The Return of the Living Dead
Tags: cult, comedy, violence, humor

Plot synopsis:
Louisville, KentuckyThere is a new employee in a medical supplier company, Uneeda, which says that "You need it --- We got it". It provides universities with corpses so that students can learn, and for experiments. There are also dead animals' corpses, for vets. It's the 3rd July 1984, 17:30 Eastern Daylight time. In the lab, Frank (James Karen) will stay an hour more to teach Freddy (Thom Mathews), the new employee the tricks of the trade. As it's important that corpses have good teeth, skeletons usually come from India. Burt Wilson (Clu Gulager), the boss, leaves. It's the day before Independence Day. There is a human corpse in the freezer. Frank shows Freddy the prosthetics and half dogs. Frank tells Freddy how the army forgot some caskets with living dead inside. Apparently, there was a real incident which inspired César Romero's  Day of the Living Dead, something about a chemical substance, Tripxina 4-5, which returned dead bodies to life in the morgue. When the army solved the problem, they didn't know what to do with the remaining corpses and sent them to Uneeda by mistake. Soon, they forgot the reclaim the living corpses from the medical supply company Uneeda. The Darrow Company, the one which invented and lost control of the substance, threatened Romero to sue him if he told the truth to the public. Darrow should have gotten the living corpses, but they only wanted to hide them from public opinion.Freddy gets impressed and frightened, almost panicky. Linda, Frank's wife, calls him to talk about dinner. Frank is going home soon, but first, he offers to show Freddy the corpses, all wrinkled behind the glass. Frank cleans the glasses and hits the containers: a green gas spills out, leaving Frank and Ernie unconscious. Immediately, the butterflies, the half dogs and the hooked corpse come to life.California, 16:00 hours. An army officer, Colonel Glover (Jonathan Terry) arrives home late. His wife Ethel Glover (Cathleen Cordell) complains that he's to be available all the time. He's expecting the chaos to erupt some time or another. It's clear that he is waiting for the living dead to appear, although they may never do so. Ethel complains that the radio equipment interferes with the oven.Meanwhile, Suicide (Mark Venturini) is a punk who drives all his friends around. He's violent and a bit crazy. Because of a row, they end up outside Uneeda. Freddy is at work and they want to hang out with him.Back to Uneeda, Frank and Freddy wake up. The wrinkled corpse (Terrence M. Houlihan) has disappeared. Frank and Freddy kill again one half of the dead dog which is now wishing for dog brains. The hooked corpse starts banging against the door, and Frank calls Burt, the boss.At the cemetery, red-haired Trash (Linnea Quigley) starts getting turned on thinking about the most horrible way of dying. She gets hot and starts dancing naked - wishing for old men to eat her alive. Tina (Beverly Randolph) is jealous of Trash's body, so she tries to diminish it.At Uneeda, Burt is worried about getting sued by Darrow Co. and investigated by the government. They open up the door of the freezer, let the corpse (Allan Trautman) out and cut him into pieces. The undead is still undead, and destroying his brain doesn't seem to be enough. We can read the thoughts of the undead body. They go to the crematory of the morgue Ernie Cartlebrunner (Don Calfa). He's the owner of his own business, Resurrection Funeral Services.At the cemetery, Suicide wants everybody to follow the punk way of life. Some of the punks notice Frank and Ernie taking the thinking corpse away, wondering if Freddy is one of them. It's not.Frank, Ernie and Burt interrupt an autopsy. Ernie takes some coffee. He explains how to break rigor mortis. Burt asks Ernie to burn the living corpse down and to keep the secret. Burt admits that there are not dogs in the bags. Out from a rubbish bag, there it pops a moving arm which attacks Ernie. While Burt tells Ernie the story, we come back to some of the punks.Meanwhile, Suicide is hitting on Casey (Jewel Shepard). It's almost 22:00, when Freddy finishes work. Another of the girls is anxiously waiting for him. Tina walks out of the cemetery and goes to the medical supply company.Meanwhile, Ernie says that the big favor will have to be returned, and is pissed off about the arm which tore his red trousers. Ernie says that the heart will be the difficult part, as it's a hard big muscle. Burt doesn't even want the ashes to survive.The fire seems to do the trick, but through