Among the many subgenres in horror, one of the longest-lasting and thriving is the zombie subgenre. From Victor Halperin’s White Zombie, released in 1932, through George A. Romero’s masterpiece Night of the Living Dead in 1968, all the way up to the brilliant 2016 Korean zombie film Train to Busan, there have been literally hundreds of films about brain-controlled humans or reanimated corpses terrorizing audiences throughout the years. Most can be generously described as “passable,” but others do rise to the level of unforgettable classic. Some may point to Romero’s Night of the Living Dead as the gold standard of the subgenre, which it may very well be, due in great part to reinventing the genre as well as for its biting social commentary. Others may say Romero’s follow-up, Dawn of the Dead, Fulci’s Zombie, Edgar Wright’s send-up of the genre, Shaun of the Dead, or the aforementioned Train to Busan. All worthy choices, to be sure. But in this author’s humble opinion, nothing tops the outlandish, darkly comedic, punk-infused, groundbreaking zombie flick The Return of the Living Dead.
Released in 1985 and celebrating its thirty-five year anniversary on August 16th, Dan O’Bannon’s horror-comedy has endured in a way that few films tend to do. Return is innovative in that it was the first zombie film to show the creatures as brains-hungry, semi-intelligent, running monsters. The blend of dark humor and bloody gore (due in large part to O’Bannon’s screenplay) was also something not seen much in zombie films. But how exactly did this low-budget flick that most in its own studio did not even believe in achieve such lofty status among horror hounds around the world?
ROTLD has its roots planted firmly in Romero’s 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead. After Romero collaborator John Russo, a co-writer of Night, split from Romero’s troupe to form his own production company, New American Films, Russo retained the rights to “the Living Dead” portion of the title for future works, while Romero kept the “of the Dead” part. Russo went on to write a follow-up novel to Night of the Living Dead called, you guessed it, The Return of the Living Dead, and then, along with producer Tom Fox, looked to adapt it into a film to be directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). When Hooper backed out to direct Lifeforce, Dan O’Bannon (Alien), who had already been brought in to re-work the screenplay, took over as the film’s director. O’Bannon then did a major overhaul of the script, infusing it with more humor and adding in multiple new touches so as to make the film stand apart from Night of the Living Dead.
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O’Bannon’s screenplay, with its sharp, often hilarious, dialogue alongside the over-the-top gore, endeared the film to many filmgoers looking for something different in a zombie picture. O’Bannon wanted to explore unchartered territory in zombie flicks by examining the zombie thought process, namely why the resurrected corpses needed to eat flesh, or more specifically brains in this case. As a half-corpse woman explains to mortician Ernie Kaltenbrunner (Don Calfa), “It makes the pain go away.” The pain of feeling yourself rot. Brains are in a sense a drug for the living dead. The innovation of brain-obsessed, talking, running zombies who cannot be killed with a headshot certainly made ROTLD a unique entry in the genre at the time.
In the 2011 retrospective documentary More Brains: A Return to the Living Dead, Thom Mathews, who starred in the film as Freddy, called the movie “the perfect blend of horror and comedy.” Indeed, the film succeeded on both fronts, not an easy task to accomplish. Fans of the film all have favorite scenes that stand out as memorable moments, such as the headless, yellow cadaver busting out of the morgue, the emergence of the black flesh-dripping zombie “Tarman,” Trash’s nude dance in the cemetery, Frank’s (James Karen) heartbreaking self-destruction (suggested by Karen himself), the paramedics’ arrival and demise, Trash’s prophetic death and subsequent zombification, Freddy’s assault on the attic where his girlfriend Tina and Ernie are hiding, and countless others. The film is also notable for its bleak ending in which (SPOILER ALERT for a 35-year-old film) a missile is dropped on the affected area in Louisville, Kentucky, wiping out any possible survivors from the main cast.
