The Return of the Living Dead

This article is about the 1985 film. For other uses, see The Return of the Living Dead (disambiguation).

The Return of the Living Dead
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Dan O'Bannon
Screenplay by	Dan O'Bannon
Story by	Rudy Ricci John Russo Russell Streiner
Produced by	Tom Fox
Starring	Clu Gulager James Karen Don Calfa
Cinematography	Jules Brenner
Edited by	Robert Gordon
Music by	Matt Clifford
Production companies	Hemdale Film Corporation Fox Films, Ltd. Cinema '84
Distributed by	Orion Pictures
Release date	August 16, 1985 (1985-08-16)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3-4 million
Box office	$14.2 million

The Return of the Living Dead is a 1985 American satirical comedy horror film written and directed by Dan O'Bannon (in his directorial debut) from a story by Rudy Ricci, John Russo, and Russell Streiner, and starring Clu Gulager, James Karen, Thom Mathews, and Don Calfa. The film tells the story of how a warehouse owner, accompanied by his two employees, mortician friend and a group of teenage punks, deal with the accidental release of a horde of unkillable, brain-hungry zombies onto an unsuspecting town.

The film, described as a "mordant punk comedy," is known for introducing multiple popular concepts to the zombie genre: zombies specifically eating brains, as opposed to eating any form of human flesh, and zombies being vulnerable to a gunshot to the head. Additionally, the film's soundtrack was noteworthy, as it featured several Los Angeles-based deathrock and punk rock bands of the era.

The Return of the Living Dead released in the United States on August 16, 1985, by Orion Pictures. The film received mostly positive reviews and performed moderately well at the box office. It spawned four sequels, with a fifth one in development. The original film has been regarded as a cult classic to zombie fans.

Plot

On July 3, 1984, at the Uneeda Medical Supply Warehouse in Louisville, Kentucky, foreman Frank tries to impress new employee Freddy by showing him military drums of a toxic gas called Trioxin. The drums wound up in the basement of the building due to a delivery error years before. While hitting the side of a drum to prove it is secure, Frank accidentally unleashes the toxic gas, which seemingly melts the cadaver inside and reanimates another cadaver stored in a meat locker. The gas also reanimates other preserved specimens throughout the warehouse. Joined by their boss Burt, the three try, to no avail, to kill the reanimated corpse by puncturing the brain, then dismembering the body. They discover that every part of the zombie's body can survive independently. Burt has the zombie incinerated at a nearby mortuary crematorium by his friend Ernie.

Meanwhile, Freddy's girlfriend Tina and his friends Spider, Trash, Chuck, Casey, Scuz and Suicide arrive at the cemetery across from the warehouse to wait for Freddy to finish work. While Trash starts stripping and dancing on a gravestone, the smoke from the cremated corpse carries Trioxin into the atmosphere. A thunderstorm returns the chemical to earth as toxic rain, reanimating the corpses in the nearby cemetery.

The zombies emerge from their graves and attack the group. Suicide is killed, and the survivors scatter. Tina flees to the warehouse, where she encounters the reanimated, horribly disfigured cadaver from the basement, later nicknamed "Tarman." The rest of the group arrives shortly after and saves her in the nick of time. After Casey realizes she saw Freddy entering the mortuary, Chuck and Casey return to the warehouse while Spider, Tina and Scuz make their way to the mortuary through the cemetery, fighting off the re-emerging zombies as they go. Trash, her body submerged in the chemical-laden mud, rises from her grave transformed into a zombie and begins to hunt and feed.

At the mortuary, the three discover Frank and Freddy growing ill from their exposure to the gas and call for paramedics, who determine that the men are technically dead despite remaining conscious. When Burt and Ernie learn that the dead are rising from their graves, they barricade the mortuary. Scuz is killed while helping defend the barricade, and the zombies overwhelm and devour the paramedics and police officers who arrive on the scene. The group manages to capture the upper half of one of the zombies and restrain her on the mortuary table. She explains that the reanimated corpses can feel themselves rotting, and eating the brains of the living helps relieve the pain of being dead.

With Frank and Freddy showing signs of becoming zombies themselves, Burt has them locked in the chapel, accompanied by Tina when she refuses to abandon Freddy. Freddy soon attempts to eat Tina, prompting Burt, Ernie and Spider to rescue her by reopening the chapel and blinding Freddy with a strong acid. Frank manages to escape during the chaos and, still having control over his mind, commits suicide by climbing into the cremator.

