Review of The Return of the Living Dead (1985) by Dean H — 19 Oct 2010

After the success of Night of the Living Dead, the partnership between Dan O'Bannon and George A. Romero dissolved and the two zombie pioneers went their separate ways. While Romero went on to use "Of The Dead" in his titles and become a legend of horror cinema, Dan O' Bannon used "Of the Living Dead" and his name is not as well known as his former partner. In 1985, O' Bannon wrote the screenplay and directed "The Return of the Living Dead" a gore-fillled, punk infused 1980s follow-up to "Night Of the Living Dead"; the film is even referenced by the characters that the film was based on real events that were covered up by the U.S. Army.

Does the film hold up well in comparison with George A. Romero's? To be honest, "The Return of the Living Dead" is very outdated and has the look and feel of a 1980s horror movie (like the synthasizer musical score or one character lugging around a boom-box). The film is very toungue-in-cheek, filled to the brim with great special effects and some awesome looking zombies, including the infamous "Tar Zombie". However, the film is very cartoonish and is a standard "run/chase/flee" zombie movie that has no time or patience to develop a theme or any deeper meaning than human brains taste awesome to zombies. If you're a devoted zombie fan (like myself), it's definitely worth a look. If you've never heard of "Night Of the Living Dead" before, this may not be for you.