Speaking of the cast, Return gave us many likable, incredibly memorable characters. James Karen, perhaps best known before this film for his role as the man who “only moved the headstones” in 1982’s Poltergeist, played the affable Uneeda Medical Supply employee Frank Johnson, who sets the wheels in motion for the film’s events and ultimately meets a tragic end in the crematorium. His new trainee, Freddy Hanscom, is portrayed by Thom Mathews, who many horror fans remember as Jason Voorhees-obsessed Tommy Jarvis in Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. Clu Gulager, seen in that same year’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, is just as great as constantly put-upon Uneeda boss Burt Wilson (a part initially offered to Leslie Nielsen). Mortician (and likely Nazi) Ernie Kaltenbrunner is played brilliantly by Don Calfa. Death-obsessed punk exhibitionist Trash (originally named “Legs”) was portrayed by horror icon Linnea Quigley (Night of the Demons, Silent Night, Deadly Night). Her memorable performance, however, was only made possible when the original actress cast in the part had become pregnant and was too large for the role when filming began.
Other notable roles included Mark Venturini (candy bar-hating ax man Victor in 1985’s Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning) as punk leader Suicide (described as a real sweetheart by cast and crew), Miguel Nunez (also in 1985’s Friday V (seriously, all of 1985’s films have actor crossovers with each other, look it up) as Spider, Beverly Randolph as constantly tortured Tina, Brian Peck as mohawk-sporting Scuz, John Philbin as punk-yuppie Chuck, and Jewel Shepard as party-girl Casey. O’Bannon had originally wanted Shepard to play Trash but she did not want to be nude in the film. O’Bannon had discovered Shepard in a strip club he would frequent and, as a result, rumors persisted for years that she slept with the director/screenwriter to land a role in the movie. Shepard set the record straight in More Brains, stating emphatically “No, I did not do anything to Dan, just so that rumor can be put to rest.” Lastly, the iconic Tarman was brought to terrifying life by Jim Henson puppeteer Allan Trautman.
Filming on ROTLD had plenty of challenges. Many cast members, particularly mostly-nude-in-the-cold-rain Quigley and physically-tormented Randolph, pointed to some very uncomfortable and sometimes painful working conditions. For Quigley’s infamous nude cemetery dance, the actress had to be, um, shaved just off set during filming and then fitted with an uncomfortable prosthetic, making her resemble a Barbie doll. Randolph was hurt and nearly seriously injured when she crashed through the stairs during the Tarman-reveal scene. The low-budget and tight production schedule may have contributed to first-time director O’Bannon being less than compassionate to the plight of his cast. “His directing style was a little rough,” claimed Randolph. “(It) was frightening for me.” O’Bannon clashed mightily with the more serious-minded Gulager, which led to some very tense moments on set. “Every minute it was in danger of being too ridiculous,” Gulager said of the film and production. “I didn’t feel Dan was prepared.” Things got so bad at one point that Gulager nearly physically assaulted the filmmaker. “Clu got out a bat and ran after Dan,” remembered Shepard. “Dan sat there screaming ‘He’s gonna kill me, he’s gonna kill me!’” The moment was a welcome bit of comeuppance for multiple cast members, particularly Randolph. “He was my hero that day and something that I wanted to do so badly.”
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Production issues did not stop the film from being a genuine hit at the box office. The Return of the Living Dead was a surprise success in the summer of 1985, grossing $14 million off of a $4 million budget and launching a new horror franchise. It would go on to achieve cult status over the following years thanks to a successful run on home video and cable. The film is often cited as a highlight of the zombie genre and continues to grow in legend and stature as time goes on, due in part to a killer punk rock soundtrack that gives the movie a unique energy. It is also peppered with a slew of memorable quotes. From “You think this is a f—ing costume? This is a way of life” to “Send more paramedics,” the film is full of great lines.
Perhaps it is the boldness of the film to break the mold of the genre that is the reason for its sustained popularity. The blend of horror and humor, the reinvention of zombie “rules,” an embracing of the punk movement of the time, some terrific makeup and practical effects, and the dark ending of the film have all contributed to a very original zombie flick, despite its beginnings as a sequel to Night of the Living Dead. With the rise of home video and then streaming services, not to mention multiple horror conventions every year, The Return of the Living Dead has continued to reach new audiences in the three and a half decades since its release. “It’s been a great ride,” exclaimed Randolph in the doc. But perhaps Nunez put it best: “The entertainment level never gets old, never dies. And The Return of the Living Dead will always live on. (And) titties!”
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