Review of The Return of the Living Dead (1985) by Shane D — 26 Jul 2011

7.5/10.

"The Return of the Living Dead" is a simple, clever, and very fun take on the zombie-comedy movement of zombie cinema. It carries with it some fairly intelligent satire, some solid slapstick, and a whole lot of fun nonetheless. Zombie -movie-die-hards will probably love it; and those unassociated with the genre on a fanboy level might enjoy it too. I know that I enjoyed it so much that the least I can do is, yes, watch the sequel.

The film catches the interest of its admirers almost immediately. A young man goes to work at a medical supply warehouse, and while he's there, he accidentally plays a part in releasing a toxic chemical in the form of a gas. It revives the dead from their graves.

Now, here's the interesting part: the young man's boss tells him that the barrel containing the gas actually contained the substance that was the source of inspiration for George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead". Therefore, I suppose the zombie movies are reality, in the universe of this film, at least. This I liked, because it gave the movie so much more to work with.

There's also an ignorant party of teenagers that go to walk-about, dance-about, and drink/smoke at a local cemetery. This is where most of the corpses are reanimated through the chemical released in the air and in the rain; and this is where the fun starts.

There's a typical fight-for-survival final act; which shouldn't be called a flaw, but rather another cliché that this tongue-in-cheek horror flick embraces. There are some truly hilarious scenes that hold the film together (one of them being the appearance of a detached and very much reanimated arm). The film seems to know what it is doing, and that's why it's so much fun.

The film's writer and director, Dan O'Bannon, had experience working along-side other filmmakers in this genre. He worked with John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper; and he has scripted more films than he has actually directed. He seems to know enough about zombie films to make one of his own, and make it good. He knows that Romero used his undead creations for good; as social satire. I'm not sure if this film is all about its zombies, and more-so its laughs, but the zombies are still entertaining. There's even one zombie that appears to have comically large teeth. Joy!

The film doesn't need a big-budget to succeed. The make-up effects involved are pretty good, the zombies look decent enough, and the thing is just-plain-fun. It packs gore, creativity, and entertainment value, and it's one of the finest zombie comedies I have seen.

But if zombies are not satirized, where do they stand? The zombie film is fading; and for good reason. It is films like the classics, and "Return of the Living Dead", that give us all hope. This is merely a good self-aware zombie-comedy that succeeds at just about everything it does. I don't think it overachieves, and that is why it doesn't get full marks, but I do think that it works miraculously as a good zombie movie, and a comedy; or both at the same time. It's not for everyone, but if you can find humor in the undead, then there's plenty of tasty morsels to be found here. Long live the dead.