31 Movies of Halloween: Day 23

Day 23 - The Return of the Living Dead


This movie was awesome. Once again, not a "good" movie, but it was awesome. Technically, it's a sequel to Night of the Living Dead. Long story short, George Romero and John Russo created NotLD, but then, due to Romero & Russo parting ways, they each created their own series continuing the story. Romero has been making the "...of the Dead" movies, while Russo wrote a script (and later novel) entitled The Return of the Living Dead. The resulting film bared little resemblance to Russo's original story, but it created a number of squeakuels. Russo would later re-edit NotLD and Executive Produce the horrible Children of the Living Dead, creating his own "canon" series.

Sooooooo confusing. And I'm fairly certain Shaun of the Dead isn't any kind of sequel.

The film opens with a disclaimer that everything that happens in the film is real. Clearly, it's not, but what the hey. The film opens on a teenager...I guess...maybe he's in his 20's, starting his first day at a warehouse used to stock science experiments or something. Eventually, he & his coworker go down to the basement and accidently release Trioxin, the chemical that reanimates dead tissue. They both suck down a bunch of the stuff.

At the same time, the kid's friends and girlfriend drive up to the warehouse. Not wanting to wait in the car for him, they decide to party in the conveniently placed cemetery next door. 


I just want to point out now that the guy's girlfriend seems extremely straight-laced, while his friends are all punks and metalheads. It seems odd to me. That's all.


Eventually, the Trioxin gets mixed with rain and causes the dead to rise. Everybody starts dying left and right. There's also a long, drawn out striptease that you probably have seen before but didn't know where it was from.

And he was there, eventually.

Let me just say that it ends bad for all participating.


Best Part:
Now, the zombies can run, open doors, have rational thought, and can talk. They also seek only to eat brains. Or, at least, mostly just brains. The film is a bit screwball, and I think it comes to a head when the zombies use the EMS and police radios to "order" more food, just like they were calling pizza.

"Yeah, can I have two cops and a firefighter? And make sure the firefighter comes with extra pickles."

The movie is definitely wacky, and zombie fans either love it or hate it, but I thought it was an interesting watch.