The Horror Time Capsule - 1985: Return of the Living Dead

WHIMSICAL

Return of the Living Dead: Whimsical

Moving along to 1985 I'm picking one of my horror guilty pleasures. While I'm a little "zombified" by zombies and the undead in general, one film really holds a special place in my heart, and while I do love the Romero Trilogy of Night, Dawn, and Dead, there is nothing like the fun and all out insanity of "Return of the Living Dead."

It's weird to talk about "Return of the Living Dead" when I could have easily picked "Dawn of the Dead" for 1985, but who really wants to hear about the message George Romero was trying to make about the evil of capitalism, that's all been done before. What I want to talk about are goofy government conspiracies, graveyard stripping, a mortician who might be a Nazi, and of course talking zombies.

"Return" is the tale of government foul-ups and cover-ups. When a toxin is release by two bumbling chemical warehouse workers it awakens the dead from a nearby cemetery which ruins the time of a group of punk rockers who are partying in said cemetery. That's pretty much all you need to know about this film, that, and it's tons of fun.

While "Night" and "Dawn" relied on practical horror and a message of social change, "Return" is the Id of those films. There is blood, boobs, and more blood. There is also the first concept and idea that zombies enjoy to not just munch on flesh, but also "brains." This plot point is revealed by a talking zombie.

There should be so many things that bother me about this film. One, the zombies talk. Two, the characters are goofy and whiny. And three, my cardinal sin, the zombies RUN. This, to my knowledge, is the first example of running zombies, but I'll give it a pass considering the goofy nature of this film.

 Here are some other oldies but goodies from '85:

Cat’s Eye
Day of the Dead
Fright Night
Friday the 13th Pt 5
Ghoulies
Lifeforce
Nightmare of Elm Street 2
Silver Bullet