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The Return of the Living Dead

The Return of the Living Dead

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $13.46
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Finally, it's here
Review: If you're buying this, you already know the plot so I won't bore you with a review of that. Instead, the good stuff.

An absolutely PERFECT blend of horror and comedy. I honestly cannot think of any other film that pulled it off so well. Unlike George Romero's zombie trilogy, "Return of the Living Dead", written/directed by Dan O'Bannon, it didn't take itself seriously. It had FUN. It never dragged, zipping you from one moment of dread to another and when it got too gory or intense, O' Bannon brought in the laughs. Not slapstick but genuine, over-the-top gags. Whether it be a hungry zombie asking to "send more cops" as if he was ordering pizza or the bumbling warehouse employees who, after accidentally releasing a toxic gas that re-animates corpses, find that killing zombies by destroying the brains doesn't work. When they finally exclaim "WELL IT WORKED IN THE MOVIES!" you know the rules have been thrown out the window.
The film works on so many levels of gore and humor and the fact that it makes fun of itself and Romero's classic "Night of the Living Dead" come off as more self-aware than Wes Craven's "Scream" films of the 90's.
The film took it's chances and could've angered fans of Romero's original by actually referring to that movie within the first few minutes, saying it was all fictional and that "what really happened was..." well you get the idea. In fact, O'Bannon tried as hard as possible to make his film as different from Romero's. You see, O'Bannon's zombies could RUN after you, could think and plan ways to get at you, they could TALK to you and tell you what part they wanted to eat from you......"BRAINS!"
The film's punk rock soundtrack is excellent. Dare I say "goth punk"? Sure it fit in with the punk characters that got stuck in the horror but the tone of the songs fit in so well with the movie.
The cast was superb, all somehow finding the perfect way to play their parts. There isn't a single 'off' performance. Frank's over-the-top "freaking out", Burt's calm "this is what we're gonna do" attitude and Freddy's realization of what's happening to his body and mind all showcase the talent that made the film work.
When one of our heroes (who's been zombiefied) commits suicide by burning himself "alive" in the crematorium....it's not horrific but truly sad. Actor James Karen embodied 'Frank' with such an "every guy" quality, you couldn't help but feel for him. Thom Mathews played "Freddy". A new level was added to the zombie genre. We see a young man, full of life with lots of partying left to do, slowly get snuffed out. He was exposed to the gas you see and he's slowly dying.....yet already dead. He's conscious while feeling rigor mortis setting in.....and he describes every pain to you. It's unsettling. Clu Gulager plays the warehouse owner 'Burt' (his best friend who owns the funeral home next door? Ernie. Nope, not kidding!) who seemingly dead pans throughout the entire film. While the entire film is going crazy, he is the constant throughout and you feel that if you were in the same situation, you'd want him there helping to make crucial decisions. Linnea Quigley, the "B-movie scream Queen" plays 'Trash'. Her infamous, FULL FRONTAL strip tease has left many of my fellow 20-something's with fond memories of their childhood.
This film parodied it's sub-genre of horror YEARS before the junk that was the "Scream" trilogy. It also managed to be FAR scarier than Wes Craven's poor attempts which basically amounted to a "Boo!" a 9 year old attempts on Halloween. Dan O'Bannon, the film's writer/director (partly responsible for the classic "Alien") created a film that, in every way, perfectly blended horror and humor. I'm not saying it's the first, I'm saying it's the first at *doing it right.*
O'Bannon saw the genre in a way most could not. Treat it's subject with respect yet realize, this is incredibly silly. O'Bannon's script is self-aware yet understands it's fictional world is very real. We get the humor, the film's characters aren't so lucky.
The film goes the opposite of what you'd expect in such a subtle way. The hapless humans are caged in places normally associated with the dead (a funeral home, a medical supply warehouse) whereas the dead are free to roam around in the land of the living. Subtle. This is NOT a "dumb" film at all (as some uneducated people might mistake "zombie" films for.) It's an ironic, horrific, campy and witty take on a classic horror genre. A film I can watch over and over again and never get bored.
As for the DVD itself, MGM has remastered the film from the original negative ensuring a pristine print. The sound has not only been remastered but some sound FX have been "enhanced" or completely redone by O'Bannon. The soundmix is in mono which is prefered by O'Bannon. Both full screen and widescreen versions are available. An audio commentary is on the disc featuring O'Bannon and production designer William Stout. Other extras include a featurette called "Designing the Dead", a stills gallery of the movie's artwork and the theatrical trailer. Great movie, superb video/audio and some decent extras all for a LOW price!
MGM has said if this disc sells well, a "director's cut" will be released.

