Return of the Living Dead (1985)

A couple of bumbling pair of employees at an army surplus store named Frank (James Karen) and Freddy (Thom Matthews) accidentally releases a deadly gas from a U.S. military cannister which awakens some corpses there and are hungry for human brains. They also found out that the rumour of George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead was a true story.

Meanwhile a group of wild teens break into a graveyard that is nearby the store and decides to party there. Frank and Freddy chop up a zombie's body and places the parts in bags. They then go to a cremator named Ernie Kaltenbruner (Don Calfa) and burns the body at a nearby Mortuary ordered by the owner there named Burt Wilson (Clu Gulager). However, the ashes create a storm which leads to acid rain and wakens the dead at the graveyard. The teens are being chased by these brain eating zombies and hide at the surplus store.

During this moment, two paramedics check for Frank and Freddy's pulse as they are ill from the gas but finds no pulse from them at all. Outside of the store, the zombies keep on killing policemen and paramedics that try and come to the rescue.

Some of the people inside of the store manages to grab a hold of one of the zombies to find out why they eat human brains and the zombie tells them that it's to kill their pain.

This was truly the best horror zombie flicks of the 80's as you don't see films like this all that much nowadays. It shows alot of dark slapstick comedy with horror mixed together since it was meant to be a spoof on George A. Romero's zombie flicks.
We have a perfect setting at a mortuary and a graveyard since they made the scene's look very dark as well an army of zombie's attacking anyone who arrives there making this moment very disturbing and having a bad feeling that there's no escape or stopping these brain hungry walking corpses.
There are terrific struggling moments inside the mortuary as well as the teens partying out in the graveyard in which all of this was incredibly entertaining and not a dull moment at all. However, there are the odd dull moments later on as the story sometimes drags but then it quickly picks up again earning this piece to be the highest rated zombie flick for this site. Even non zombie fans will get a kick by watching this since it's so 80's old school.
There are the odd good outdoor shots around a railroad of Los Angeles too.
Great effects and a perfect film to watch on Halloween night. Made on a good budget too. If you enjoy 80's horror then you'll love this one.

The acting is in good taste as lead actor Clu Gulager played a perfect employer as a mortuary showing great obnoxious aggressions to his part in it along with proving that he showed a nice sense of humor to top it all off. He often played these types of roles since his energy level is very high while just doing what he does. He definetely was a great character actor for a horror film like this which helped him get work in other scary movies too although he's been a veteran actor years before this one came to be.
James Karen totally stood out as an assistant employer at the mortuary with his silly behavior in it. He really knew how to freak out with all that was happening in the story and proved himself worthy for the story.
Ya gotta love Don Calfa as he lived to play a cremator in the film acting like a total goofball. He borught it up with his dark comedic behavior and brought up the pace with his performance too. A shame he was becoming a has been after the release on this one and working in low budget to independent flicks later on.
Cult icon Thom Matthews was wonderful as a teenage employee who really brought out his typical teenage attitude on set along with good facial expressions when he was slowly turning into a zombie. He also did well with his annoying groaning and freaking out too. He was terrific too when he turns and acting vicious which was his most energetic performance of them all. He was a favourite with fans for this one which isn't a surprise at all.
Berverly Randolph looked perfect as that teenage 80's clean cut girl next door type showing alot of great characteristics to her part as well as doing well getting scared and crying on set too. She nearly had a promising career after this one but realised that acting wasn't for her which was a shame since I could see her going far.
I loved John Philbin since he was great acting annoying and playing a typical dweeb since he played different types in other shows and disguised himself well with wearing some glasses and a preppy looking outfit. Two thumbs up for him indeed.
Jewel Shepard was great acting emotional as well as acting snappy and sharp trying to not let anyone take advantage of her which she did believeably well. She has a cult fanbase with her work in shows which isn't a surprise since she really knew how to act like an insecure teenager.
Miguel A. Nunez Jr. was br far one of the best cast members showing great aggressions and the most energetic and outoging too. He was the type who can really bring up the tension for a horror flick like this one. This was his fisr major supporting role in a movie and it wasn't surprising that he went far in his life since he gave this film a very strong performance and can easily do so with future projects.
Linnea Quigley lived to play her character as the sleazy punk Trash really stood out in this film and she achieved status as a scream queen. She knew how to have a skanky attitude and make her part truly gothic too. She almost stole the film with the scene's she was in during the graveyard party. One of her best performances ever. Although she did horror films before this one, many low budget and independent filmmakers casted her in their horror flicks and this film was her highest budget during her whole career.
Mark Venturini was another one who stood out as the head punk in the film with a nice big guy tough looks to him and really brought on the comedy with his actions on his griping towards others and acting very sour. He made his character very necessary for the plot.

Linnea Quigley is nude as her character Trash while she is dancing in a graveyard as Trash and stays nude when she becomes a zombie.

There was plenty of gore in this film.
Zombies biting the tops of peoples heads for their brains.
Also, there is a display of a cut in half small taxidermised dog is
A zombie is being cut to pieces.

