Return of the Living Dead

Zombies have always have a tough time in the cinema business. It was either crippled by its low budgets or looked down upon by the critics as it has less of a history such as Frankenstein or Dracula or the Wolf Man, or simply due to bad acting, writing and directing all in one go. Then it was given 'new life' so to speak, with George A. Romero's and John Russo's 'NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD' in 1968. Before then the zombie was simply a dead (or living in a deep trance) servant to serve a master through the means of voodoo magic (usually set in the island of Haiti). Romero and Russo had created a new breed of zombie, the kind that has become possibly the biggest movie monster of the late 20th and the new century, the kind that are hungry for the flesh of the living. The film followed a small group of people attempting to fend off hordes of the ghouls whilst seeking shelter in an abandoned farm house. The film not only changed the face of the zombie, but of the face of horror itself with it's shocking gore and controversial material of people being eaten alive. It has since spawned numerous sequels from Romero, but not from Russo as they had argued over who had the rights to the title. Eventually Romero gained the rights to the use of the word 'Dead' in his titles, whilst Russo retained 'Living Dead'.

Russo has indeed used the words 'Living Dead' several times. The main example was his novel sequel to 'NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD' which aptly named 'THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD'. The novel is said to be pretty poor with badly written plots and unable to grip the reader. The film rights were then sold and eventually in 1984, the film adaptation was created. Although only the name was kept the same as the book's plot would've probably condemned the film. Although undoubtedly the best aspect of this film is that it's not the gritty and depressive horror as it's novel twin, but rather a slapstick comedy horror.

The story follows two medical warehouse employees as one if showing the other around the warehouse. The senior member (James Karen) then reveals to his new staff member (Thom Matthews) that the 1968 'LIVIND DEAD' film was based on fact in which the outbreak was caused by a new military biochemical weapon called 'Trioxin' and that the disposed bodies were accidently sent to that very warehouse and reside in the basement. Karen shows Matthews the boy and accidently releases the poisonous gas into the air (themselves fainting from the fumes) and through a rather hilarious chain of events, hits a large rainstorm overhead the city. Matthews friends arrive shorly later and decide to kill some time in a graveyard of all places where they drink, gossip, show off their unbelievable eighties clothes and in one case, a girl takes off her clothes and dances naked. Fantastic stuff.

The zombies attack after the Trioxin becomes acid rain and infects the entire graveyard, bringing all the corpses back to life, even if they are just bones and muscle. There are indeed several changes to the zombie in this film. The oddest (but that doesn't mean not clever) is that they have a limited speech. The very cliched 'Brrraaaiiiinnnnnnsss' phrase in fact comes from this very film. This is first coined by the first zombie seen which looks a if it's face has melted off and covered in tar (he came to be known as Tarman) as he eagerly eyes up his victims and excitedly shouts 'More Brains!' when he notices the curious teens. They also only eat the brains of their victims, as it numbs the pain of being dead. This is a new development as we had always considered zombies to have virtually no emotion or memory from their previous life. They are meant to be nothing but a shell, now we see them as beings in constant pain, and we actually give them a little sympathy for their plight. As they have this ability of speech, they have been granted a small amount of intelligence. This is humorously shown as when they have killed and eaten a team of paramedics, one zombie notices the live truck radio and radios to the hospital to 'Send more paramedics' which they in turn ambush in larger numbers. The zombies also run, not drastically fast but still enough to catch up with people. Finally, but possibly the most terrifying is that they are almost virtually indestructible. They can withstand the usual gunshot to the head, and are still 'alive' when dismembered, even to the point of still attempting to kill people. While these new characteristics of the zombie can be used to scare audiences, they are best put to use in the comedy for the film. One of the most amusing scenes is when Matthews, Karen and their boss attempt to kill a newly revived corpse by cutting off the head. The decapitated body then gets up and stumbles around the warehouse and still trying to kill its decapitators. If the Three Stooges had encountered a zombie, it would look exactly like this.

One of the main selling points of the film was actually it's soundtrack. Being released in 1984 meant it had plenty of both pop and new rock artists and songs to use. Many would be considered cheesy and dated at this point in time, but it does remind us that this is a comedy horror and to simply enjoy the fun. How could we not chuckle at the obscure bands name such as 'The Cramps', The Damned', 45 Grave' and 'The Flesheaters'. Notice how the main band's names all refer to death in some way.

The film had enjoyed a profitable cinema release and has managed to gain a massive cult following in the last 20 years and has spawned four sequels. The one to look out for is 'RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD 3'. All the sequels have nothing in common with the original other than the use of the Trioxin gas and all are said to be unimaginative and boring. However, the third film is said to the best apart from the original as is has a female zombie who is aware of her state and attempts to fight her urges to feed upon flesh by causing pain to her own body to distract herself. Overall, it you want a serious horror film, stay very clear of 'RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD'. If you want some outrageous fun with gore, slapstick and perhaps a naked punkish girl dancing in a graveyard however, this film is just the ticket for you. The film is pretty much trash, but that is what it set out to be, to be trashy and fun and takes the zombie into a new genre of comedy.

As one can imagine, Russo is rather jealous of the film's success.

Review by Rory Dunn