Return of the Living Dead Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: Return of the Living Dead
Year: 1985
Director: Dan O' Bannon 
Country: US
Language: English  

In 1929 Time claimed a book called The Magic Island by William Seabrook "introduced zombie into the U.S speech". By 1932, the first legitimate zombie film was made; it was called White Zombie and starred the great Bela Lugosi. Over the next few decades even more fantastic zombie films would emerge, most notably George A. Romero's The Night of the Living Dead. This film, Return of the Living Dead  has become one of my favorites over recent years.

In this film a bumbling pair of employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors cause the dead to re-animate as they go on a rampage through Louisville, Kentucky seeking their favorite food: brains.

First off, this film is not a sequel to Romero's The Night of the Living Dead. Infact  Richard P. Rubinstein of Laurel Entertainment got an injunction to stop the producers from using the words  "living dead" in the title, but the MPAA ruled in favor of the producers. Return of the Living Dead is a remarkably fresh film that combines horror, comedy and gore quite perfectly. The dialogue is quite witty and some of the character's actions seem to come straight out of slapstick comedy. Return is a brilliant mix of absurdity and tension, similar to how Tarantino's Pulp Fiction gets its humour.

One remarkable advantage Return of the Living Dead has over many similar films, is its treatment towards the characters. The teenagers are not faceless and ironically brainless victims; they are punks and outsiders. Nihilistic teens who you want to see survive until the end of the film. Unfortunately they can be a little predictable at times, but there is also a great deal of depth to them. Director Dan O' Bannon uses his creative mind quite well in this film, often coming up with scenes that have never been thought of for a zombie movie. Surely the circumstance in which the dead re-animate is incredibly inventive.

In conclusion, Return of the Living Dead is definitely one of the greatest zombie films ever made (if not the best) It is quite entertaining, as well as thought provoking. Return also deserves credit for being one of the first films with "fast" zombies, long before 28 Days Later. Praise it! 5/5