It doesn't take the zombie genre seriously, and was the precursor to other zombie-comedies (I call them zom-coms) like "Shaun of the Dead" and "Zombieland." Plus, for 1988, the effects were pretty revolutionary.

I also enjoy the fact that two actors from the first film (Karen & Mathews) to play different roles (yet have the same outcome), and Mathew's character even said "I feel like we've been here before." A great film that doesn't take itself too seriously, and doesn't expect anyone else to either.