Return of the Living Dead

Burt: "I thought you said if we destroyed the brain, it'd die!"
Frank: "It worked in the movie!"
Burt: "Well, it ain't working now, Frank!"
Freddy: "You mean the movie lied?"

release year: 1985
genre: horror/comedy
viewing setting: home DVD 9/8/13 and 8/30/02 and several times on HBO back in the 80s

synopsis: After an unfortunate accident, a small town's dead return to life...and they're hungry for brains.

impressions: This was a riot. It was half-horror and half-comedy, and it combined the best apsects of both type of movie. It managed to be genuinely spooky while eliciting frequent chuckles - a lot of the latter due to deadpan comments by characters, often amidst really bad situations. I've included here a link to an old review, because it broke down all the characters and I found it funny to read.

body count: 15 humans, 1 zombie, and 1 in-betweener confirmed

things to watch for: the graveyard dance (you'll know it when you see it)

acting: Pretty good, actually. With a few exceptions, it was fairly easy to distinguish the different characters. Clu Gulager is the owner of the warehouse, who takes control of the situation. Don Calfa is the old embalmer who helps out. Thom Mathews, a year before his cool role as a grown-up Tommy Jarvis in Friday the 13th part 6, is an unfortunate teenager who gets hit by old zombie gas. Beverly Randolph is his nearly-useless girlfriend. Miguel A. Nunez Jr (who also played the biker "Demon" in Friday the 13th part 4) is one of the more useful members of the group of punk kids.

previous version of review: 1996 or 1997 review

final word: Entertaining, worth owning in any zombie movie collection.

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