Two workers at a medical supply warehouse located in Louisville Kentucky, allows their curiosity to get the better of them. The Army crossed their shipping orders and delivered canisters containing dead bodies, with a lethal chemical called 245 Trioxin to their warehouse. The two workers, Frank (James Karen) and Freddie (Thom Mathews), tamper with the canister releasing the chemical bringing the dead back to life. Later on, the chemical spreads to the cemetery reanimating the dead who crave to devour human brains.-summary
Return of the Living Dead(ROTLD) is a guilty pleasure for me, along with Dead Alive directed by Peter Jackson. I'm not a fan of dark comedy, and I'm also not very crazy about zombie comedy. The thought of the dead rising and feeding on the living is a scary thought indeed for me, and I really do feel this is a sub genre in horror that should be handled seriously, but once in awhile, I can zone out to some mindless horror comedy... only when it's done right.
ROTLD directed by Dan O' Bannon deserves the accolades it receives, because for a horror comedy, it does quite a few things right. O' Bannon did what he could with the small budget he had, and the results for me were very good. The zombies really do have a genuine look to them. Now of course, along with about 99.999999999% of the living population on this planet. I have never seen a real life zombie and have no earthly desire to, but I do believe if the dead were to rise, there is a chance they could resemble these zombies, because they truly appear to be the living dead. The make up work is excellent. While some zombies appear to have died only recently, many others appear to have been dead for decades, such as displaying a half or fully rotten look. However, I still believe Lucio Fulci nailed it the best in Zombie with the possible appearance of the living dead.
The direction is well done and I liked the pacing. When the zombies finally attacked, there was never a dull moment in my view. The intelligence of the zombies was a fresh feel but not original at all. Intelligent zombies planning subtle attacks may have been used first, in the 1980 film Nightmare City directed by Umberto Lenzi. However, unlike the aforementioned film, ROTLD didn't get too carried away.
ROTLD doesn't have superior acting, but for a B-movie I would say it's slightly above average. The characters displaying their emotions seemed very realistic to me. Especially, one of the main characters named Spider (Miguel Nunez). His facial expression during the first zombie encounter for me was classic. I truly believe my behavior wouldn't have been much different from his.
Overall, there's no one I disliked and the personalities of the punk rock kids meshed very well with the soundtrack. Now speaking of the soundtrack, it's probably the best soundtrack for a zombie film of this nature consisting mainly of punk rock. There are too many standout songs to mention, but I feel the strength comes in the form of how they're used. The songs fit and effectively carry the mood set in every scene. Considering the style of the film, this type of soundtrack could have only worked with ROTLD. It fits the energetic personality and mood of the film. Anything else chosen could have delivered a crippling blow to the films overall quality.
The biggest problem that I have with this film is the fright factor. This film was never scary to me. I saw this film at least twenty times before I hit my mid teens I believe. There is little to no suspense, or tense build up because some events simply just happen. The gore effects are good, but there was too much off screen killing. When I watch a zombie film, one of the things I must have is detailed zombie dine out sessions.
ROTLD is a very solid zombie film to me, and one of the very few horror comedies I can actually watch. I don't believe nostalgia plays a part at all in my feelings towards it. I just simply enjoy it, and I appreciate it even more, especially, when I think about how terrible most of the sequels are. I definitely recommend this to fans of dark comedy and zombies, but only to zombie fans who do not take all of their zombie horror serious. Don't come into this expecting something intellectually deep. This film doesn't attempt to be on par with Romero's Living Dead Trilogy. ROTLD is nothing but a fun, all out battle with the living dead, and for that I'm grateful for the most part. The film has a 91 minute run time.
Pros:
-Funny situations
-Zombies have a nice look
-Good acting for a b-flick
-Great soundtrack
Cons:
-No real suspense
-Too many off screen kills