the chimney, ashes and dust mix with the air and the clouds. Immediately, a storm breaks out. It doesn't rain down, it pours down. It's a kind of radioactive rain. Tina gets inside the Uneeda building, still searching for Freddy. Trash, Suicide, Scuz (Brian Peck), Spider (Miguel A. Núñez Jr), Chuck (John Philbin) and the rest of the gang run to their car. The rain falls down over the local cemetery. It's like acid rain. They start fighting and bickering among each other because Suicide's car won't start up. A weird smoke comes out from the crematory.Ernie checks that all parts of the body are dead. Burt hugs him, and tells him that he owes him big time. Both Frank and Freddy feel sick, weak, about to throw up. They blame the gas which knocked them out. Frank throws up. Frank wants to see Linda. Burt calls for an ambulance, and says that there are two poisoned patients.Inside Suicide's car, Trash is still naked. They start hearing the moans of the zombies, longing to dig themselves out and eat brains. At Uneeda, Tina finds mayhem and Freddy's cap. She goes down the stairs into the basement and stares at the open casket, which smells horribly bad. The original corpse goes after Tina's brains. She falls down the stairs and imprisons herself within a room. The zombie tries to open the box. All the gang come to the rescue of Tina. The zombie opens up Tina's hiding place and eats Suicide's brains. Apparently, they taste like chicken. Only Spider is left to try to hold the door close.Paramedics (Drew Deighan & James Dalesandro) arrive. Freddy and Frank are trembling with cold, their tongues orange. Burt doesn't want to phone the Army until the next morning. Neither of the paramedics can hear the beat of the patients' heart.The gang keeps on searching for Freddy. Zombies sprout from everywhere, while the storm becomes a flood. Trash is left behind and is eating by the zombies. The paramedics realize that, theoretically, Frank and Freddy are dead. The surviving punks arrive to the building of Resurrection with the zombies in tow. The zombies are fast and can devise plans to attack the living. Paramedics go out to the ambulance and zombies attack them. Burt learns that Spider, Tina and Scuz have seen the corpse at Uneeda. Tina realizes that Freddy has changed. Ernie goes out to see why the paramedics are taking so long, but nobody is there, but the ambulance has all the doors open. A zombie (Jerome 'Daniels' Coleman) is eating the brains of one of them.At Resurrection, they close windows and doors, and try to contact the police. One of the zombies (John Durbin) asks for more paramedics. The dispatcher (Leigh Drake) complies. One of the punks gets Burt to tell what he knows about the Army chemical. Ernie checks on Freddy and realizes that the rigor mortis is advancing. Another team of paramedics arrives, but they are immediately attacked. Burt, Spider, Ernie, Scuz begin to board up the doors and windows as the zombies attack. But Scuz is grabbed by one zombie and pulled outside just long enough to have his head ripped open and eaten by half a zombie (Cherry Davis). Burt, Ernie, and Spider hack the half-zombie woman and bring her into the building. They tie her down on a slab and talk with her. The Half-Lady zombie explains that zombies eat brains because of the pain of being dead. Spider wants to know how to kill them, but Ernie and Burt think they can't be killed.In the cemetery, Trash herself becomes a naked zombie. A bum (William Stout) with a supermarket trolley is walking by in the night. He stares at the naked Trash, who eats his brains.The dispatcher officer sends more cops to Resurrection. Tina doesn't allow Frank and Freddy to be imprisoned in a different room. They put them inside the mortuary's chapel.A cop (Robert Craighead) arrives, but shooting the zombies won't help. There's a helicopter (with the voice of Dan O'Bannon) hovering around, but can't do anything apart from trying to calm everybody down. Cops' brains taste like pork, apparently. Another zombie (David Bond) asks for more cops. Frank and Freddy are in huge pain. Tina hugs Freddy, who dies. Freddy dies and wants to eat Tina's brain. Tina pushes him away and runs away from him. Frank runs away at that moment. Burt throws acid into Freddy's face. Spider gets hysterical. The strapped zombie keeps on asking for brains to eat. Attempting to imprison Freddy in the chapel, Ernie gets hurt in his foot. Freddy gets out of the chapel and runs wild. Ernie limps to the door and says that the favor which Burt owes him is to come back for him with the police car.Burt and Spider charge