The Return of the Living Dead

Workers at a medical supply warehouse unwittingly release a deadly gas that re-animates the dead.

The Return of the Living Dead, despite its title, isn’t a direct sequel to any film. Instead, it posits that George Romero’s classic Night of the Living Dead, was actually based on true events, and that it was the Army, not a comet that caused the dead to rise. Armed with this workable premise, writer-director Dan O’Bannon delivers a black comedy-horror that’s become a cult-classic in its own right.

Much of credit for this goes to O’Bannon’s wicked script, which has just enough manic moments to keep the momentum going at a chaotic pace, while simultaneously maintaining a very deep vein of dry humor that allows the film to hold up so well to repeat viewings. A great example of the former is Clu Gulager hitting a home run with a notable zombie’s head, while the best example of the latter is Jonathan Terry’s memorable phone conversation with Gulager at the film’s finale. Both scenes are funny, but in different ways, and it’s the balance between the two types of humor that makes this such a fun film.

While modern horror comedies like Shaun of the Dead manage a crossover appeal outside of the horror genre, The Return of the Living Dead is a horror lover’s comedy. Featuring more than one over-the-top gore scene, it’s not for the squeamish or feint of heart. Further, it’s notable that while films like 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead are often credited with reinventing the zombie genre by introducing fast-running zombies instead of Romero’s classic shamblers, O’Bannon had his zombies running around as early as 1985.

In the end, The Return of the Living Dead may not be for everyone, but horror fans, and fans of zombie films in particular, should find it a lot of fun.