The Return of the Living Dead 1985

Director: Dan O Bannon
Starring: James Karen; Clu Galager; Don Calfa; Linnea Quigley

Young Freddy has just started working at a medical supplies warehouse which, amongst other things, stocks skeletons, cadavers and 'split dogs'. Uch. Whilst showing Freddy the ropes his new supervisor, Frank, starts bragging about some corpses they have in the basement.

He asks Freddy if he has seen 'Night of the Living Dead' and claims that the film was based on true events. He says after the army had rounded up the re-animated corpses they ended up in the warehouse basement. Sounds unlikely but there they are in airtight zombie pickle jars. Whilst having a sneaky peak the pair damage one of the containers and release a toxic gas into the air.

I was struck in the opening scenes by the vivid colours which really emphasise the lurid cartoon style of the movie.  It also shows off the punk characters in their full glory.

These punks are friends of young Fred and before they pick him up from work they decide to kill time in the nearby cemetery. Why not eh? One of the girls 'Trash' (Linnea Quigley) inexplicably decides to get naked and remains that way for most of the film.

Back in the warehouse Frank and Freddy wake up on the floor only to realise that the gas has awoken the cadaver hanging in the cooler. Freaked out Frank recalls the lesson from NOTLD - destroy the brain.  Unfortunately this film rewrites the accepted rules ("You mean the movie lied?!") and even with a pick axe through its head, this zombie refuses to lay still.

When total body dismemberment fails, they take the still wriggling parts to a friendly mortician to get them cremated. Alas, this releases the zombie virus into the atmosphere and when it rains the local cemetery starts to wake up. Tons of zombies, in various states of decay, burst from their graves and savage poor nekkid Trash.

In the warehouse basement we get to meet Tar Man - one of the pickled zombies who has been in storage for 15 years. The effects here are fantastic.He's so slimy and skeletal it is difficult to tell whether he is a puppet or actor in make-up. His appearance is gruesome but I also found his pop-eyed skull face had lots of character. And I almost clapped my hands with glee when he groaned the immortal line: "Braaiins!"

The survivors gather in the mortuary as events continue to escalate. They have no hope of escape and can only watch as cops and ambulances arrive on the scene to be mobbed by the growing army of undead.  The zombies even figure out how to use the emergency vehicle's radio "send more cops!" It's like ordering a takeaway! As the ferocity builds you genuinely want to know how this is going to end.

The special effects are absolutely spot on - especially the animatronic skeletal half-zombie who takes a chunk out of one mohawked head. She is sensational. All the zombies are delightfully cartoonish with big facial expressions, not to mention convincing decomposition.  And they're green!!

The film contains some blood and gore as you would expect from a zombie flick, but its well balanced without gratuitous lingering shots and it works well in the context of the action.

There is a dark side to the film too. The suffering that Frank and Freddy experience is quite disturbing and the reason given for the zombies' hunger for brains is genuinely horrifying.

The film is not a mindless zombie romp (though it appears to be) it is a black comedy played entirely straight. I didn't find it laugh out loud funny, but it is fun and the darker subtleties will leave you thinking. No doubt the visuals are what impressed me most, both in concept and execution.  The film popularised a cool and distinctive look for zombies in film. I couldn't possibly give it less than 7/10.

NB.
I also wanted to add a note about Linnea Quigley. Though in this film she does little more than writhe around naked, she has become something of an icon in exploitation films. She starred in such epic titles as "Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-a-Rama" and "Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers" as well as over 60 other horror titles! Nice work lady!!