Burt and Spider flee the mortuary in a police car but are forced back by the overwhelming number of zombies, now led by Trash. They eventually regroup with Chuck and Casey at the warehouse after escaping Tarman. Burt attempts to contact the police, only to learn they have been massacred after being overrun. He then decides to call the number on the military drums, which reaches military officer Colonel Glover. Notified that the zombies have taken over the area, Glover orders the town destroyed by nuclear artillery on the morning of July 4, apparently killing Burt and the remaining survivors.

In the wake of the nuclear strike on Louisville, Colonel Glover tells his commanding officer that everything went as planned and that the results could not be more positive. Only a small area was destroyed, he says, and casualties are limited. Unbeknownst to him, however, fires from the nuclear explosion release Trioxin into the atmosphere just as the crematorium had, now over a much wider area. As he speaks, toxic rain begins falling once more, and zombies are heard screaming in their graves, indicating that the invasion is about to begin again.

Cast

• Clu Gulager as Burt Wilson
• James Karen as Frank Johnson
• Don Calfa as Ernie Kaltenbrunner
• Thom Mathews as Freddy Hanscom
• Beverly Randolph as Tina
• Miguel A. Núñez Jr. as "Spider"
• John Philbin as Chuck
• Jewel Shepard as Casey
• Brian Peck as "Scuz"
• Linnea Quigley as "Trash"
• Mark Venturini as "Suicide"
• Jonathan Terry as Colonel Horace Glover
• Cathleen Cordell as Ethel Glover, Colonel's Wife
• Drew Deighan as Jerry, The Paramedic
• James Dalesandro as Tom, The Paramedic
• Robert Libman as Tac Squad Captain
• Derrick Brice as Gunnery Sergeant Jefferson
• Allan Trautman as Tarman Zombie
• Terrence Houlihan as Yellow Cadaver Zombie
• Jerome Coleman as Legless Corpse Zombie
• Cherry Davis as The Voice of The Female Torso Zombie
• John Durbin as The Zombie Who Calls for More Paramedics
• David Bond as The Zombie Who Calls for More Cops

Production

Concept

The Return of the Living Dead has its roots in a novel by John Russo, simply titled Return of the Living Dead, which served as a follow-up to Night of the Living Dead (1968) which Russo co-scribed with George A. Romero. When Russo and Romero parted ways after Night of the Living Dead, Russo retained the rights to any titles featuring Living Dead while Romero was free to create his own series of sequels, beginning with Dawn of the Dead (1978). Russo and producer Tom Fox planned to bring Return of the Living Dead to the screen in 3D and directed by Tobe Hooper.

"I spent 37 years of my life not even being alive. Now I'm fulfilled."

— Dan O'Bannon, on marking his directorial-debut.

When Hemdale Film Corporation experienced difficulty raising funds for the movie and delayed the start of production, Hooper backed out to make Lifeforce (1985). Lifeforce co-screenwriter Dan O'Bannon was then brought in to give the early script a polish and was offered the director's seat, becoming his "first big film". He accepted on the condition he could rewrite the film radically so as to differentiate it from Romero's films. The film was the first production design credit for William Stout. The appearance of the zombies in the film was inspired by the mummies of Guanajuato, Mexico and the Bog People of Wales, as well as artwork from EC Comics.

The story's featured "2-4-5 Trioxin" chemical developed by the "Darrow Chemical Company" for the military was a play on the real-life Dow Chemical Company and its involvement in the 1960s with the manufacture of Agent Orange, scientifically known by the name "2,4,5-T Dioxin" and used in the US Military's Operation Ranch Hand and on Canada's CFB Gagetown Canadian Forces Base in rural New Brunswick during the Vietnam War as a powerful defoliant. Return of the Living Dead makes up a lighter purpose for the chemical's usage, with character Frank suggesting that it was being sprayed on cannabis crops in the 1960s.

Filming

Although the movie is set in Louisville, Kentucky, it was filmed in Burbank, Sylmar, and Downtown Los Angeles in California. The "Tarman" zombie is performed by actor and puppeteer Allan Trautman.

Release

The Return of the Living Dead was initially set to open in Los Angeles and New York in September 1984 before gradually expanding through October, but following positive test screenings, Orion Pictures became confident enough to give it a wide release on August 16 1985.

Reception

The Return of the Living Dead was a moderate critical and a box office success, grossing approximately $14,237,000 domestically on an estimated budget of about $4 million.