Dan O'Bannion makes his directorial debut and I must say he does an impressive job with both the slapstick and horror he worked on for an 80's zombie flick like this one. He shows some nice corny dialogues between James Karen showing Thom Matthews around the factory of the mortuary and instructing him on what to do with his job.
There's also a nice scene between the two of them having a discussion in an office about the film Night of the Living Dead based on real events with a good whispery type of speaking by Karen.
A nice shot looking up on both of them walking down to the cellar of the mortuary to look at a toxic barrel cannister of a corpse inside as well as a nice shot on a gas blowing out of the can with them falling down choking. During this moment there's a good shot on a corpse inside it changing it's colors.
There's great panicking reactions with both of them when they try to restrain supporting actor Terrence Houlihan as a yellow cadavier since there's many good takes on them going nuts while trying to do this as well as Clu Gulager getting aggressive about all of this and shots of them sawing this cadavier up which brought good comedy and horror together with the way it was directed.
There's a good camera looking up on Don Calfa as a cremator listening to music while doing work on a corpse which looked a bit humoress.
There's a great shot on the supporting cast such as Mark Venrutrini driving his convertible with other cast as wild teens cruisng going to the mortuary as well as nice shots on them walking around a graveyard.
There's a funny moment with Gulager talking to Calfa on what is in some bags telling him they're rabid weasels and acting nervous about it. Then he shows a good shot unopening a bag showing him what they really are as well as a nice shot on a an arm falling out and grabbing Calfa's leg with him freaking out.
There's a great close up shot on Linnea Quigley with Miguel A. Nunez near a tombstone with her acting lustful about imagining how it would feel to be eaten alive as well as great blocking with her standing up and tearing off her top and then dancing on a gravestone stripping which was a nice funky direction.
There's a good shot on Venrutrini standing at the graveyard griping and having an attitude with Quigley feeling him all over and clinging on to him. The setting looked perfect.
There's a terrific shot on the bags of body parts burning in the creamtory room with the smoke from the smoke stack rising up in the air and then a thunderstorm breaks out with the supporting cast in the graveyard freaking out and running to the car and getting nervous on what kind of acid rain it it.
There's a nice shot on Beverly Randolph walking down the stairs in the mortuary which looked creepy and then a supporting cast member played by Allan Trautman as the zombie Tarman turning around to spot her with his eyes opening wide screaming BRAINS and her screaming trying to escape from her and hiding in a room which looked very effective.
There's a nice goofy direction with bit part actors Drew Deighton and James Dalesandro as paramedics trying to look for a pulse with both Karen and Matthews with them acting sick and out of it and not finding a pulse with good reactions on everyone.
There's also good angle shots on both Deighton and Dalesandro in their ambulance with featured extra's as zombies dragging them out and eating their brains giving it a nice creepy feel to it.
There's a good shot on Trautman biting Venrutrini in the head lying on the floor with the other cast freaking out and struggling to rescue Randolph.
There's a great shot on the water of the rain falling underneath the dirt and then landing in a coffin with a boot of a corpse exposed as well as a nice slow motion shot looking over some tombstones and featured extras as zombie's rising out of the grave. There's a terrific suspenseful camera closing in on a skeletal corpse opening it's eyes from out of a grave too and the cast like Randolph and Quigley falling into muddy puddles while trying to get away.
There's a perfect shot on Quigley being attacked by zombie with her freaking out.
There's a good reaction on Randolph crying holding Matthews with him groaning and crying along with Peck screaming and freaking out about him turning into a zombie.
We spot a nice spooky shot on Quigley resurrected as a zombie rising out of mud with her arms in the air as well as a nice foggy shot on bit part actor William Stout as a bum with a shopping cart suddenly staring at her from a brief distance and her sturtting towards him in the mist and then leaping at him to bite his head in which this looked extremely effective.
We spot many great shots on featured extra's as zombie's trying to break into the mortuary with Peck, Nunez and Gulager battling them away and trying to board up the windows. Nunez does well getting aggressive towards Gulager asking how this was happening which looked powerfully well done.
There's a nice shot on Peck trying to escape the grips of a female zombie played by bit part actress Cherry Davis which looked believeably struggling wondering if he will survive from getting his skull bitten.
There's a nice moment with Gulager tying the Davis asking on why she eats human brains with nice shot effects on the Davis which looked very well done.
We have a nice touching emotional dialogue between John Philbin and Jewel Shepard crying while trying to stay in an area and not taking their chances on getting killed which looked very good and one of the best dialogues ever.
There's a good moment with Randolph wrapping her arms around Matthews crying when he is about to die and then opening his eyes and trying to attack her with good shots on him drooling towards her and trying to corner her with nice reactions on her screaming.
There's a nice shot between Calfa and Randolph locking themselves up in a cellar with Matthews pleading zombielike for them to open the door so he can eat a brain as it both looked comedic and terrorising.
There's good shots on Gulager and Nunez speeding away in a police car with features extras as zombies swooming around them.
The bottom line here is that O'Bannion knew his craft on directing a zombie spoof come to life making it both look funny and creepy as well on showing many great shots but he is alot better as a writer for films like Alien. He wrote this one of course and brought the magic to life for a cult classic 80's flick like this one.

