Homecoming 

A hotshot White House speech writer deals with the publicity nightmare of his life when recently deceased soldiers return from beyond the grave.

Director:

Joe Dante

Writers:

Mick Garris (creator), Sam Hamm (teleplay)

Stars:

Thea Gill, Jon Tenney, Terry David Mulligan

1 win.

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Thea Gill	...	Jane Cleaver
Jon Tenney	...	David Murch
Terry David Mulligan	...	Marty Clark
Beverley Breuer	...	Janet Hofstadter
Robert Picardo	...	Kurt Rand
Dexter Bell	...	Marine Guard #1
Jason Diablo	...	Marine Guard #2
Karen Elizabeth Austin	...	Mom (as Karen Austin)
Daniel Wesley	...	Bobby Earl Beeler
Penelope Corrin	...	Registrar
J. Winston Carroll	...	Rev. Clayton Poole (as J.W. Carroll)
Wanda Cannon	...	Kathy Hobart
Nathaniel DeVeaux	...	Mr. Baker
Candus Churchill	...	Mrs. Baker
Jason Emanuel	...	Michael

Storyline

During the campaign for reelection of the President of the US, political consultant David Murch wishes live in a television talk show that a deceased soldier could come back from his grave to vote in the election as a marketing gimmick. Unfortunately, the president uses this in a speech and soon, the soldiers return - with the objective of voting in opposition.

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Plot Keywords:

younger version of character | vietnam war veteran | afghanistan war veteran | soldier | election | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the end, when the zombie soldiers coming out of their graves, the tombstones have the names of veterans of the horror and zombie genre, easy to read are Jacques Tourneur, G.A. Romero ( George A. Romero), Jean Yarbrough, and Delbert Tenney ( 'Del Tenney (I)'). Harder to read are Lucio Fulci, Victor Halperin, and Gordon Douglas. The (readable) graves have this order: Romero and Tenney in the first line, behind them Fulci and Halperin, and in the last line behind Fulci is Tourneur, who is in the middle of Douglas and Yarbrough.

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Goofs

The first Marine to return from the dead tells the Air Force sentry, "At Ease, Soldier." Air Force personnel are properly addressed as "Airmen."

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Connections

References I Walked with a Zombie (1943)

User Reviews

As good as Masters of Horror has got so far

While Joe Dante's Masters of Horror entry doesn't completely lampoon the subject matter that the tale is a parody of, it's automatically one of the best efforts of the series simply because it actually shows a little bit of brain power! Episode six handles the theme of soldiers from Iraq returning home after their president wished that they could. However, they're returning home as zombies! The film plays out more like a black comedy than a horror show, as the focus is always on the government rather than the ex-soldiers, and we follow a handful of officials as they try and work out the best political strategy to see them come out unscathed. Joe Dante isn't one of the most promising directors contributing to the series, and to be honest, I wasn't really expecting much from him. It's that which makes this episode even better, as it came as a complete surprise! Joe Dante even finds time for tributes to classic zombie film "Night of the Living Dead" with the cemetery sequence, and classic directors, with tombstones named after "I Walked with a Zombie" director Jacques Tourneur, and the "Dead" series director George A. Romero. The ideas behind the plot are a bit muddled, and at times it's hard to decipher what the film is really trying to say...but the central theme is an original one, and despite a poor, patriotic ending; this episode is at least on par with the best so far; namely, Stuart Gordon and Dario Argento's segments.

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 December 2005 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

IDT Entertainment, Industry Entertainment, Nice Guy Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

58 min

Color:

Color