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'Return of the Living Dead'
Directed by	Dan O'Bannon
Produced by	Tom Fox Graham Henderson
Written by	Screenplay: Dan O'Bannon Story: Rudy Ricci John A. Russo Russell Streiner
Starring	Clu Gulager James Karen Don Calfa Thom Mathews Beverly Randolph
Music by	Matt Clifford Francis Haines
Cinematography	Jules Brenner
Editing by	Robert Gordon
Distributed by	Orion Pictures Corporation
Release date(s)	August 16, 1985
Running time	91 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$4,000,000 (estimated)
Preceded by	Night of the Living Dead
Followed by	Return of the Living Dead Part II
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Return of the Living Dead is a zombie horror film that was released in 1985 and was followed by several sequels.

The film came about out of a dispute between John Russo and George A. Romero over how to handle sequels to their 1968 film, Night of the Living Dead. The two reached a settlement wherein Romero's sequels would be referred to as the Dead movies, and Russo's sequels would bear the suffix Living Dead.^{[citation needed]} Thus, each man was able to do what he pleased with the series, while still having one another's work distinct and be considered canon. Following this decision, Russo wrote a horror novel, Return of the Living Dead, which he planned on adapting into a film script. Although the film rights were initially sold in 1979, they were passed along by several different studios and directors before finally being obtained by Tobe Hooper, for whom Dan O'Bannon was hired to write a script. Hooper dropped out of the project instead to focus on the production of another feature.

Following Hooper's departure from the project, Dan O'Bannon was hired to direct the film based on his original Hooper script (with Russo adapting it into an accompanying novel), also titled The Return of the Living Dead. This project alleviated confusion amongst fans of Romero's work by including a scene in which a character acknowledges the George Romero films and explains that while they are based on true events, the events of the Return series are the "true story." In addition to this separation of the storylines, the films in the Return series are markedly more comedy based than Romero's films, employing "splatstick" style morbid humor and eccentric dialogue. The film also boasted a great deal of nudity, in marked contrast to Romero's work.

Although Russo and O'Bannon were only directly involved with the first film in the series, the rest of the films, to varying degrees, stick to their outline and "rules" established in the first film.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 The Zombies 4 Soundtrack 5 DVD Release 6 References 7 External links

Medical supply warehouse foreman Frank (James Karen) informs his new protégé, Freddy (Thom Matthews) that Night of the Living Dead was a true story, based on events that occurred when a gas (2-4-5 Trioxin) was released into the morgue in the basement of a Pittsburgh VA hospital. The military was able to get a handle on the situation and clean up the spill and the resulting zombies. The story was leaked and the military said the movie, NotLD could be made but they had to change the story around and say it was fictional. Through a clerical error, a few barrels of the Trioxin, complete with dead bodies, where shipped to the warehouse and have remained there for years. A skeptical Freddy doesn't buy it, so Frank takes him to the basement and shows him the barrels. Inside the barrel they see the mummified remains of the zombie and Freddy is scared about the barrels durability. Frank "reassures" him of the solid military construction of the barrels, slapping it on the side, causing a leak of the gas, poisoning and knocking out the two as we see the glass on the lid break open and the zombie start to "liquefy" and return to as Tarman (Allan Trautman).

While this is happening, Freddy's girlfriend, Tina, and her friends are going to pick up Freddy from the warehouse. They arrive early and in an effort to pass the time, decide to hang out in the cemetery that is next door. Time passes and Freddy and Frank awaken, not knowing that the zombie inside the canister has escaped. They head upstairs to try and sort things out only to hear a strange noise coming from one of the shelves. Upon investing, they find out that the half-dog anatomy display has returned to life, the dog whimpering in pain and panting. Freddy and Frank proceed to freak out and attempt to silence the dog by bashing it with a walking crutch (causing the dog to make a yelping noise). The other things in the warehouse, such as the dead butterfly display, have returned to life, culminating in the screams of the now reanimated cadaver in the freeze. After several minutes of panic, the two decide to call their boss, Bert (Clu). The three devise a plan to try and stop the zombie based on the method that worked in NothLD: bash it in the head. Upon opening the freezer, the cadaver runs for Bert and after managing it to the ground with help from Freddy, he staples it to the floor with a pick axe to the head. The zombie however is still moving and so they decide to take it over to the mortuary next door and see Bert's old friend Ernie (Don) and have it cremated.

