Return of the Living Dead is essentially what would happen if the Scooby-Doo gang caused the zombie apocalypse and had to find a way to fix their mistake.
In Return of the Living Dead, we follow two hapless employees of a medical supply store, Fred (Thom Mathews) and Frank (James Karen) that unwittingly bring hell to the small little town they live in when they actidentally unleash a decades old virus (a chemical gas called 2-4-5 Trioxide) that actually stems from the events that inspired Night of the Living Dead, exposing themselves and a dead cadaver to it in the process. When the cadaver inevitably rises back to life, they call their boss, Burt (Clu Gulager) and hack it into pieces which they then transport over to a mortuary owned by Ernie (Don Calfa). They burn the body, and the fumes that rise from it's burning corpse infect the surrounding graveyard and thusly the rest of the town. It's up to these four morons and a group of rowdy punk teens to find a way to stop the infection before it rages out of control.
Return of the Living Dead is one of the best zombie films out there. The script for the film was written by horror-pro Dan O'Bannon (who also directed the film) who wrote such classics as Alien, Lifeforce, and Total Recall (not horror, but still a fantastic film). Thom Mathews and James Karen are superb as the two half-wits that create the whole problem. Thom Mathews makes for a fantastic main protagonist and even a pretty great zombie later on. James Karen proves that he is one of the greatest screen cryers out there, since he can be seen in just about every scene screaming and bawling his head off.
Clu Gulager is great as the head of the medical supply store that essentailly becomes the "Brains" of the group. He is the one that is looked on for leadership and ideas on how to stop the zombie outbreak. The genius thing about his role is that he's just as much of a moron as his two employees are. Gulager is great at putting on a facade of authority, all the while letting his inner idiot shine through. Don Calfa as Ernie is probably the only somewhat intelligent person in the group, and even then he still bumbles his way through the chaos just like the rest of them.
The zombie effects in Return of the Living Dead are fantastic, ranging from deliciously gooey to bone dry. These are usually what I think of when I think of zombies. Return of the Living Dead is rare in that it's zombies are actually intelligent and capable of thought. We see this as they continually ambush the paramedics and police, calling the dispatch afterwards and telling them to keep sending more. Return of the Living Dead is probably most notable for introducing the universally accepted zombie catchphrase: BRAAAAAINS!!!!! Yup, that came from this film.
In most zombie films, we get to follow a smart survival group, Return of the Living Dead turns that well known formula on it's ear and instead focuses on the fools who have no plan and are usually caught making it up as they go. The violence and gore here is more cartoonish than anything, and the antics are sure to remind most of Scooby-Doo as the group is constantly running away from the zombies and panicking. Return of the Living Dead is a straight-up zombie film and it doesn't waste much time on anything else. The focus here is not on the story, but on the antics and fun that erupt from it. From it's classic opening to it's fantastic ending (You gotta love the ending), Return of the Living Dead is a fun film that knows exactly what it is and that is one of the many reasons it excels so brilliantly at showing it's audience a good time. Sure, there may not be much to it, but Return of the Living Dead is still one of the best zombie flicks out there (It's also got a killer main theme).
4 STARS
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