The Return of the Living Dead

Last week I talked about The Blob, and I hinted at another 80's horror classic. Well here we are, and today's topic is the original The Return of the Living Dead and it's two sequels. I learned that there are a couple of new additions to the franchise made in 2005, but I have never seen them, so I'm ignoring them.

The original TRotLD was created as a homage/sequel/spoof of George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, but when they wrote the script, back in the seventies, they didn't know that Romero was in fact already working on his own sequel, Dawn of the Dead. That's why he didn't want to direct TRotLD.

In fact, the story uses Night of the Living Dead as a plot point, stating that the film was based on a real event, and that's why zombies are real.

The common thread of the trilogy is that a chemical, 2-4-5 Trioxin, can resurrect the dead. It can also turn living people into zombies if they inhale it. The zombies, however, are pretty interesting from a horror history point of view. As far as I can tell, this is where the idea that zombies shamble around and moan “Brains” comes from. In previous movies, including Romero's classic, the undead said nothing and ate everything, particularly the entrails. In TRotLD they only really care about brains. Whats also noteworthy, is the fact that the zombies can both talk and use tools if they choose to. Further more, a shot to the head is not guaranteed to put them down.

The first TRotLD (1985), is a horror comedy. It's silly and messy, but it has fun with itself, and that's important, as it adds a certain charm to the movie. I can't talk about the plot too much,without running into spoiler territory, suffice to say that the chemical is accidentally released and the dead rise. Chaos follows. All things considered, this is actually a good movie.

TRotLD 2 (1988), is a bit unbalanced. It's more of a comedy than the original, and in my opinion it tries too hard and fails a bit to deliver. It both follows and ignores to first film, which is weird. But it's biggest flaw, is one of the main characters: Jesse. He is the typical 80's heroic know-it-all kid, and man is he annoying. Further more, where the first film's characters weren't exactly amazing, they had personalities. Here they are completely one dimensional, to the point of being suicidally dumb. It also recycles jokes from the original, but without updating them. It's more of a “Hey, here's that joke you liked again. Isn't it funny?” No, it isn't. It's almost as if it tries to be mainstream and kid friendly. But it's still a bloody zombie film. Good choice.

If you're only going to watch one entry in the franchise, watch the original and skip this.

TRotLD 3 (1993) is a very different creature from it's predecessors. There is no comedy to be seen here. It's a dark, cruel horror piece, through and through. It has more in common with Resident Evil or 28 Days Later than its own franchise. Again, I won't spoil anything, just be warned that it's nothing like what came before.

For me, it's a bit of a mixed bag. It has it's moments, but it's not terribly good.

Ultimately, The Return of the Living Dead can stand tall as a formative part of Horror Cinema. All the movies have moments that make you face palm in disbelief over how stupid some characters are, but in the end it's definitely worth it. If you are a horror fan, and you haven't seen these, correct that oversight at the first possible opportunity.

That's that. Until next time, have a great week and stay away from zombies and weird military containers.