Meanwhile, back in the cemetery, night has fallen and the gang of kids are listening to music and talking amongst themselves. Tina is worried about Freddy as he should've been off work by now. She leaves the group to go investigate. Mean while, the discussion turns to death and imagining the worst possible way to die. Trash, the pink haired female of the group, imagines the worst way for her to die is to be surrounded by a bunch of old men and they start biting her all over her body (an unknowing premonition of her eventual fate). As she says this, she is ripping off her own clothes and begins to dance in only pink leg warmers atop a grave. Back at the warehouse, we see Tina trying to find Freddy. She makes her way downstairs and is greeted by the dripping Tarman zombie who asks for one thing, "Brains!" Tina, trying to escape back up the stairs, loses her footing as one of the steps breaks and she stumbles as the shambling zombie tries to get her. She escapes to a metal locker, barring the door from within but the Tarman hooks up a winching chain to the door and proceeds to use the winch to pull the door off. At the mortuary, as the furnace starts up, we see that the burning is releasing the gas from the zombie into the clouds and this causes it to rain. The rain, contaminated with the Trioxin, forces the gang out of the cemetery to their car. They mention how the rain burns their skin. The car's convertible roof starts to leak, so they run to take refuge inside the warehouse. Upon entering, they hear Tina's screams from the basement and rush to help. Seeing the door slowly being pulled off the locker, but not being able to see who is doing it, they push back the blocking rag only to have Tarman turn yelling "More brains!" and biting the top of the closest ones skull. Tina escapes the locker and runs to join her friends as the escape the basement. Fleeing the Tarman and the warehouse, they make a run for the cemetery. During this time, the rain has been seeping into the ground and as a result, into the coffins of the corpses, causing them to reanimate. As the group takes refuge at the entrance to a mausoleum, they can hear the muffled screams and poundings of the dead under the earth. As they listen, the spot the skeletal remains of a corpse, rising from the ground, its eyes opening and jaw dropping. The group then proceeds to run and split up, Tina and two others heading for the mortuary, two heading for the warehouse, and Trash stumbling naked into the graveyard. She falls into a muddle of muddy water, panicked and crying, only to be surrounded by a group of undead males who proceed to eat her.

During this time at the mortuary, Frank and Freddy are starting to feel very sick and are looking deathly ill. Ernie calls the paramedics. Tina and her two friends they show up claiming that there are bodies getting up out of the ground in the cemetery. The paramedics arrive at the rear entrance and find that for all medical reasoning, Frank and Freddy are dead and shouldn't be moving around. The paramedics want to get them to the hospital for further testing and go to get the stretcher and report in to the dispatch. They are subsequently attacked by the zombies from the graveyard who proceed to request that the dispatch "send more paramedics." The mortuary is then attacked by the zombies at the front of the building the group of people start to board up the place. After all is said and done, they hear the second ambulance arriving and are witness to is instant mobbing and attack by the zombies. One of the boarded windows in the storage room is attacked and needs to be re-enforced and during this, one of the teens is killed but Ernie manages to snag the zombie that did it and subdue her. They take her back to the embalming room and tie her down and ask her questions. She is able to respond as a normal person would, despite not having a lower half and suffering from decades of rot and decay. Ask why they attack and feed on the flesh of the living, she corrects Ernie and says "not flesh, BRAINS!" When asked why brains, she tells them it is the only thing that stops the pain of death leading Ernie to the conclusion "Apparently it hurts to be dead."

All hell breaks loose: Cops have been sent to investigate the two ambulances not reporting in and are attacked. The zombies radio to "send more cops." Frank and Freddy are slowly becoming zombies and are moved to the chapel area to be sealed in for. Tina stays with Freddy who dies and reanimates and tries to attack her. She screams for help and the others come to help. Freddy has acid splashed in his eyes and they manage to lock him into the chapel. Frank mean while, before becoming a shambling zombie makes his way to cremation furnace and burns himself. It is decided the only way they are going to be able to get help is to try to escape in the cop car. Burt and Spider make a run of the car and are able to get in and move it to the door of the mortuary, however the quickly become surrounded by zombies and must leave without the two. They are able to make their way to the warehouse so they can try to phone the police to warn them of the situation. The police have set up a blockade around the area of the cemetery and send in a bunch of squad cars which are directed into the scene by a zombie wearing the cop’s rain gear. Those cars are attacked and it is witnessed by the chopper overhead saying they were swarmed by a mob of some kind. At the warehouse, Casey and Chuck, who had escaped there earlier, greet Burt and Spider and say they trapped a zombie in the office where the phone was so Bert suggested the one in the basement but the teens tell him about Tarman. Bert says they have to try for the basement and the devised to knock the zombies head off with a bat as they open the door. This allows them the time they need to get down safely. Bert proceeds to call the police and ask to speak to the person in charge of the blockade. As they are connected, the zombies rush the blockade and we see the commander taken down by a now zombified Trash.

