When two bumbling employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors cause the dead to rise again as zombies.
When a bumbling pair of employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors cause the dead to re-animate as they go on a rampage through Louisville, Kentucky seeking their favorite food, brains.Written by
Todd A. Bobenrieth <TAB146@PSUVM.EDU>
Richard P. Rubinstein, producer of Dawn of the Dead (1978) at Laurel Entertainment, didn't want people to think this film was part of George A. Romero's "Living Dead" series. He even got an injunction to stop the makers of Return of the Living Dead from using "Living Dead" in the title. However, the MPAA arbitrators ruled in favor of producer John A. Russo since he had co-written Night of the Living Dead (1968), and based this film on his own novel 'Return of the Living Dead'. In fact, Romero had long before agreed with Russo that he would drop the word 'Living Dead' from all his subsequent sequels (Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead (1985), Land of the Dead (2005), etc.). See more »
Goofs
The ash from the mortuary incinerator is implied to mix with the rain that is falling to make a zombie creating brew. Even though the amount of rain is shown to be a heavy downpour (several inches accumulate in the cemetery in a short amount of time) there is no way that the rain/ash mix could penetrate through six feet of soil and a coffin in the short time portrayed. Even heavy rains will penetrate no more than a few inches of soil. It takes months if not years for water to penetrate to lower layers of soil. This is even more the case given the soil type that is around the Louisville Ky region where the movie is supposed to take place. See more »
Quotes
Tarman:
[Spotting the other survivors]
More BRAINS!
See more »
Crazy Credits
The credits play over the hilarious scenes of the movie that involve Frank and Freddy. See more »
Alternate Versions
Some more additional material in the "Workprint" version:
Extended footage of Ernie preparing the corpse (inserting a set of clamps, putting a rubber block under its chin, applying makeup, stapling its face)
Instead of calling Casey "Ballbuster," Suicide calls her "Chocolate Face" (presumably a reference to the chocolate bar she is eating earlier in the movie).
Trash, wandering by herself in the graveyard and crying, says "Hey wait, you guys, I ain't got no shoes!" The scene ends before she is attacked. Her actual attack by the corpses is moved to a later spot in the film.
When Ernie tries to use the phone in the office, the take is very different from the one in the released version: he doesn't close the steel shutters, leaving the window wide open.
When Spider demands to know what's going on, Bert calls him a "Black Bastard," and he goes into more detail about what the chemical does to the corpses.
Freddy's attack on Tina is extended and cut a little differently: they circle around the podium at the front of the chapel, which he knocks over. She runs to the door, he follows and slams into it. He pushes her down on a pew and she kicks him off (which is where the scene in the released version actually begins). Before throwing the candlestick at him she throws a folding chair, which he knocks aside. There is an additional shot of Frank running down the hallway.
Ernie comforts Tina by saying "Don't you worry about Freddy and Frank. You see, they've gone to heaven. Those things out there...they're just dead bodies that want to eat our brains."
Frank's cremation is much longer: it starts with a closeup of Frank staring at something. The camera slowly pulls back to show that he's staring at the furnace across the room. He stands and groans, the furnace tilts back and forth in a dreamlike way, he mouths a prayer just before putting his wedding ring on the furnace switch.
The scene where Bert and Spider are preparing to leave the mortuary is an alternate take, with different dialogue. Instead of telling Bert to watch his "ass out there," he says "no matter what happens, don't name it after me." Tina wonders what they should do if Bert and Spider don't make it, and Bert tells her to "think positive."
Bert's call to the police is longer: he is put on hold by the operator, and gives more details about what's happening and where he is.
After the nuclear weapon explodes, a voice-over explains that the disaster was "officially described as a petrochemical refinery accident," and that the contaminated dirt from the incident is "residing in 175 railroad cars, parked on an unused railway line in South Dakota."
"Return of the Living Dead" is an often hilarious, often frightening, often disgusting, and always entertaining horror comedy. The cast is great, the dialogue is snappy and very quotable, and the special effects still hold up very well, nearly 20 years after the film's release. Fans of the horror genre, 1980s buffs, or just folks who enjoy something different occasionally will most likely get a kick out of it.
10/10
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"Return of the Living Dead" is an often hilarious, often frightening, often disgusting, and always entertaining horror comedy. The cast is great, the dialogue is snappy and very quotable, and the special effects still hold up very well, nearly 20 years after the film's release. Fans of the horror genre, 1980s buffs, or just folks who enjoy something different occasionally will most likely get a kick out of it.
10/10