outside and keep the mob of zombies off them with a baseball bat and crowbar. They make it to the police car, but immediately, the car gets surrounded by frantic zombies. In a desperate move, Burt drives away, leaving Tina and Ernie behind. Tina panics, thinking they have abandoned them, but Ernie is faithful that they will return for them.Burt and Spider drive away from the mortuary and out of the cemetery, but they find the road leading away blocked by HUNDREDS of zombies. Spider and Burt crash the police car against the Uneeda building and are forced to flee inside.Back at the mortuary, Tina and Ernie go up to a penthouse and kick the ladder out when the zombie Freddy breaks down the door to get at them, all the time crying out for Tina. The zombie Frank turns on the crematorium fire, kisses Linda's wedding ring and jumps onto the fire. That's more ashes to the atmosphere.The zombie cop prepares an ambush, and more responding policemen are attacked by the zombies and dispatched as well.Freddy tries to sweet-talk Tina into submission. Ernie ponders killing Tina to save himself.Spider, Burt and the two surviving punks, Casey and Tom, go down to the basement, where the copse of Suicide is. They call the police whom by this time are setting up barricades. The Captain (Bob Libman) doesn't understand what's happening. Just as Burt tries to explain about the zombies, hundreds of zombies attack the police barricade. The running zombies easily surpass the barricades and eat all the cops, while Burt listens over the phone.As a last resort, Burt calls the phone number stenciled outside the original zombie containers and manages to get in contact with General Glover.Burt talks to Glover. He tells everything that happened. Glover tells control about the zombie outbreak in Louisville, Kentucky. Glover has a plan. A suspicious Spider inquires about what the plan is.At a remote hilltop, Sergeant Gilbertson (Derrick Brice) is told to prepare. He fires a long-range "super gun" with a nuclear weapon towards Louisville, Kentucky. When the bomb hits, Freddy has just broken onto the penthouse where Tina and Ernie are hiding.It's 5:01 a.m. in the morning, Eastern time. A nuclear explosion has destroyed the city of Louisville, killing all of the zombies and apparently all the population as well. Glover gets a report that the death toll is less than 4,000. Glover calls his boss, whoever he or she is, saying that everything has been taken care off. He thinks that the rain will put out all the fires in town. He's preparing the visit of the President to the hit area.While he talks, we see more corpses being woken up by the acid rain.

Review: They are misfits and outsiders, the kind of kids who probably go to horror movies every day and make fun of the faceless, stupid, oversexed victims who populated the majority of the slasher films made in the 1980s.
The nihilistic punk rock teens can identify with the zombies, and even though it is their ultimate fate to be consumed by them, you like them, you want them to survive and you're sorry to see them go even though the zombies are every bit as cool.Long before `28 Days Later' appeared, `Return of the Living Dead'  presented us with FAST zombies, zombies who could run, jump and work together like a football team, tackling people and making it a group effort to tear their victims apart.
Imagine my surprise when I realized that not only was Return of the Living Dead every bit as much fun as when I first saw it, its actually improved!!First off, this is NOT a serious horror film.
The zombies themselves are fun to watch; be warned, however, that they are not the usual slow, shuffling stiffs we've all come to love.All in all, "The Return of the Living Dead" is an amazing thrill ride that will remain in your mind long after it's over.
With some classic lines like "you gotta hit the brain" and "watch your mouth kid if you like this job", this film works because it doesn't rely solely on gore or stupidity; the script is very well written.ROTLD pays homage to George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" but veers away from the slow lumbering zombies of the '68 classic, and instead gives us "the original" super zombies (ie before 28 days later or Dawn of the Dead remake) that are not so easily dealt with!
Okay, we have zombies, punk rockers, a punk rock soundtrack, violence, gore, nudity, one-liners, comedy, great special effects, gratuitous profanity, an old creepy/shady mortician, an old cool caddy, brains, cheesy acting(where needed), dissected dogs, three sweet settings, and an awesome plot...BOOM!
