There are some many wonderful things about “Return of the
Living Dead” that I don’t know where to begin. For a long time this was one of
my favorite guilty pleasures but that recently changed when I found out how many
other people I know who also love this film. This movie is one of the reasons
why I began writing this blog because it’s one of the movies that I love to
talk about often and seemingly endlessly! This is the first time that it’s
explained why zombies eat people; by consuming brains, the pain of rotting goes
away for a little bit. This is brilliant! This movie also has zombies that can
run, talk, use radios, and act just like they’re alive…except for the eating
brains part. I find this completely acceptable because I like the all or
nothing approach; they can be stumbling, slow, and relentless or they can be
like the zombies in this film. Or maybe I accept this movie’s version of
zombies because I first saw it when I was nine, my first zombie movie ever!
I love how this movie directly mentions “Night of the Living
Dead” several times, mainly in the beginning. I always thought that they could
do this because of the lack of a copy right for “NOTLD”. Not so; I found out
that John A Russo co-wrote both films! Romero did sue Russo for his part in “Return”
but it obviously didn’t damage the movie I know and love! One of the best references
of “NOLTD” occurs when Bud, Frank, and Freddy are trying to kill the reanimated
corpse in the freezer. They decide to impale it in the head with a pick axe and
when it doesn’t die, they begin to panic.
Bud - “I thought you said if we destroy the brain that it
would die”
Frank - “It worked in the movie”
Bud - “Well it ain’t working now, Frank”
Freddy - “You mean the movie lied?!”
“Return of the Living Dead” begins with Uncle Frank showing
his nephew Freddy around the medical supply warehouse where the two work. To
impress his nephew, Frank tells Freddy how they have canisters that were
involved in real life events of that inspired the movie “Night of the Living
Dead”. They go downstairs to see the canisters and when Frank slaps the side of
one, the pressure within bursts and a poisonous toxin fills the warehouse. They
pass out and when they come to, the find that the dead bodies have come to
life; first seeing a dog that’s cut in half barking and then hearing the dead
body in the freezer pounding on the door to get out. The warehouse owner comes
to help them, and after they manage to neutralize the reanimated corpse (by
cutting him up into pieces with a bone saw); they go over to the mortuary
across the street in hopes of using the furnace to burn up the evidence. The embalmer,
Ernie, eventually agrees and the body is burnt to nothing but the fumes (and
toxins) go into the air and come back in the rain, affecting all of the corpses
in the graveyard and bringing them back to life!
Meanwhile, in the graveyard are a group of friends who are
waiting for Freddy to get off of work so they can go party. They start to have
a good time in the cemetery, including Trash who takes off all of her clothes
and dances around. When the rain begins to fall, it burns their skin so they
run to find shelter. Freddy’s girlfriend Tina is already at the warehouse when
it begins to rain. She goes into the basement and comes across the zombie from
inside the canister. She hides in a metal closet and screams. Her friends hear
her and come to the rescue, but one of them dies when he’s bitten in the head.
They run back to the mortuary for shelter. There Tina finds Freddy, but Freddy
and Frank are feeling sick and have been infected by the toxins. They soon turn
and then it becomes a free for all as to who lives and who dies when the dead
return back to life!
Favorite moment – One of the scariest moments I’ve ever seen
in a horror movie was when Zombie Freddy is asking Tina to be nice and open the
doorway to the attic that she’s hiding in so he can eat her brains. I was nine
when I saw this and it still gives me shivers! His pleading, so sweet and
gentle, quickly turns to rage. As Ernie moves himself behind Tina, you can see
him raise his pistol to her head, ready to kill her before Freddy can get to
her. It’s super intense!
Bud is ready with a bat to kill canister zombie!
Bud calls the military for help. Spider uses a sledgehammer, just like I would!
Frank and Freddy have been told that they're dead. Not the best news to hear...
