Product Details

• Actors: David Bond, Don Calfa, Cathleen Cordell, James Dalesandro, Drew Deighan
• Directors: Dan O'Bannon
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• DVD Release Date: August 27, 2002
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (273 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000068IEV
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,199 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Horror > Things That Go Bump > Zombies

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
"Do ya wanna party?" challenges the soundtrack to this freaky and funny reworking of George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. Paced to the beat of a pounding rock score, this comic flesh feast delivers both laughs and outlandish gore. No longer lumbering, moaning creatures, these lithe, feral, and cunning undead claw their way out of the cemetery and into the skulls of a human smorgasbord. They even master the art of home delivery: "Send more cops," croaks a corpse into a patrol car radio. Director Dan O'Bannon even takes pains to explain their motivation between the tributes to the granddaddy of zombie horrors ("Well, it worked in the movie!" screams James Karen when a pickax to the skull hardly phases a lively cadaver). Not that it really matters amid the gore and gallows humor, but it does add a kick to the cynically sinister climax. --Sean Axmaker

Product Description
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the cemetery'those brain-eating zombies are back and hungry for more tasty mortals. A fiendish mix of outrageous humor and heart-stopping terror, The Return of the Living Dead is a veritable smorgasbord of fun (LA Herald-Examiner) filled with skin-crawling jolts, eye-popping visuals and relentless surprise! On his first day on the job at an army surplus store, poor Freddy unwittingly releases nerve gas from a secret U.S. military canister, unleashing an unbelievable terror. The gas re-animates a corps of corpses, who arise from their graves with a ravenous hunger for human brains! And luckily for those carnivorous cadavers, there is a group of partying teens nearby, just waiting to be eaten!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "It worked in the movie!", October 28, 2002

By	Michael R Gates (Nampa, ID United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Re-animated corpses, swearing, blood & gore, full-frontal female nudity, iconoclastic jabs at American culture, and lots of gallows humor--what more could a horror fan ask for?

Any genre fan who has a morbid sense of humor is sure to enjoy 1985's THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD. In the same vein as other tongue-in-cheek horror shtick such as the Chiodo Brothers' KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE and Sam Raimi's ARMY OF DARKNESS, this one's specifically a spoof of George Romero's classic and highly revered zombie film NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Director/Screenwriter Dan O'Bannon, probably best known for having penned the original ALIEN movie, does a fantastic job of lovingly poking fun at the Horror and SF genres while at the same time satirizing everything from the U.S. Military to Punk Rock. This movie is not only funny, it's got plenty o' "brains"!

And you can't beat the financial value of the DVD edition. Not only does it cost less than a lot of other full-length, widescreen DVD thrillers--including some that are hardly worth the plastic and aluminum it took to make 'em--but it also includes these cool extras: an optional audio commentary by O'Bannon and production designer William Stout; both the G-rated and R-rated theatrical trailers; over 5-minutes of various TV spots; some storyboard-like production stills; and a really cool "Designing the Dead" featurette, in which O'Bannon and Stout discuss the evolution of the final look and feel of the movie (lots of great shots of Stout's EC-Comics-like designs for the zombies offered in this one).

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic Horror Film Returns at Long Last!!!!!!, July 2, 2002

By	Jesse Baker (Wise, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After over a decade of being out of print (do to legal wrangling in regards to the film's punk rock soundtrack that is prominently featured throughout the film) the classic 1980s zombie film that turned heads with it's dark humor, witty script, and original zombie design is now available on DVD!

Freddy is a typical early 1980s punk rock fan who, on his first day at work at UNEEDA Medical Supply, learns that the movie "Night of the Living Dead" was based on an actual event involving zombies and that UNEEDA one day came into possession of one of the zombies which is now being held in a cylinder in the basement. A non-believing Freddy is shown the container just as it explodes, filling the supply company's building with a toxic green gas. The gas causes the sole human body in the body to come to life (as well as freeing the zombie from it's cylinder prison) and after failing to destroy the zombie the tradition way (cutting of it's head) they take it to the local crematorium to be cremated. Unfortunately this makes things MUCH, MUCH worse as the smoke laced with the toxic chemical mixes with storm clouds that rain down on the city at night and resurrecting the bodies buried inside the town's cemetary where ironically Freddy's fellow punk-friends are having a little party.

The kicker for Return of the Living Dead that makes it a classic film and makes it one of the most well loved zombie movies is the fact that the film's zombies aren't your typical movie zombie. They are smart (luring police to the crematorium after killing off several cops who come to investigate all of the strange activity going on), are fast and agressive instead of slow and dumb and the zombies have the most hilarious banter involving their thirst for brains that can have even the most squeemish movie viewer laughing.

Featuring a great punk rock sound-track and a great mix of humor and violence, this film has sadly been out of circulation for over a decade do to the it's punk soundtrack. Now it's back on the market on DVD. This is a must buy DVD for any true horror fan....

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THANK GOD IT'S FINALLY COMING BACK....FROM THE DEAD!!!, July 8, 2002

By	Justin Steen (Gap, PA United States) - See all my reviews

"How was your day,dear?" "Usual,crap." I love that line. This is my absolute favorite movie of all time and I am extatic to hear that is finally coming out on DVD. The reason why I love it so much...couldn't tell ya. It's just one of those movies that keep you forever. I loved it. It's a unique zombie flick. With the portrayal of younger adolescents, I think it gives the movie a certain edge that no other zombie, or any other horror film for that matter, has ever had. Past, present and I will boldy say future. With combinations of laughs, scares, and gore, it surpasses every horror movie ever made. The character of Suicide and Trash are my two favorites. Unfortuanately for me, they are the first two to be devoured by brain starved zombies. But I always looked at it this way, Trash got what she wanted..."A bunch of old men to surround me. And start bighting, and eating me alive." I see. Trust me, if you are an avid horror fanatic like myself and love zombie films, check this one out! And if you are in to Punk music at all, the soundtrack for the movie rocks. With bands like The Cramps, The Damned, The Flesheaters, and TSOL, you'll be in pure heaven...Or hell. Whichever you prefer! I give this movie 2 THUMBS UP...and one half eaten brain!!!