Synopsis
When foreman Frank shows new employee Freddy a secret military experiment in a supply warehouse in Louisville, Kentucky, the two klutzes accidentally release a gas that reanimates corpses into flesh-eating zombies. As the epidemic spreads throughout the town, and the creatures satisfy their hunger in gory and outlandish ways, Frank and Freddy fight to survive with the help of their boss and a mysterious mortician.
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Cast
- Clu GulagerBurt Wilson
- James KarenFrank
- Don CalfaErnie Kaltenbrunner
- Thom MathewsFreddy
- Miguel A. Núñez Jr.Spider
- Beverly RandolphTina
- Brian PeckScuz
- Jonathan TerryColonel Glover
- John PhilbinChuck
- Linnea QuigleyTrash
Recommendations
- 80
Empire
Essential, enormous fun. - 80
CineVue
The most commendable aspect of the The Return of the Living Dead is its ability to combine horror and comedy rather than allowing the different elements to become intermittent and the tone inconsistent. - 75
Chicago Sun-Times
Return is a movie with some nice, droll opening scenes and the obligatory horrible climax. It doesn't make the mistake of Day Of The Dead - talking too much. It's kind of a sensation-machine, made out of the usual ingredients, and the real question is whether it's done with style. It is. - 75
Slant Magazine
Suffice to say, this small offering from the horror genre is a hoot to watch, with never a dull moment. - 70
Time Out
Any film which features a dead, bald and very hungry punk lurching towards the camera screaming 'More Brains!' gets my vote. - 63
Miami Herald
The whole point is excess, and O'Bannon's good at getting to that point. But the film is so clearly meant for giggles that it packs nowhere near the emotional punch of one of Romero's, which are truly dreadful. [19 Aug 1985, p.D5] - 63
Washington Post
One problem is that the action in the film is restricted to a few basic locations; the medical supply house, a nearby cemetery and an adjoining mortuary. Romero made highly productive use of confinement. O'Bannon does not, but he does earn points with inventive gall, and there are enough lunatic thrills along the way to leave one with the giddy sensation of having been alternately scared silly and tickled even sillier. [19 Aug 1985, p.D1] - 60
Variety
Director Dan O’Bannon deserves considerable credit for creating a terrifically funny first half-hour of exposition, something in which he is greatly aided by the goofball performance of James Karen as a medical supply know-it-all.
