I'm from Kentucky, so this movie is a definite fav of mine. James Karen is just incredible in this movie and he has me laughing throughout.
"Watch your tongue, boy, if you like this job!"
"The Return of the Living Dead" takes place in Louisville Kentucky where a punk rocker named Freddy (Thom Mathews) has started a new job at a medical supply warehouse. His co-worker Frank (James Karen) spins a tall tale about Romero’s "Night of the Living Dead" being a true story. Frank’s proof is that the military mistakenly shipped canisters of dead bodies to their warehouse. Frank takes Freddy to the basement to give him a peak at one of the bodies storied in a canister. But Frank accidentally cracks one of the canisters open spewing mysterious gas all over the place that brings a dead cadaver back to life.
Meanwhile, Freddy’s friends arrive to pick him up at work, they decide to check out the nearby cemetery while they wait. Frank, Freddy, and their boss Burt (Clu Gulager) try to kill the cadaver, but even dismemberment is unsuccessful. Left with no choice, they take it next door to a mortuary and incinerate the body. As Freddy's punker friends continue to party in the graveyard, the mysterious gas release causes a rain storm that starts to awaken the dead in the cemetary and survival will soon not come easy!
"What do mean no blood pressure, no pulse?"
This movie had the perfect mixture of comedy and horror. Of the 'Living Dead' series of movies this is by far my fav. Really like John Philbin and Jewel Sheppard as the mismatched couple. Also, Miguel Nunez has gone on to have quite the career. And though Linnea Quigley was nude most the movie.. she gave one wicked performance.
"More Brains!!!"
Posted by JCWBobC (Member # 2525) on :
Love it.
Posted by Veronica Sawyer (Member # 2221) on :
Love this movie! Are the sequels any good?
Posted by There'll be no morning for us (Member # 5804) on :
This film is meh to me.
I really like Return of the living dead 3.
Posted by Kash (Member # 297) on :
Vague memory of this one, seem to recall it being quite good, though I must confess that I tend to get some of these zombie flicks mixed up at times.
quote:Originally posted by There'll be no morning for us:
I really like Return of the living dead 3.
Shout out to Melinda Clarke! robbed of screen time in Spawn, she was.
Posted by Muffy Tepperman (Member # 1551) on :
I love this one! I've got a thing for cheesy zombie movies....naked Linnea Quigley on the grave is hard to erase from your head even as a girl lol.
"brrrrrains..........brains!"
Posted by logan5 (Member # 1467) on :
quote:Linnea Quigley was nude most the movie
naked Linnea Quigley on the grave is hard to erase from your head even as a girl lol.
That was something of an 'awakening' scene for me from childhood. I still think she looks really great in it! Must be why I've always had a thing for short-haired punky girls.
Posted by Ronnie (Member # 465) on :
this movie is one of my faves.
the dvd extras are awesome with the cast interviews. "freddy" is still handsome as ever.
the soundtrack has been talked about here before, the punk/new wave tracks were great in this one.
valley, there are too many lines and moments in this movie to mention that are hilarious to me.
Burt yelling at the guys, Spider cussing everytime he speaks, the zombie with no legs, frank's crying and moaning, tar-man, and frank telling freddy the story of the 'original' night of the living dead: the movie. haha!
send more cops!!
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Ronnie.. I was going to mention the soundtrack, but to be honest, most of the tunes are ones I've never heard before this movie.
And the extras on the DVD were great. My fav part of the extras was when Clu Gulager mentioned that he had been in well over 100 movies and he took this movie as his career was on its way down.. but looking back it was one of the top 5 movies of his entire career. That is incredible stuff! Also, like the respect that he gave to Thom Mathews (Freddy) acting skills.
I would recommend this movie to both horror fans and people that just enjoy a fun movie. It has both.. cover your eyes and laugh out loud moments. My kind of horror!
Posted by skatexedge (Member # 5712) on :
Great, classic, hilarious, gory movie. I love it. Bought the DVD the day it came out!
Part 2 sucks. Stay away from that one!
Part 3 is good but has nothing to do with the first two. Two words about part 3 MINDY CLARKE! YOWZA!!!!! Posted by Mire Mare (Member # 5900) on :
Part 2 "SUCKS" NO WAY it is one of those rare sequels that is every bit as good as the original., trust me if you liked the original you will get a kick out of Part 2.
