
The Return of the Living Dead
1985, Comedy/Horror, 1h 31m
44 Reviews 50,000+ RatingsWhat to know
critics consensus
A punk take on the zombie genre, Return of the Living Dead injects a healthy dose of '80s silliness to the flesh consuming. Read critic reviews
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Movie Info
Cast & Crew
Burt Wilson
Frank
Ernie Kaltenbrunner
Freddy
Tina
Chuck
News & Interviews for The Return of the Living Dead
Critic Reviews for The Return of the Living Dead
All Critics (44) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (40) | Rotten (4)
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Essential, enormous fun.
June 6, 2012 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review… -
The Return of the Living Dead is in fact the real deal.
February 25, 2011 | Full Review… -
O'Bannon deserves considerable credit for creating a terrifically funny first half-hour of exposition, something in which he is greatly aided by the goofball performance of James Karen as a medical supply know-it-all.
March 26, 2009 | Full Review… -
A tongue-in-cheek, splatter-laden homage to George A. Romero's zombie pictures.
September 27, 2007 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review… -
Any film which features a dead, bald and very hungry punk lurching towards the camera screaming 'More Brains!' gets my vote.
June 24, 2006 | Full Review… -
The volume of stagy gore quickly reaches a point of diminishing returns.
May 20, 2003 | Full Review…
Audience Reviews for The Return of the Living Dead
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Oct 20, 2020Perfect over-the-top horror-comedy of the 1980's -- an instant cult classic and great watch for Halloween.Mark B Super Reviewer
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Jul 01, 2020Return of the Living Dead is a refreshing twist on the genre while respecting Night of the Living Dead. The story of Russo and Romero is quite well known to fans so it was nice to see a linkage shown to that earlier film. Dan O'Bannon ultimately didn't use Russo's novel as the direct adaptation and I feel Return of the Living Dead would've been just another shallow copycat. The film as it stands is quite funny and daring. The dead are more lethal and harder to kill. This film should've been a one film only as the sequels rob the ending of this film. The film plays with the formula of zombies a little different and that's why Return of the Living Dead is a nice companion to Romero's work. The film is definitely in the cult status arena, so it won't appeal to everyone, but overall I thought it was fun and offered something different for the sub genre. 01/07/2020Brendan O Super Reviewer
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Dec 11, 2017Return of the Living Dead is zany, gross and really quite messy throughout. A madcap, punk-fest of a zombie flick that isn't afraid to gross out it's audience and fling guts out of every corner of the screen wherever it can. Return of the Living Dead interesting coined the phrase, "braaaaains" associated with the zombie genre and is memorable not just because of this, but also because of it's cast of dedicated actors who go above and beyond to deliver some of the cheesiest yet enthusiastic performances seen in any mid-eighties horror film. It's almost a love letter to punk and Dan O'Bannon was just that in his attempt to make a zombie film that would stand the test of time. It's dated by today's standards, but the humour involved is timeless.Harry W Super Reviewer
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Mar 17, 2015So. Much. Damn. Fun. The Return of the Living Dead always takes me back to being a teenager. In a good way. Trash is taking off her clothes again.Gimly M Super Reviewer
The Return of the Living Dead Quotes
Radio Corpse: | Come in dispatch. Send more paramedics. |
Casey: | (talking to Burt) - Mister, don't go in there. See, there's a thing in there. It ripped out the phone. |
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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