[I also remember being impressed by his performance in the delightful DARK STAR, which turned up at an art house showing along with the STAR WARS parody, HARDWARE WARS.] Intense, and boasting great music and some of the best performances ever seen in a fright film (including Clu Gulager, James Karen and Don Calfa, veterans all, whose frantic on-screen antics are the cornerstones of this film), RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD is one of those "must-see" movies no serious fan should miss.
The zombies even talk, and from one of them we're even given an explanation why they would crave brains in particular (this movie can take credit for introducing the "eating of the brain" idea into pop culture).Highly quotable dialogue is another plus, as well as the kick ass soundtrack featuring such cool groups as The Cramps, 45 Grave, Tall Boys, T.S.O.L., and others, and the extremely catchy Trioxin theme (Trioxin being the name of the chemical).
The younger generation is represented by Linnea Quigley, in her break through role as the kinky "Trash", the hilarious Mark Venturini (who unfortunately has also passed on) as Suicide, the "spooky" guy who just feels misunderstood, Thom Mathews as the ill-fated Freddy, cute Beverly Randolph, sexy Jewel Shepard, and Brian Peck, John Philbin, and Miguel Nunez, all of whom are fun to watch.The makeup effects and gore are excellently done, with some juicy gross 'em out moments.
Culminating in an effectively ironic twist, "The Return of the Living Dead" is definitely one of those modern classics that veteran horror fans are sure to proudly display among their movie collection, and which newcomers to the genre really ought to check out.
This is such a kick ass zombie movie its my favorite I enjoy this movie more than "Dawn of the Dead" the best thing about this flick is the outstanding cast I love everyone in this movie they made it all happen with Dan O'Bannon and the crew Return of the Living Dead is a classic point-blank!Overall IMO this is the best horror/comedy movie of all time I think its tops Evil Dead everything this movie is a must see it still kicks ass after so many years.10/10.
My parents and I actually saw a trailer for this one while watching the low budget, but still good, zombie film, Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things.
playing as if "Night of the Living Dead" was based on a true story, but in order to prevent lawsuits, the facts were changed around: a military chemical reanimates dead bodies, turning them into unstoppable zombies with a craving for human brains.
The Return of the Living Dead is one of the earliest movie (if not the first) I remember who glued zombie-horror and a decent level of gore together with a fine shot of comedy elements.A must-see if you like zombies + comedy.
With so many zombie films being made nowadays It's easy to forget how influential this film was.This film was fun, had talking and running zombies and was the first time they wanted to eat your brains.The first time I saw this I was blown away and 30 years later it still impresses and apart from some of the 80's outfits, it has aged well.As with the best zombie comedies, the humour backs up a proper horror film with some genuinely scary moments.It's fast paced and has some good effects, which thankfully because of when it was made are genuine physical effects rather than CGI or optical effects.
Following the introduction of the chemical into the cemetery and their resurrection, it allows for the great chase in the mortuary with the reanimated tar-man, the graveyard chase where the graves spit out the dead to chase and swarm the group against the different of monuments and tombstones as well as the swarming scenes of the paramedics in the truck and forcing the really fun time here with the big assault on the church.
From the barricading tactics against the grabbing hands attempting to break into the room, the attack in the storeroom where they're able to capture the live skeleton for questioning and the zombie attacks out in the graveyard and the adjacent streets, there's a ton of high-energy action in this section which features a ton to like with the violent antics, building suspense of the creatures getting in and the few nicely developed scenes of comedy here all make for a great time along with the great finale.
The original however is an immensely enjoyable film, with its very few flaws barely noticeable amidst the huge amount of good.It is definitely the best-looking film in the series, it is stylishly shot and lit with a wonderful ominous atmosphere, complete with atmospheric sets, above average effects and some great make-up on the zombies.
As well as a hilarious and clever script that's never forced, doesn't get bogged down in too many explanations or too much exposition, and that is very quotable (which I don't think any of the sequels achieved and it was something that 4 and 5 could only dream of doing so), and a story that seemed tired in concept but felt very fresh in execution with so many funny moments and an equal number of highly disturbing and scary ones.Return of the Living Dead is directed with adroit class and a clear fondness for the genre by Dan O' Bannon, and while some of the punk teens are annoyingly and one-dimensionally written and acted with not much spark (the sole problems with the film, and they are not that major), the leads are written very likeably and Clu Gulager, James Karen, Thom Mathews and Beverly Randolph are charming and lots of fun (all of them at least knowing what sort of film they're in), Gulager and Karen are particularly good.