The film holds a 71% approval rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes based on 117 reviews. Its consensus reads: "The Return of the Living Dead is a gleefully grotesque horror-comedy, though its broad performances and cheap thrills sometimes detract from its sharper moments." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 66 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. It was also nominated for four Saturn Awards, including Best Horror Film, Best Actor for James Karen, Best Director and Best Make-up, by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.

Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, writing that the film is "kind of a sensation-machine, made out of the usual ingredients, and the real question is whether it's done with style. It is." Stephen Holden of The New York Times called the film a "mordant punk comedy," and stated that it "is by no means the ultimate horror movie it aspires to be."

Colin Greenland reviewed The Return of the Living Dead for White Dwarf, and stated that "The movie sprawls shapelessly but comfortably, with plenty of gruesome jokes."

Rotten Tomatoes lists the film on its 100 Best Zombie Movies, Ranked by Tomatometer.

Soundtrack

Main article: The Return of The Living Dead (soundtrack)

1. "Surfin' Dead" by The Cramps
2. "Partytime (Zombie Version)" by 45 Grave
3. "Nothin' for You" by T.S.O.L.
4. "Eyes Without a Face" by The Flesh Eaters
5. "Burn the Flames" by Roky Erickson
6. "Dead Beat Dance" by The Damned
7. "Take a Walk" by Tall Boys
8. "Love Under Will" by Jet Black Berries
9. "Tonight (We'll Make Love Until We Die)" by SSQ
10. "Trash's Theme" by SSQ
11. "Young, Fast Iranians" by The F.U.’s: 1991 Hemdale version and subsequent DVD and Blu-ray Releases, though not on official soundtrack album.
12. "Partytime (Single Version)" by 45 Grave: Version actually used in the film, though not on official soundtrack album.
13. "Panzer Rollen in Afrika vor" by Norbert Schultze: Song playing on Ernie's walkman, though not on official soundtrack album.

Home video

The Return of the Living Dead was first released on Betamax and VHS by Thorn EMI HBO Video in 1986.

The Return of the Living Dead was originally released on DVD in the U.K. by Tartan Home Video in 2001. Up until 2012, this was the only time it had been issued in its original form. In early 2002, a fan-led online campaign was started, which attracted the attention of the director and many of the cast and crew. Several of them commented online that the popular and robust efforts of campaign organizer, Michael Allred, were the direct result of not only the DVD release but that MGM created new supplements due to overwhelming fan support.

In 2002, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the owner of Orion Pictures, released a Special Edition DVD in the U.S. with a new cut of the movie (with music alterations due to copyright issues) with a commentary by O'Bannon and a documentary on the making of the film. The cover of the DVD case for the 2002 release glows in the dark. In 2007, a Collector's Edition of the film was released with additional extra features involving the cast. The different home video releases have featured different soundtracks, often changing the songs used. Also, the basement zombie's ("Tar-Man") voice was altered. Originally, the zombie had a higher, raspier voice that can still be heard in the end credits montage, theatrical trailers and releases that contain the original audio.

A 25th anniversary edition was released in 2010, exclusively for Blu-ray Disc. The Blu-ray Disc version is a 2-disc combo pack with both a Blu-ray Disc and DVD. This release was very similar to the MGM/Fox print from three years earlier.

In 2012, Second Sight Films in the UK released DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions of the film where the original audio and soundtrack in its original form can be selected, the first time since 2001 a release has had this option. The release had its first insight into the movie with the inclusion on a booklet (claimed to be based on Ernie's notes from the events of the film) which was edited from Gary Smart and Christian Seller's publication The Complete History of The Return of the Living Dead.

Scream Factory released a 30th anniversary Collector's Edition Blu-Ray in 2016. It contains a new 2K scan of the interpositive, along with including the original mono audio. Though note while everything else was restored (the original "Tar-Man" voice and the other songs), the song "Dead Beat Dance" by The Damned could not be restored. MGM also released another edition with hand-drawn cover art.

In 2022, Scream Factory released a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release featuring a "2022 4K scan of the original camera negative" and all the content from the previous 2016 Blu-ray release.

On October 13, 2025, Arrow released a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray in the UK. While most songs are intact, "Dead Beat Dance" by The Damned has been replaced.

External links

• The Return of the Living Dead at IMDb
• The Return of the Living Dead at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• The Return of the Living Dead at Box Office Mojo
• The Return of the Living Dead at the British Board of Film Classification
• The Return of the Living Dead at the British Film Institute (or earlier archived version)