The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 30
Fresh: 27 | Rotten: 3
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 1
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 0
liked it
Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 54,058
Movie Info
Middle-aged family man Frank (Jim Karen) trains teenaged Freddy (Thom Matthews) for his new job at a medical supply warehouse. In an effort to impress and frighten his young charge, practical joker Frank reveals that the warehouse basement contains a cannister full of a mysterious chemical capable of bringing the dead back to life. It seems that the cannister fell off the back of an army truck during an accidental outbreak of zombiedom. Frank and Freddy unwittingly inhale the chemical and
Jan 1, 1985 Wide
Aug 27, 2002
HBO Video
Cast
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Clu Gulager
Burt -
James Karen
Frank -
Don Calfa
Ernie -
Beverly Randolph
Tina -
John Philbin
Chuck -
Linnea Quigley
Trash -
Jewel Shepard
Casey -
Miguel A. Núñez Jr.
Spider -
Brian Peck
Scuz -
Mark Venturini
Suicide -
Jonathan Terry
Col. Glover -
Cathleen Cordell
Colonel's Wife -
Robert J. Bennett
Headless Tarman -
David Bond
Radio Corpse -
Michael Crabtree
Riot Cop -
Robert Craighead
Cop -
James Dalesandro
Paramedic -
Cherry Davis
1/2 Lady Corpse -
John Durbin
Radio Corpse -
Ed Krieger
Riot Cop -
Thom Matthews
Freddy -
Alexandre Trauner
Tarman -
Derrick Brice
Gunnery Sergeant -
Paul Cloud
Cop -
Jerome "Daniels" Coleman
Legless Corpse -
Drew Deighan
Paramedic -
Leigh Drake
Dispatcher -
Terrence M. Houlihan
Yellow Cadaver -
Bob Libman
Tac Squad Captain -
John Stuart West
Riot Cop -
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All Critics (35) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (27) | Rotten (3) | DVD (26)
For pure eighties, punk rock, walking dead, brain eating mayhem, this is the film to watch.
this overnight zombie apocalypse is a tongue-in-cheek brainload of hard-rocking fun.
Bastard Son of a Prodigal Son: Interview on The Complete History of The Return of the Living Dead
Ed O'Bannon and John Russo may have intended The Return of the Living Dead as a comedy, but it's just too damn gory, too scary and too good to be dismissed as a zom com.
An amusing, punk variation on the familiar zombie theme.
Equal parts horror and comedy, Return of the Living Dead finds success on both fronts.
Effectively announces itself as a horror movie deliberately pitted against customary cinematic values.
A tongue-in-cheek, splatter-laden homage to George A. Romero's zombie pictures.
A fresh and immensely entertaining take on the zombie genre
It's a shame that the franchise went straight to Campsville, because it had a good start.
The definitive splatterpunk movie. Takes perverse delight in being disgusting. Dan O'Bannon's screenplay hits your funny bone with a meathook and doesn't let go.
A funny, gore-spattered homage.
Great re-interpretation of the Romero series. Scary in its hopelessness, funny in its extremity.
A beauty of a cult classic.
Turns a satirical eye on Reagan's hawkish heart, the sprung logic of Italian zombie movies, and John Hughes' brat-pack films.
impressively ornate yet extremely cheesy
This isn't a sequel - it's a reinventing of how zombies had been seen on the screen
Audience Reviews for The Return of the Living Dead
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Radio Corpse: Come in dispatch. Send more paramedics.
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- Casey: (talking to Burt) Mister, don't go in there. See, there's a thing in there. It ripped out the phone.
- Burt: There's another phone in the basement.
- Chuck: The basement's f**ked! You know what's in the basement?
- Burt: What do you mean?
- Spider: One of those f**king corpses man. A real ugly one; all black and slimy!
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- Ernie: (talking to Burt before he goes outside to make a run for it; past the zombies) Burt. That favor that you owe me...watch your ass out there.
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- 1/2 Lady Corpse: (as she's tied up to the table; crying) Brains! Brains! Brains! Brains!
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- Freddy: (talking to Tina, as he's just turned into a zombie) I can finally see the one thing the one thing that can relieve this horrible suffering.
- Tina: What Freddy? What?
- Freddy: (attacks her) LIVE BRAINS!
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- Radio Corpse: (on the police speaker) Send more cops!
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