In the summer of 1985, a zombie movie unlike any before it was released. It was not just the fact that it had a great cast, excellent make-up,and such – it did have all of that. What made this zombie movie different was that it was a comedy. Sure, it was labeled a “Horror/Comedy”, but it became very clear early in the film that the comedy was coming first. Though camp and satire were common enough in Horror movies, and there had been plenty of slapstick set in the Horror world, there were precious few examples of a truly comedic Horror movie – some might even go so far as to say none at all. To this day, it is still a difficult thing to get right, and one of the first – if not THE first – movie to get it right was Dan O’Bannon’s RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD.
After an opening disclaimer claiming all of the events we are about the see are absolutely true, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD opens up at a medical supply warehouse in Louisville, Kentucky. Employees Frank (James Karen) and Freddy (Thom Mathews) are taking the night shift. Frank tells Freddy, who is new to the job, that the movie “Night of the Living Dead” was based on a military experiment that had gone terribly wrong and that the proof is in the basement of their building. Frank shows Freddy a military drum that contains a body, then accidentally trips a safety that fills the room with a gas that knocks them unconscious. When they awake, the body in the drum is gone, but a corpse inside the warehouse’s morgue is suddenly re-animated, going on a frantic rampage. Thus begins a chain of events that will result in some of the most hilarious zombie gags ever in film.
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD is a deceptively important movie in the Zombie category – indeed in the entire Horror genre. While it is tempting to dismiss this film as a cool, funny, zombie romp, this movie actually contributed to the mythos of the zombie in a way second only to “Night of the Living Dead”. This was the first movie to introduce the idea that zombies need to eat human brains. This was the first movie to introduce frantic, running zombies instead of just lumbering corpses. This was also one of the first and best examples in modern times of a Horror film tilting the film towards Comedy while still managing a few real scares along the way.
This movie had a curious fate after its initial theatrical run. After a moderate success in theaters and a release on VHS, the movie disappeared for a while. It returned to home media on DVD only after a persistent fan pestered MGM enough to release it. Since then, the movie has been readily available. Because Zombie movies, television shows, and literature have gleefully followed in this movie’s footsteps, it is a little bewildering that this movie is not more widely remembered. Indeed, it only recently has found its feet as a cult classic. It deserves more, however, and anyone looking for a good laugh along with their frights would be well advised to give RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD a look.
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD fun facts – The part of Burt was originally offered to Leslie Nielson. Nielson was interested, but proved too pricey. Clu Gulager was cast the day before shooting began.
The bag of rabid weasels brought to the funeral home is actually a bag of motorized toy cymbal-monkeys with the cymbals removed.
The character of Ernie is actually an escaped Nazi in hiding. It is never mentioned explicitly in the film, but it is evidenced by the fact that Ernie keeps a picture of Eva Braun in his morgue, listens to German marches, and occasionally speaks German, among other things.
The film was released in Germany with the title; “Verdammt, Die Zombies Kommen”, which translates to; “Dammit, The Zombies Are Coming”.
Tarman - “Brains!! Live brains!!”
Burt Wilson - “It’s weird. These people seem to say they’ve been waiting for this to happen. Apparently, they’ve got some sort of contingency plan to deal with it. ”
Zombie – “Send more cops!”
Paramedic #1 – You have no pulse, your blood pressure is zero over zero, you have no pupillary response, no reflexes and your temperature is seventy degrees.”