Now part's 3, 4 (Necropolis) and 5 (Rave to the Grave)are utter chum and completly destroy everything that is cool about the first 2.
All who are with me say "BRAINS".
MM
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
I figured I might as well start the new year off with a movie that suits the way I feel this morning.. so I went with "Return of the Living Dead Part II".
As you can tell by my comments above, I consider the original "The Return of the Living Dead" an 80's horror/comedy classic. And as much as I want part II to be the same way, it just can't compare. The original was able to find the right mixture of horror and comedy for me, but part II went too far with the goofy comedy in my opinion.
But if you've never seen part II, I still recommend watching it for fans of the original.
It was fun to see James Karen and Thom Mathews back for part II though obviously in different though similar type roles. Thom even makes a funny comment about it that fans of the original will enjoy. Also, great to see an 80's horror fav Suzanne Snyder as Thom's girlfriend.
My fav characters were actually played by Marsha Dietlein and Dana Ashbrook.
And Muffy.. don't worry .. my New Year's resolution aerobics workout is still on for this morning despite the zombie interruption..
Posted by Veronica Sawyer (Member # 2221) on :
I watched a Thom Matthews movie this morning too, Friday the 13th part 6. I love the original Return of the living dead, but haven't seen part 2 yet.
Posted by Burnett (Member # 9924) on :
Definitely one of my fav zombie flicks.
Posted by pork pie mcfly (Member # 6802) on :
Never get tired of watching this one!
Posted by Johnny Roarke is reckless (Member # 9826) on :
Last year a book called The Complete History of The Return of The Living Dead was published. It covers not only the original, but also the sequels. Not surprisingly, the original gets the most attention. It's a good book which consists of interviews with practically everyone involved in the original movie. And it literally has hundreds of behind-the-scenes stills, production stills, story-board drawings and original artwork from around the world.
The book also served as the basis for the recently released retrospective documentary More Brains ! A Return to The Living Dead.
More Brains ! is a 2 hour documentary which covers the whole production history of the original movie. On-screen interviews with everyone you can think of, including all of the main actors. Not only the good things are remembered and discussed, but also the not so good.
The disc features another approx. 2 hours of additional bonus features, which include featurettes about parts 2 and 3, as well as a 30 minute interview with writer / director Dan O'Bannon (which sadly turned out to be his last).
Both the book as well as the More Brains dvd are an absolute must-have for any fan of The Return of The Living Dead ! (and i know there are some on this site)
Just thought i'd let you know. Posted by skatexedge (Member # 5712) on :
Thanks for the tip Johnny! I'd heard about the More Brains! documentary and I definitely want to get it!
I did hear a rumor of a work print of ROTLD that's supposed to have even more mayhem and carnage. =)
Posted by Ronnie (Member # 465) on :
quote:Originally posted by Johnny Roarke is reckless: Last year a book called The Complete History of The Return of The Living Dead was published.
I have that wonderful book....I cherish it! I completely agree about the interviews and those pics are excellent! You can tell they had a great time making the movie. Cool stuff on part 2 in there as well.
I was unaware of the documentary, but thank you Johnny. I would love to see it.
Posted by skatexedge (Member # 5712) on :
I just ordered this dvd. $16.00 shipped to my door! =)
Posted by Johnny Roarke is reckless (Member # 9826) on :
quote:Originally posted by skatexedge:
I just ordered this dvd. $16.00 shipped to my door! =) [/QB]
That's the one !
Glad to be of assistance. I hope you like it.
Ronnie, are you gonna get the dvd too ?
Posted by Ronnie (Member # 465) on :
quote:Originally posted by Johnny Roarke is reckless: Ronnie, are you gonna get the dvd too ?
Heck yes. Posted by Ronnie (Member # 465) on :
Return of the Living Dead blu-ray UK release will contain the documentary, "More Brains."
