Reanimated Review: The Return Of The Living Dead
By Liam O'Leary
After one little accident, the dead return to feast on the living, or at least, their brains. It’s only the tip of the iceberg for this unique zombie movie.
The 80s. A time of big hair, cool music, and…talking zombies?
Hello, and welcome to my second Reanimated Review, where I review zombie movies. Today, our subject is none other than one of the 80s most famous contributions to the genre: The Return Of The Living Dead.
To be honest, the general plot of this movie is really pretty simple: A pair of workers at a medical supply warehouse accidentally puncture a canister containing a zombie, a green smoke escapes and infects everything in the warehouse, and, in trying to get rid of the results, end up reanimating all the tenants of the adjacent cemetery. Zombie-filled madness ensues.
While the plot may be simple, the way in which The Return Of The Living Dead presents it is what makes it stand out.
If you’ve ever seen or heard someone imitating a zombie and groan ‘Braaaiiins!’, you’ve seen the influence of The Return Of The Living Dead.
Firstly, the movie sets itself in a world where The Night Of The Living Dead not only exists as a movie (Unlike The Walking Dead universe) but, at the same time, as Frank (The worker who causes the outbreak) explains, was also based on a real event. What’s more, the movie is preceded by a fake disclaimer which states it, in fact, is based on true events.
Secondly, unlike many of entries in zombie media, Return doesn’t entirely take itself seriously. Frank and his young co-worker, Freddy, spend much of the movie wailing like hysterical idiots, the original zombie is an oily, smiling mess, and the next zombie we see is a bumbling formerly frozen cadaver.
Thirdly, and the most memorable feature of the Return series of movies: The zombies are intelligent and indestructible.
As soon as we meet the aforementioned “oily, smiling mess” pictured here, we learn that the dead can talk, as he utters the now iconic “Braaaiiins”.
But, that isn’t all they can say. After ::SPOILER ALERT:: Freddy finally succumbs to the green smokes’ effects and turns into a zombie himself, he begins insisting to his girlfriend, Tina, that if she loved him, she’d let him eat her brains.
However, what is the easily one of the best (And funniest) scenes displaying their intelligence, a zombie, after devouring a hapless paramedic sent to help Frank and Freddy, uses the radio to call in more paramedics. “Like he’s ordering delivery”, as my brother says.
This is not only a departure from things like The Night Of The Living Dead or The Walking Dead (Except for a few walkers in Season One, for some reason), but nearly every other zombie, where the dead display little to no intellect, and almost never speech.
Now the fourth and final interesting bit of presentation found in The Return Of The Living Dead is the fact the zombies have purpose.
Frankly, it’s weird to say it, but, it’s the best way I can put it.
As the number of zombies and their hostility increases, the survivors manage to capture a decrepit skeleton of a zombie and interrogate her. During this interrogation, she reveals that the zombies crave living brains because, like some other-worldly narcotic, it numbs the pain of death.
I can’t think of any other zombie movie I’ve seen that has anything even close to that. I just can’t.
Of course, what all of these fascinating aspects of Return’s presentation, as well as a few crucial scenes, have done is leave a surprisingly long impact on zombie media and pop culture in general.
zombies crave living brains because, like some other-worldly narcotic, it numbs the pain of death.
If you’re a fan of Resident Evil 2 or Resident Evil: Apocalypse, you’ll immediately recognize the police blockade scene as well as the movie’s climax. Both were clearly inspirations to the developers of RE2, as those scene are paid homage both in the game, as well as Apocalypse, which chronicles most of the game’s events.
However, the movie’s greatest contribution to the idea of zombies in general is their behavior. If you’ve ever seen or heard someone imitating a zombie and groan ‘Braaaiiins!’, you’ve seen the influence of The Return Of The Living Dead. It’s a testament to its prevalence that even now, 32 years later, people can still get the reference.
For a time, it even seemed like Return’s presentation of zombies was the going idea of how a zombie was supposed to behave. Had not the modern resurrection of zombies in pop culture come around with the renewed seriousness of movies like 28 Days Later and the remake of Dawn Of The Dead, galvanized further by the subsequent popularity of The Walking Dead, people may have been left seeing Return’s more campy approach as the standard for zombies.
The Return Of The Living Dead is something of a strange anomaly in zombie media. Today, where zombies are, arguably, more popular than ever, few entries seem to strike the same chord it does. Few have zombies that behave the way Return’s did or tackle zombies with quite the same mix of horror and humor. For fans of The Walking Dead, it can provide a window into what zombies would largely come to be seen as just before the revival, which spawned their favorite show, took place. That said, if they want to step outside of their comfort zone a bit, The Return Of The Living Dead is a great excursion to take.
Next: Reanimated Review: Train To Busan
Have you guys seen The Return Of The Living Dead? What did you think of it? If you haven’t seen it, would you like to? Let me know in the comments!
If you like this and want to find out my rules to survive the zombie apocalypse, why not pick up a copy of my book, The Rules: A Guide To Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse! You can get it on Kindle here and on iTunes here!