This Zombie Movie Is a Bigger Deal Than You Think

George A. Romero’s “Of the Dead” movies are known on a macro scale. Even if someone has never seen any of them or their remakes and you ask them “What’s Dawn of the Dead?” They would likely say something along the lines of “Isn’t that the one where there are zombies in a mall?” The Return of the Living Dead, however, is a more niche project, known well within the horror fan circle but not so much outside the greater fandom. That said, there’s a better than decent chance that general audiences have seen at least one movie or show that references this classic, perhaps thinking the shoutout was for Romero’s movies.

This is especially true when it comes to the line “Brains!” or even just the general concept of zombies eating brains (not to mention the undead talking at all). No part of that comes from Romero’s Night of the Living Dead; it’s from Dan O’Bannon’s The Return of the Living Dead. One of the best episodes of South Park‘s debut season, “Pinkeye,” has its zombies directly quote the line. But Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s series isn’t alone in referencing the film (nor is that the only episode in which they did so). The Simpsons, Robot Chicken, Happy Tree Friends, Bob’s Burgers…they’ve all done it. So why is it still to this day an underappreciated entry in the horror-comedy subgenre?

What Makes The Return of the Living Dead Such a Treat (and Such an Important Addition to the Zombie Subgenre)?

The Return of the Living Dead was a great find for many young budding horror fans. It’s always had a solid reputation (the film was actually critically acclaimed even when first released, which is most certainly not the case for all ’80s horror flicks, including ones more well-known than it), but to be aware of that reputation you had to do something of a quasi-deep dive into the horror catalogue. A similar example is how, if you find yourself a fan of Friday the 13th, you might seek out something similar and end up watching The Burning.

It certainly makes sense the film’s reputation has held firm. O’Bannon’s directorial debut (one of only two, unfortunately) showed him fully capable of infusing a ton of style, uniqueness, and, yes, brains, into something that Romero had essentially crafted and perfected.

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Prior to this, O’Bannon’s main claim to fame was writing Alien and working on computer animation for the original Star Wars. Both of them were trendsetters, and so too was Return of the Living Dead, even if not to the same extent. But the fact remains, these days people don’t really associate zombies with just eating body parts, they associate them with specifically targeting brains.

Fortunately, that single element is far from the only one that works for the film. The chemistry between leads Clu Gulager (A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge), James Karen (Poltergeist), and Thom Mathews (who played Tommy Jarvis in another ahead-of-its-time horror-comedy, Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives) is razor sharp. Better yet, they appear to be having the time of their lives, and that’s nearly as infectious as a zombie bite.

It’s also a film that, like its cast members, isn’t afraid to have fun. It wears its punk rock influence on its sleeve, with the main group of disposable teens (including horror legend Linnea Quigley) all being dressed the way one might have expected to see Sid Vicious looking on stage. It all works and helps further differentiate the film from the tone of Romero’s trilogy (the third film of which, Day of the Dead, had been released one month prior).

And, just as Night of the Living Dead inspired sequels, so too did The Return of the Living Dead. Return of the Living Dead Part II is an even more comedic (and vastly less effective) remake slash sequel, not unlike Evil Dead II. Re-Animator producer Brian Yuzna’s Return of the Living Dead 3, however, is an entirely different animal. The only real similarity is its even deeper dive into the world of punk. Instead of a group of characters surviving a horde of zombies, it focuses on a young man and his girlfriend, who is reanimated after dying in a motorcycle accident. That one is the best of the sequels, though it still doesn’t hold a candle to what O’Bannon pulled off in his original film which, for the record, has one of the best endings seen in ’80s horror.

Stream The Return of the Living Dead on Tubi.