5 Hours of Bonus Features: More Brains! A Return To The Living Dead: The definitive 2 hour documentary featuring interviews with cast, writers, producers and many more, as well as previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage, storyboards, conceptual art, publicity materials and archival documents. More Brains! 2 hours of Killer Bonus Features: A conversation with Dan O'Bannon: The Final Interview. They Won't Stay Dead: A look at Return Of The Living Dead Part II. Love Beyond The Grave: A look at Return Of The Living Dead III. Stacey Q Live: Exclusive 'Tonight' music video. Even More Brains: Deleted documentary interviews. Return of the Living Dead in 3 minutes. Resurrected Settings: The Filming Locations Today. The Origins of Return Of The Living Dead with John A. Russo. The FX Of The Living Dead with production designer William Stout and FX make-up artists William Munns and Tony Gardner. Party Time with music consultant Steve Pross and 45 Grave singer Dinah Cancer. Exclusive to Bluray Steelbook - Ernie's Notepad: a 20-page replica notebook by embalmer Ernie Kaltenbrunner, featuring production notes, casting information and exclusive artwork
I love this case way more than the existing one!
Posted by Pyro (Member # 7658) on :
While this movie does hold some good nostalgic value...I'm still gonna have to say I prefer parts 3 & 4 over it. The Comedy/Horror shtik is good n all..I just never felt it worked very well for the zombie flick realm. So I prefer them like parts 3 & 4, straight on blood/guts fleshfests. But I've already delved into all this in my short review on "Return of the Living Dead 3."
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ronnie: [QB] Return of the Living Dead blu-ray UK release will contain the documentary, "More Brains."
All those extra's are the same as on the More Brains dvd. The blu-ray will be a good release, especially for those who haven't seen More Brains yet. It's a shame though that they didn't include the same extra's from the region 1 collector's edition as well. Those seem to be exclusive for US territories. All we got here in Holland was a bare-bones release from MGM years ago, and none of the extra's MGM prepared for their US release.
Extra's from the US collector's edition :
- Commentary with director Dan O'Bannon and production designer William Stout
- Commentary with Don Calfa, Linnea Quigley, Brian Peck, Beverly Randolph, Allan Trautman and William Stout
- Return of The Living Dead : The Dead Have Risen retrospective featurette (20 min. approx.)
- Designing the Dead featurette (14 min. approx.)
- The Decade of Darkness featurette (23 min. approx.)
- 2 theatrical trailers
And the collector's edition has a cool glow-in-the-dark packaging too !
Posted by Ducktalesfan81 (Member # 10446) on :
Awesome movie, i saw it in theaters when i was 4 and creeped me out.
Posted by Ronnie (Member # 465) on :
BUMP^^
Itching to get my hands on the UK blu-ray.
I ended up seeing the "More Brains" documentary and it's excellent!
Does anyone have any info on the music snippets that are supposedly restored on the new blu-ray release? I know the other dvd versions changed/took out some music in the background of the movie... such as the scenes where the zombie sends for more cops...and when Frank goes to kill himself...the "Burn The Flames" song is lowered and dropped off, where before the song plays throughout the scene, .. that was a bummer. But are there any other music (song) switches other than the ones I mentioned? I feel like I've missed something?
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Reminder of the extras on UK edition:
NEARLY 5 HOURS OF KILLER BONUS FEATURES!!!
MORE BRAINS! A RETURN TO THE LIVING DEAD the definitive 2 hour documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew as well as previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage, storyboards, conceptual art, publicity materials and archival documents
MORE BRAINS! 2 HOURS OF BONUS FEATURES a conversation with Dan O' Bannon: The Final Interview. They Won't Stay Dead: A Look at Return of The Living Dead Part II. Love Beyond The Grave: A Look at Return of The Living Dead 3. Stacey Q Live: Exclusive 'Tonight' Music Video. Even More Brains: Deleted Documentary Interviews. Return of The Living Dead in 3 minutes. Resurrected Settings: The Filming Locations Today
THE ORIGINS OF RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD with John A. Russo
THE FX OF THE LIVING DEAD with Production Designer William Stout, FX Makeup Artists William Munns and Tony Gardner
PARTY TIME with Music Consultant Steve Pross and 45 Grave Singer Dinah Cancer
EXCLUSIVE ERNIE'S NOTEPAD a 20 page replica notebook by embalmer Ernie Kaltenbrunner, featuring production notes, casting information and exclusive artwork.
here's another view:
The dead have risen and they need more ‘BRAINS’! Dan O’Bannon’s cult splatterfest The Return Of The Living Dead is one of the definitive zombie movies and one of the classic horror films of the 80s.