It has some pretty interesting situations, where the zombies are 'explained,' plus they're well and truly 'pumped up' compared to George A Romero's 'shufflers.' These guys don't die from a head shot and some of them can even solve puzzles.Not only is the film littered with pokes at Night of the Living Dead, plus generally horror films, but there are also some genuinely humorous moments on their own.
"The Return Of The Living Dead", written and directed by Dan O'Bannon, and starring Clu Gulager, James Karen and Don Calfa performing at their over-the-top best, is one of the prime examples of the no-holds-barred camp zombie movies to date, with laughter-inducing imagery, lines such as "Send...more...paramedics" and "They're rabid weasels" to a soundtrack with tunes by legendary punk rock groups such as The Cramps.
The supporting cast includes "Scream Queen" Linnea Quigley as Trash, a red-haired punker with a tendency to take her clothes off on a random and frequent basis and dance on the tombs in the local graveyard.The plot: at the Uneeda Medical Supply (you have to love the name) warehouse in a small town in Kentucky, foreman Frank (Karen) decides to show the new employee, Freddy, some old military barrels that accidentally ended up in the basement.
Containing the leftovers of the botched army experiment that inspired the classic "Night of the Living Dead" (1968), the gas inside the barrels sprays all over when Frank starts fiddling with the containers, putrid zombies break out, and the fun is just beginning as Frank phones his boss Burt (Gulager).
headless cadavers running amok!), so the two enlist the help of his mortuary friend (Calfa).Freddy's teenage friends and his squeaky-voiced goody two-shoes girlfriend Tina show up at the supply house to pick him up when he gets off work, and become entangled in the havoc."The Return Of The Living Dead" is a truly hilarious camp classic of zombie films, a must-see for first-timers and a must-see-again-and-again for all fans of zombie films..
These movies had mass appeal, great comedic dialogue, good scripts, decent acting and way zany plots.Return of the living dead is one such movie.
Return of the Living Dead is a great low-budget zombie flick that's both scary and funny.
When the army is informed of the situation, they brilliantly use their contingency plan to resolve the problem with minor casualties."The Return of the Living Dead" is a hilarious combination of horror and comedy with potential of cult-movie.
You definitely have to see the second Return of the Living Dead as it continues with some of the original characters and is also a great film.
With a DVD due out August 27th ROTLD is also being shown regularly on Showtime Beyond (good news for people with digital cable)and I am so happy because I think this movie will be a real treat for anyone who likes good horror films.
"The Return of the Living Dead" is a rare film: It's a horror comedy that actually works, with equal parts scary and funny.
Effectively blending a killer soundtrack, humorous dialogue, and excellent direction, Return Of The Living Dead reinvented ideas new conceived or done within the horror movie genre (primarily with zombie films).
The Return Of The Living Dead is one of the best Horror and Zombie films ever made,a brilliant Horror film that mixes Horror,Comedy,Zombies and great special effects and soundtrack.
All those combinations make The Return Of The Living Dead not only one of my favorite Horror and Zombie films,but one of my favorite films of all time and one of the great Horror Classics of the 1980s and of all time.Based on the novel of the same name by John Russo and set in Louisville,Kentucky,The Return Of The Living Dead tells the story of a young man named Freddy(Thom Matthews)who has just started his first day working at Uneeda Medical Supply Warehouse,working for his bosses Burt(Clu Gulager)and Frank(James Karen).
Meanwhile,Freddy's friends are waiting for Freddy and looking to party,but unfortunately Freddy,Frank,Burt and Freddy's friends have to deal with dead zombies want human brains and also want to party.One of the many reasons that The Return Of The Living Dead is Horror classic is because the film reinvented the zombie genre.
I think the reason the Horror and Comedy works so well in ROTLD is because of the bizarre and over the top situations and the way the characters act and react to the things going on in the film whether it's dealing with the zombies or with each other and the situations are handled with Black Comedy and gore.
