Sartre states at the end of Les Mots, that the dead will remain with us for as long as humanity walks the earth. He was partially correct when one considers the longevity and impact of the zombie genre.
In the mid-80s before The Walking Dead, but after Night of the Living Dead, Dan O’Bannon directed this incredibly fun film. This was O’Bannon’s debut as a director, but a newcomer to film he was not. He was heavily involved in the production of Dark Star (1974), where he co-wrote both the story and screenplay with John Carpenter. He also served as the special effects supervisor on the film. In 1977 he would also work as a computer animator on Star Wars: A New Hope. What he is most well-known for is as screenplay writer for Alien (1979), which evolved into a juggernaut of a media franchise (which we’ll discuss in another post in the future). Some of his later writing credits included: Heavy Metal (Soft Landing and B-17)(1981), Dead & Buried (1981), Total Recall (1991), and Screamers (1995).
Back to Return of the Living Dead though. We have to rewind a bit to the early 1960s and to a gentleman by the name of John A. Russo. Russo had written a rough draft for a story about some flesh eating ghouls for The Latent Image, a small film studio owned by George A. Romero and Russell Streiner. Romero liked the idea and rewrote the story into screenplay for Night of the Living Dead (1968). After the film’s release Russo retained the rights over any sequels or titles with the words “Living Dead” in them. Romero went on to create numerous sequels to the zombie franchise, but with different titles like, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Land of the Dead, etc.
Russo wanted to do the same and first wrote a novel by the name of Return of the Living Dead, which is pretty much a sequel to Night of the Living Dead (don’t worry, they have a very novel way of explaining it in the movie). By the early 1980s he was shopping around for partners to adapt it into a film. Dan O’Bannon was offered the directing duties after Tobe Hooper split to go make Lifeforce. This was a blessing in disguise, since O’Bannon did an amazing job with this film.
Return of the Living Dead was different from other zombie movies of the time and introduced talking zombies who ate brains (yup, this is where zombies started yelling “braaaaains”), as opposed to Romero’s purely flesh eating zombies. These zombies could also move fast and were a bit more intelligent. Nor was it as serious and somber as Romero’s take on zombies and displayed some morbid humor. That being said, this film is not for children, as it is very violent and has some nude scenes in it (Linnea Quigley dancing naked in a graveyard is to this day permanently etched into the retinas of many).
That does not mean that the movie should not be viewed as a subpar movie. It has a very decent plot and the dialogue is written and performed quite well. This film screams 80s in look and feel, with teenage punk rockers running around an old warehouse and a cemetery (making it the first punk horror movie). It also boasts a very impressive soundtrack by hard rock luminaries The Cramps, The Damned, Tall Boys and SSQ. The film has aged very well, even when considering that it boasts no CGI. Yes, everything was done by hand and it is still scary. The analogue puppetry in this movie is probably the best you will ever see, bar the ones in Guillermo Del Toro’s films.
The film has gained a cult following over the last 30 odd years and has spawned no less than four sequels, a documentary, and a smattering of fantastic comics written by Russo for Avatar Press. The sequels, however, do not have the same staying power as the original, nor are they as fun.
This is a must watch for fans of the zombie and horror genre, and is according to this author one of the best zombie films ever made. Perfect viewing for Halloween.
Watch the trailer here:
