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Return of the Living Dead |
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Return of the Living Dead
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by Hbo Home Video
Sales Rank: 24468
Price: $14.99
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"Do ya wanna party?" challenges the soundtrack to this freaky and funny reworking of George Romero's <I>Night of the Living Dead</I>. Paced to the beat of a pounding rock score, this comic flesh feast delivers both laughs and outlandish gore. No longer lumbering, moaning creatures, these lithe, feral, and cunning undead claw their way out of the cemetery and into the skulls of a human smorgasbord. They even master the art of home delivery: "Send more cops," croaks a corpse into a patrol car radio. Director Dan O'Bannon even takes pains to explain their motivation between the tributes to the granddaddy of zombie horrors ("Well, it worked in the movie!" screams James Karen when a pickax to the skull hardly phases a lively cadaver). Not that it really matters amid the gore and gallows humor, but it does add a kick to the cynically sinister climax. <I>--Sean Axmaker</I>
Viewer Reviews
There's a great scene in this movie that occurs approximately an hour and nineteen minutes into its runtime. Cranky character actor Clu Gulagher and a few obnoxious teenagers are trapped in his medical supply warehouse by brain-hungry zombies, and the only phone available is located in the warehouse's basement, the door of which is locked and guarded by a particularly ravenous zombie. After retrieving a baseball bat, old Clu instructs one of the kids to open the door and the others to stand back. The door swings open to admit a repulsive, shambling undead horror, its flesh rotted to an oozing, tar-like substance after decades of storage in a sealed container. A good hard swing from Gulagher knocks the thing's head clean off, and he and his young associates rush past it. About a decade ago, a good friend and I rewound and watched this scene over a dozen times. While it's not as hilarious to me now as it was when I was very drunk and in my late teens, I still can't watch this inspired bit of stupidity without laughing.
Writer/director Dan O'Bannon cut his teeth while collaborating with John Carpenter on the latter's quirky sci-fi/comedy debut, "Dark Star;" a few years later, he penned a script for an obscure movie that a few people have seen called "Alien." O'Bannon has worked sporadically over the past few decades, screen writing with occasional success, but this spin-off of George Romero's popular zombie movies is the only film in which he was able to convey his sick sense of humor and love of gore as he saw fit.
The result is impressive: "Return" is grotesque, cleverly plotted and very amusing, making the best of a tiny budget and third-rate cast. Hammy performances are abundant, and entirely appropriate for such a goofy script. Screen veteran Gulagher, who has plenty of experience in schlock productions, is particularly enjoyable to watch: when he calls a young punk "dick-brain," it's not unlike hearing your father when he's in a foul mood.
I can't fault the production design of this film. William Stout's effects are as excellent as they are vile, and it's clear that he shares O'Bannon's sensibilities in creating monsters that are equally comedic and repellant. This was clearly intended to be just another drive-in flick, and while I wouldn't call it a classic, it definitely ranks a cut above the average horror picture.
Like most of MGM's DVDs, this disc is double-sided, containing the 1.33:1 aspect ratio version of the film on one side and the original 1.85:1 version on the other. Language options include a hilarious Spanish dialogue dub, as well as English, French and Spanish subtitles. RotLD isn't a beautiful film by any means, but this edition's print looks just fine, and the sound mix isn't hard on the ears.
The special features are quite entertaining. Tobe Hooper was originally intended to direct "Return," and if you've heard the excellent commentary track that he recorded with Daniel Pearl and Gunnar Hansen for "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," rest assured that the commentary track voiced by O'Bannon and Stout on this disc is just about as detailed, informative and amusing. These two have plenty of stories to tell in regard to the production of this movie and many others! The disc's art gallery includes Stout's most recognizable storyboards and quite a lot of his production artwork, all of which is drawn in a comic book style and quite good. The "Designing the Dead" featurette consists of interviews with O'Bannon and Stout in which they explain circumstances involving the film's production in even more detail. This isn't really a necessary addition, but it's nice to see two rather underrated talents afforded some screen time. Theatrical trailers for both general and restricted audiences are included, as are well over a dozen TV spots, most of which differ only slightly from one another.
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Return of the Living Dead
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