There is no greater proof that a genre has secured itself in pop culture than when it becomes the subject of a bit of a piss-take.
Which is exactly what Dan O’Bannon’s 1985 cult classic The Return of the Living Dead sets about doing for the zombie genre. In the decades following Night of the Living Dead, zombie cinema proved itself a popular – and most importantly, profitable – part of the horror world. And, with Romero having created a more specific vision of exactly what a zombie was and how it functioned, with the groundwork laid, it was time to have a little fun.
O’Bannon’s debut movie is a racuously trashy love letter to the zombie genre as it existed in the 1980s – it follows a group of young punks as they spend the night in a graveyard, only to find themselves caught in the midst of the accidental release of a toxin that leads the dead to rise from their graves. It feels very much couched in an anti-establishment, anti-government punk vibe, from the government’s poorly-hidden attempt to contain the zombie toxin to the army’s eventual demolishing of the entire town, with a slightly-ropey DIY aesthetic written all over the effects, visuals, and storyline (to varying degrees of success).
The entire thing is as noxious and toxic as the gas that kicks off the entire plot – needless nudity, completely over-the-top characters many of whom feel like a very pointed jab at certain members of the punk scene as it existed in the mid-80s, blood and guts and gore spraying across every inch of the screen at every opportunity. But it embraces that tone so completely that it’s impossible not to get swept along with it, and there’s no denying that Return is a damn good time. As the tagline declares, “they’re back from the grave…and they’re here to party!” – and goddamn it, so am I.
But the movie also comes with a decent pedigree, that said, given that it’s co-written by John Russo, who worked with Romero to produce the script for Night of the Living Dead, and the Romero trilogy gets name-checked as a starting point for all the craziness. Right from the off, Return positions itself as a knowing send-up of the genre, but one that’s laced with a genuine love for what came before.
And, for all that it’s bordering on parody for much of its runtime, I actually love the zombies as they appear here – perhaps the biggest impact it had on the genre was introducing the notion that zombies eat brains (instead of just human flesh), but I think perhaps what stands out most to me is the sense of overwhelm in the outbreak – the term zombie hoard has never been truer than in Return, with great swathes of them closing in on whoever’s unlucky enough to step into that graveyard.
But the film’s tone leaves it un-beholden to sticking to classic rules, and O’Bannon comes up with some seriously cool ways to innovate with the undead. As well as iconic individual zombies like Tar Man (who, I’m sorry, is the coolest zombie in cinema, even if Samson from The Bone Temple comes close), O’Bannon and company have a really inventive take on the reanimated dead, with perhaps my favourite moment of the movie coming when bisected dog corpses end up yipping their way back to life. The trajectory of poor, doomed Freddy is also a pretty clever twist on the classic reanimated dead, as, instead of dying and coming back to life, his body slowly shuts down until all that’s left is his consciousness, a genuinely creepy idea that’s perhaps the most discomforting of the entire movie.
The Return of the Living Dead spawned a whole franchise, and it’s easy to see why – that blend of crass wit and genuine love for the genre is one that works pretty brilliantly, And it’s proof, more than anything, that by this decade of zombie cinema, we were at cruising altitude with the undead – so much so that it was time to have a little fun at their expense. Next, we’ll be taking a look at the nineties and a very unusual entry into the canon, so check back in soon and join us to raise a little more dead!
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By Lou MacGregor
(header image via IMDB)