The music was done perfectly for an 80's horror film by Matt Clifford with additional music by Robert Randles. They know their craft with horror films no doubt about it. We hear a good opening song with some bonging sounds as well as some eerie keyboard playing and high pitched synthesizer music. Through some of the storylines we hear a deep synthesizer sounds throught the plot too.

There's a perfect heavy metal and rockabilly soundtrack

We have a great tune by SSQ with the song "Tonight (We'll Make Love Till We Die" which is basically a song for Quigley's character as Trash while she strips down at the graveyard as well as being resurrected into a zombie herself. The song really suited the scene's incredibly well.
There's a terrific tune by 45 Grave with their nasty song "Partytime" for when the dead is about to rise as well as during the party at the graveyard. We also hear it for a short while during the end of the film too which is the theme song for the film giving it a nice fit for what the story was all about.
Another catchy tune for the film was by a rockabilly group from The Cramps with "Surfin Dead" which was used during the struggling moment when the survivors try to board up the windows from the zombie's.
One of my favourites was by Roky Erickson with "Burn the Flames" when Karen's character is about to go into a cremation oven after turning into a zombie as the song had a nice synthesizer weeping sound to it.
The soundtrack album is a great party type and is a must for headbanging horror fans.

Spider: I ain't in no mood to die tonight.

Frank: Watch your tongue boy if you like this job?
Freddy: Like this job

Suicide: How come you guys only come around when you need a ride someplace?
Spider: Cuz you're one spooky motherfucker sometimes.

Spider: What do you want to do, Scuz, turn over gravestones?
Scuz: No I just want to look around the graveyard I never seen one before.
Spider: You never been to a funeral?
Scuz: I never knew anyone that died.

Frank: Did you see that movie, "Night of the Living Dead"?
Freddy: Is that the one where all the bodies come to life and start eating all the people?
Frank: Yeah, did you know that was based on a true story?

Trash: Do you ever wonder about all the different ways of dying? You know, violently? And wonder, like, what would be the most horrible way to die?
Spider: I try not too think about dying too much.
Trash: Mm. Well for me, the worst way would be for a bunch of old men to get around me, and start biting and eating me alive.
Spider: I see.
Trash: First, they would tear off my clothes...
Chuck: Hey, somebody get some light over here, Trash is taking off her clothes again.

Song during Trash's dance: I once slept with the devil. It was really no big thrill.

Frank: International treaty, all skeletons come from India.
Freddy: No kidding, how come?
Frank: How the hell do I know how come? The important question is, where do they get all the skeletons with perfect teeth?

Suicide: You think this is a fuckin' costume? This is a *way of life.*

Casey: Hey, is that Freddy?
Chuck: Where?
Casey: Over there, going into that building.
Chuck: No. That is NOT Freddy.
Casey: How would you know?
Chuck: Because, why would Freddy be going into a mortuary?

Ernie Kaltenbrunner: What the hell is in those bags?
Burt Wilson: Rabid weasels.
Ernie Kaltenbrunner: What? What the hell are you doing with a bunch of rabid weasels?
Burt Wilson: That's what I was trying to explain to you, they came in as part of a shipment. Of course, they weren't supposed to be rabid.

Burt Wilson: One question, Frank... This guy screaming in here, you sure it's a dead cadaver?
Frank: Why don't you open the door and find out?
Burt Wilson: Eh, I'm sorry Frank, I'll take your word for that

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

Chuck: Hey, Casey, do you like sex with death?
Casey: Yeah, so fuck off and die.

Paramedic #1: You have no pulse, your blood pressure's zero-over-zero, you have no pupillary response, no reflexes and your temperature is 70 degrees.
Freddy: Well, what does that mean?
Paramedic #1: Well, it's a puzzle because, technically, you're not alive. Except you're conscious, so we don't know what it means.
Freddy: Are you saying we're dead?
Paramedic #2: Well, let's not jump to conclusions.
Freddy: Are you saying we're dead?
Paramedic #2: No conclusions.
Paramedic #1: Obviously I didn't mean you were really dead. Dead people don't move around and talk.

Burt Wilson: I don't know what there gonna do. They say they got some kind of contingency planned.
Spider: What kind of plan?

Zombie: Send... more... paramedics.

Casey: Chuck, I never did like you. Oh, but God, hold me tight

Freddy: You made me break my hand completely off, Tina.

[Burt is on the phone to the police squad captain]
Burt Wilson: Listen, there's a bunch of people from the cemetery who are stark, staring, mad, and they'll kill you and eat you if they catch you. It's like a disease. It's like rabies, only faster, a lot faster. That's why you've got to come and get us out of here now, right now.

Freddy: But I don't care darling, because I love you, and you've got to let me eat your brains.