The violence and gore in the film are well-done and suit the film and while this film isn't as bloody or gory as other great zombie films like the Night Of The Living Dead,(which the characters make reference to)Dawn Of The Dead,Day Of The Dead or Re-Animator,(both of the latter films came out the same year in 1985)the film can be pretty bloody and gory at times.
An awesome soundtrack that mixes Punk and Pop.The special make-up effects in the film are well-done and realistic and hold up really well.In final word,if you love Horror films,Comedies or Zombie films,I highly suggest you see The Return Of The Living Dead a true Horror classic that you can watch again and again.
In an attempt to impress the brainless but lovable punk, Frank takes him down to the basement where he claims lies the remains of the result of a zombie outbreak, stored by the military, that was the inspiration for the movie Night of the Living Dead (1968).
18 years later, The Return of the Living Dead was made, a film that embraced Romero's 'rules', yet making certain tweaks to form an original zombie film in its own right.
It somehow causes the dead to rise up from their graves to become fast-moving and very intelligent zombies that begin to crave human brains and are unstoppable.From writer-director Dan O'Bannon has wrote and directed a genuinely clever and funny Sci-fi horror comedy spoof of George A.
It's supremely entertaining and it has aged wonderfully.The group of punks that party in the cemetery, the girl who gets naked and dances on graves, Tar Man, the stiffs crawling out of the dirt...it's beautiful.Absolutely the best American zombie movie of the 1980's and definitely a great all around horror comedy.
This came out about the same time as the "official" Night of the Living Dead sequel "Day of the Dead." As much as I like George Romero, this film is way better than "Day of the Dead." Much more action, a better story and scarier zombies make this a worthy effort.
This movie is like punk rock meets "American Graffiti" meets "Night of the Living Dead," when all mixed together you get Return of the Living Dead; probably one of the best zombie flicks that was not done by George A.
The Return of the Living Dead is the funniest and best Comedy/Horror ever..
The Return of the Living Dead is one of the better Comedy/Horrors of the 80's and while this may be bagged by some people because it is not scary I thing is worth while just to watch the comedy side of Deliberate over acting, witty side jokes and stupid plot, it's a fun movie.
The only thing it has in common with Night is the fact that this is a zombie movie and Living Dead is in the title.
I must say Return of the Living Dead probably, along with Dawn of the Dead, is the best zombie film ever made.
Romero's cult-classic "Night of the living dead" is hands down the greatest horror movie ever made.
This movie is also very rare and hard to find) ROTLD has it all, Horror, comedy, great 80's punk music, a great cast, an awesome plotline, and last but not least ZOMBIES!
Out of all the zombie films ever made (night, dawn, and day of the dead, re-animator etc etc) Return of the Living Dead is the only film that manages to take pulse-pounding horror and special effects and mix it with dark humor and come out with a movie that you will never forget.
Return of the Living Dead is simply the greatest horror movie of all time.
When Frank (James Karen) and Freddy (Thom Mathews), employees working the weekend at the Uneeda Medical Supply warehouse, check out a canister stored in their work's basement, they accidentally release a toxic gas which not only causes the guys to suffer from some alarming symptoms (coldness, stiff joints, no heartbeat) but also makes dead bodies rise up and become brain-eating zombies.An un-official sequel (of sorts) to George Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968), Dan O'Bannon's directorial debut, Return of the Living Dead, delivers a decidedly different take on the undead genre, packing in as much black humour as it does blood-red gore.Opening with the claim that "the events portrayed in this film are all true" and "the names are real names of real people and real organizations," O'Bannon quickly establishes the movie's outrageous tone.
The Return of the living dead is an original zombie movie; the zombies are fast, talk, plan attacks and do not die in the classic way we all know and have seen before.
The acting is over the top and the story is hilarious.The return of the living dead is one of those horror films that keeps you sucked in until the end; It does not have any dull moments and is pretty darn (intentionally) funny.
Romero's horror classic "The Night of the Living Dead", the film even proclaims that NOTLD was based on true events.
The film is also has a rock music score.Grossly entertaining and darkly hilarious, it's like both a spoof and a punk-rock version of Romero's classic "dead" movies.
But these are characters who aren't too intelligent ("The Return of the Living Dead" works on the premise that Romero's film DID happen and the military covered it up), so they sometimes, unwisely, look to that movie for answers.