The Return of the Living Dead

Directed by Dan O’Bannon, The Return of the Living Dead details the chaos and violence that ensues after a pair of warehouse employees (James Karen’s Frank and Thom Mathews’ Freddy) accidentally unleash a toxin that resurrects the dead. There’s ultimately little doubt that The Return of the Living Dead improves steadily as it progresses, as the movie gets off to a fairly slow start that generally prevents the viewer from wholeheartedly embracing the material or characters – although, by that same token, it’s hard to deny the effectiveness of the film’s various performances. (Karen is especially good here, while Clu Gulager delivers stand-out work as the owner of the aforementioned warehouse.) The somewhat erratic and less-than-captivating bent of the picture’s first half gives way to a midsection that grows more and more compelling as it progresses, as filmmaker O’Bannon slowly-but-surely embraces the broad subject matter and increasingly stresses gleefully over-the-top elements and set-pieces (ie there’s nothing subtle about the movie’s zombie-laden third act, that’s for sure). By the time the impressively grim finale rolls around, The Return of the Living Dead has undoubtedly cemented its place as an erratic yet mostly satisfying horror comedy that fares better than much of its similarly-themed brethren.

**1/2 out of ****

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