AT THE MOVIES

by Isy Jordan

Return of the Living Dead
Director: Dan O'Bannon
Starring: Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph and more.

When two bumbling employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors cause the dead to rise again as zombies.

Since Halloween is going to be a bit different this year because of the ongoing pandemic, and we've been binging watching a lot of shows and movie since March, I wanted to recommend a classic horror film that you may not have seen in some years if you have at all. I went with the 1985 zombie cult classic Return of the Living Dead because it's everything you want in a horror movie and everything a horror movie should be.

Basically, Freddy just got a job at a medical supply warehouse. Frank is training him and wanting to show off a little, he shows him some tanks in the basement that no one is supposed to know about. Apparently the events of 1968 in Pennsylvania (Night of the Living Dead) were true and the tanks with the reanimated corpses (zombies) were shipped to the warehouse erroneously some time ago. In goofing around, the two manage to unleash the undead for their big return.

The film was made in 1985 and yes, some of the sfx and makeup looks dated. Let's get that out of the way. That aside, Return of the Living Dead is one fun carnival ride of a horror film. It's clever, it's funny, and it has a soundtrack that still holds up today.

Aside from Frank and Freddy, there's Burt who own's the warehouse and Ernie (seriously, Burt and Ernie) who is a former Nazi working late at a mortuary where he works. Freddy's mostly punk band of friends includes Suicide, Scuzz, Tina, Spider, Trash, Casy, and Chuck are along for the terrifying ride.

It not only builds on the 1968 George A. Romero classic, it adds to the zombie lore by giving us the first zombie who were capable of speech. They also weren't just mindless reanimated things that ate human flesh. These zombies just wanted the brains and they get the chance to explain why.

The movie also never forgets that, at heart, it's still a horror film that sees the loss of characters as it hopelessly spins toward a horrible conclusion. There's gore, violence, language, reference to drug use, and a naked graveyard dance that you'll definite remember.

Rated R for good reason, the film comes in at 131 minutes. I highly recommend this horror gem if you're looking for a good Halloween film.

Isy