The most hilarious take on a zombie movie ever made, 1985's THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD still delivers plenty of laughs 30+ years after it hit theatres.
The recent passing of actor James Karen (Poltergeist) reminded me of how funny he was in this movie, so I had to revisit.
Karen plays Frank, the manager of a medical supply warehouse conveniently located next to a morgue and an old decaying cemetery.
In training his goof ball nephew Freddy the ropes, they accidentally open an old "secret Army container filled with dead bodies" and release a gas that reanimates the dead.
Its gruesome but played for big laughs as only the 80's could deliver. You've got punk rockers, fast moving corpses that know how to speak and deliver a joke ("More Brains!!")
and some actors with real comic timing on display.
Clu Gulager, a staple of 70's television has career best role playing off his own persona.
Karen is hilarious, milking every line reading. His reactions after they release the gas and the first body starts flailing around are over the top funny and played full tilt.
I could listen to him whine and scream over and over, its gut bus-tingly funny.
Writer/Director Dan O'Bannon wrote ALIEN and its terrific sequel ALIENS. He knows how to construct a fast moving, fun flick.
Everyone's favorite scene is when zombies have just enjoyed chowing down on some paramedics and one of them grabs the van radio and says 'Send more paramedics!".
Oh they do, more and more....
It's a feast of brains, over the top gore, 80's nudity and big laughs that gets an appreciative B.
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