Now this horror favourite is being released on 4 June 2012 courtesy of Second Sight as a special edition double DVD and makes its UK Blu-ray debut in a limited edition Steelbook, both with five hours of special features and also the much anticipated inclusion of the original soundtrack as well as the remixed version.
Blundering medical supplies warehouse workers Frank and his young trainee Freddy unwittingly set off a mysterious US military chemical that brings the dead back to life. And they’ve got a real hunger for human brains. Enlisting the help of a local crematorium, they set off a chain of events that could lead to the end of civilisation. Can they defeat the growing army of ravenous zombies? ‘How do you kill something that’s already dead’ It’s not a bad question Bert.
Complete with a raucous rock soundtrack by the inimitable The Cramps, The Return Of The Living Dead is a zombie gorefest at its best.
Special features: • MORE BRAINS! A RETURN TO THE LIVING DEAD The definitive two-hour documentary featuring interviews with cast, writers, producers and many more, as well as previously unseen behind the scenes footage, storyboards, conceptual art, publicity materials and archival documents • MORE BRAINS! TWO HOURS OF KILLER BONUS FEATURES A conversation with Dan O’Bannon: The Final Interview They Won’t Stay Dead: A Look at Return of The Living Dead Part 2 A Love Beyond The Grave: A Look at Return of The Living Dead 3 Stacey Q Live: Exclusive ‘Tonight’ music video Even More Brains: Deleted documentary interview Return of The Living Dead in three minutes Resurrected Settings: The Filming Locations Today • THE ORIGINS OF RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD – with John A. Russo • THE FX OF THE LIVING DEAD – with production designer William Stout and FX make-up artists William Munns and Tony Gardner • PARTY TIME – with music consultant Steve Pross and 45 Grave singer Dinah Cancer • EXCLUSIVE TO BLU-RAY STEELBOOK – ‘ERNIE’S NOTEPAD’ – 20-page replica notebook by embalmer Ernie Kaltenbrunner, featuring production notes, carting information and exclusive artwork
Soundtrack information: Blu-Ray Original Soundtrack: PCM 2.0 Remixed Soundtrack PCM 2.0 Remixed Soundtrack: DTS 5.1 Digital Surround
An option to play the original soundtrack
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Here you go Ronnie:
1.) 'Tarman' zombie has a deep, guttural voice that remains constant throughout the film.
2.) The "send more cops" zombie also had his voice lowered to accurately represent someone whose been dead for 100+ years.
3.) The film's score has also been altered. One song, "Dead Beat Dance," which played near the beginning of the film as we are introduced to the punk kids driving in Suicide's car, has been removed due to legal clearances. Sadly, this is not uncommon in Hollywood. Every time a movie is released on a new format, every song has to be cleared by it's respective copyright owners. The song which has replaced "Dead Beat Dance" is strangely uncredited.
4.) Frank's suicide – In the original, "Burn the Flames" played over the entire scene. The problem here was that the producers felt that Frank's death scream would be too "disturbing" for audiences, and ordered the song to be played loudly throughout. The thing is (as O'Bannon states on the commentary track), that "disturbing" is what he *liked* about that scene, and to drown out Frank's scream robbed it of it's impact. The song is still in that scene but is faded out as Frank gets into the crematorium.
5.) One other song, "Take a Walk" has been changed. This song was probably the biggest offender in terms of making the actor's dialogue very hard to hear (the producers amped up the music through the whole movie, regardless of it's affect on the performances.) Now, the song does not begin until after the punk kids run out of the UNEEDA warehouse.
6.) All of the other songs remain as they were without alteration.
7.) After Burt and the gang cut up the corpse at UNEEDA but before the bonesaw is brought out, listen to the corpse's body flopping on the floor in the background.
Posted by Ronnie (Member # 465) on :
Val, thanks a bunch for all the info. Perfect. Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
I still want the UK Blu-ray... but I did go ahead and snag the "More Brains" DVD.
Totally an indepth look at "The Return of the Living Dead" with the all the backstories behind the making of the film. Very interesting stuff!
I wish more 80's movies would take this approach for fans. I still think Fred Dekker did it best with his blu-ray releases of "Night of the Creeps" and "The Monster Squad", but "More Brains" is right there as well. And my thought is the UK Blu-ray release with the option for the original soundtrack and all the extras including "More Brains" might be worth looking into a region free blu-ray player!
[ 25. June 2012, 18:02: Message edited by: Valley ]
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