Disheartened by the noises from the phone, Bert calls the number of the side of the barrel. He is connected to a general in who gets some information from Bert about location, time of occurrence, number of zombies, etc. Bert is then transferred again and explains to the teens that apparently the army has been expecting something like this to happen for a long time and have a plan in place to deal with it. Back at the mortuary, Ernie and Tina have escaped to the attic area as Freddy breaks out of the chapel screaming for Tina's brain. He proceeds to attempt to break in, talking the whole time to Tina about being able to smell her brain and how he is damaging himself to get it. The general is connected to an artillery post and provide coordinates and clearance to launch a nuclear shell at the location of the cemetery. All of these scenes culminate with the sound of the shell being fired, Bert still on hold, Freddy breaking into the attic, the zombies standing and starring at the sky, a long whistle of a bomb falling, and finally a shot of a small nuclear explosion. The film ends with the general stating to his superior officers that the strike seems to have been successful and that reports are coming in of the only side effects been a little acid rain. The general assures his superiors that this won't affect the president’s trip to Louisville at all. We are then taken to a scene of a darkened cemetery and a skeletal zombie rising from its grave.

Actor	Role
Clu Gulager	Burt Wilson
James Karen	Frank
Don Calfa	Ernie Kaltenbrunner
Thom Mathews	Freddy
Beverly Randolph	Tina
John Philbin	Chuck
Jewel Shepard	Casey
Miguel A. Núñez Jr.	Spider
Brian Peck	Scuz
Linnea Quigley	Trash
Mark Venturini	Suicide
Jonathan Terry	Colonel Glover
Allan Trautman	Tarman

The zombies in this movie differ from those in Night of the Living Dead. Return's interpretation of zombies have influenced cultural interpretations of zombies, particularly with regard to their hunger for brains and their constant vocalization of this hunger.

• They are fast and can run
• They are as strong and intelligent as they were in their previous life, and they can also speak sometimes
• They can form words despite their physical degradation
• Instead of hunting humans for their flesh, they hunt for the humans' brains, stating that only their consumption eases the pain of being dead.
• It appears that injuries to their brains do not have any effect and the only way to fully destroy them is to cremate their bodies, although the ensuing smoke spreads the contagious gas.

Most of the zombies in this movie were created due to exposure to the 2-4-5 Trioxin chemical in either gas form or liquid form, however like Romero's zombies, these zombies can create other zombies through biting a living person. This is evidenced by the character of Trash returning as a zombie after being attacked by a group of zombies. Some believe Trash was turned into a zombie due to her exposure to the Trioxin-laden rain, however if this were the case, the rest of her friends would have also turned in to zombies as they were exposed to the toxic rain as well.

It is interesting to note, however, that none of the other characters who were bitten/had their brains eaten, were shown to return as zombies. This makes it unclear as to why just Trash returned after being attacked and no one else. The scene where the cadaver zombie has a pick axe run through his head would seem to indicate that the "Return" zombies don't need a brain to be active, so those who had their brains eaten technically could've/should've returned.

1. "Surfin' Dead" - The Cramps
2. "Party Time" - 45 Grave
3. "Nothing For You" - T.S.O.L.
4. "Eyes Without A Face" - The Flesh Eaters
5. "Burn The Flames" - Roky Erickson
6. "Dead Beat Dance" - The Damned
7. "Take A Walk" - Tall Boys
8. "Love Under Will" - Jet Black Berries
9. "Tonight (We'll Make Love Until We Die)" - SSQ
10. "Trash's Theme" - SSQ

The film was originally released on DVD in 2002 with a commentary by O'Bannon and a documentary on the making of the film. On September 11, 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 [1].

[2] DVD art for MGM's new release.

• The Return of the Living Dead at the Internet Movie Database
• The Return of the Living Dead at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Return of the Living Dead at Box Office Mojo
• Uneeda-A-Medical Supply: A Comprehensive Return Of The Living Dead Site

v • d • e The Living Dead series
George A. Romero/ John A. Russo film	Night of the Living Dead
Romero's Dead films	Dawn of the Dead  • Day of the Dead  • Land of the Dead  • Diary of the Dead
Russo's Living Dead films	The Return of the Living Dead  • Part II  • 3  • Necropolis  • Rave from the Grave
Dead Series remakes	Night of the Living Dead (1990)  • Dawn of the Dead (2004)  • Day of the Dead (2008)
Notable spoofs/parodies	Night of the Living Bread  • Shaun of the Dead
Unofficial/alternate sequels and remakes	Children of the Living Dead  • Day of the Dead 2: Contagium  • Night of the Living Dead 3D (2006)  • Zombi 2 and its sequels
Related Topics	Characters  • Return of the Living Dead (book)  • Trioxin  • Tarman

v • d • e American films of the 1980s
1980 •1981 •1982 •1983 •1984 •1985 •1986 •1987 •1988 •1989