After almost a decade of being unavailable, the dead have come back to life!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best soundtracks ever!
Review: This is one of the best sountracks ever made! Dark, funny and sweet all at the same time, the movie is a classic... the soundtrack adds to the experience!
In my humble opinion, the best punk/goth compilations are those not initially intended to be an "instant goth-in-a-box, just add water, black lipstick included" set, but ones that just HAPPEN, such as this.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wonderful music for a scary flick.
Review: Do yourself a favor and buy this soundtrack. The music is excellent. The movie is wonderful, and this music only adds to its appeal. A+ selection.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I don't even like this kind of music
Review: But for some reason it's GREAT! Everytime I listen to it I picture all the scenes from the movie. Which by the way is probably my number one all time favorite. I think this is the best movie soundtrack. Buy it Now if you're a fan of the movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: it is a great rock and various other sounds album
Review: I saw this movie on usa up allnight one night then i rented that next weekend. i thought it hade the cool comedy and gory effects that were awsome eventully i bought it and then i wanted the soundtrack so i came here to amzon to get it and it is awsome thanks amazon.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Kountry Boy Kari Keil
Review: I remeber first seeing this film when I was about six years old on video. I thought it was one of the best horror movies I had ever seen, and I had watched a lot of Horror movies. Over the years I must have rented it a hundred time before I had finally bought it. Then the music in the movie was finally drilled into my head. Then I had started watching the movie to listen to the music. I could not find this CD in stores at all, But I had finally found it in a punk music store that had it. Now all I ever do is blow all my money on punk music. I thank it all to this awesome f*cking soundtrack and movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Horror at its best
Review: I saw this movie illegally, by sneaking into the theater after seeing a midnight showing of "Don't go in the Basement", which stunk. I was depressed, and half drunk. But when Roky Erickson chimed in with Burn The Flames, I sobered up. If anything, this movie turned me on to Erickson, a true genius. But aside from all that, it is a brilliantly funny movie, and a soundtrack I love. I first owned it on Cassette, but my idiot friend managed to get it stolen out of his car. Then I found it on Cd, here at CDNow, in fact, and upon listening to it again, after a few years, I have to say, it's cooler than I remember. Roky Erickson, TSOL, The Flesheaters, The Cramps, and 45 Grave, make this a killer album. A great sampler. Most highly recommended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: TOP NOTCH ZOMBIE FLICK!!
Review: zombie stories and movies are so versatile ( when done right) and this movie is proof that zombie movies aren't only dark and scary but fun and humorous also. I can't believe that this wasn't one of the top 50 cult movies (entertainment weekly) it had everything, suspense, gore, horror, humor, and zombies! not to mention all of the great tag lines. This definitely ranks up there with the best zombie movies of all time.did i mention that the acting was suprisingly well done!I highly recommend this movie to any horror fan and especially any zombie movie fan!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "Not the common Zombie flick"
Review: In this sequel of N.O.T.L.D, a mortician I guess you could say, cremated a Zombie and the smoke from his ashes created acid rain which brought the dead back to life. Like I said it's not the common zombie flick, in this sequel the zombies run and talk, which is kind of a disappointment, but it was something different plus it wasnt a Romero film but it was pretty good. Its worth buying and holding on to. It was pretty cool when they basically interviewed the Head of a zombie to ask why it was killing people, so that was a plus. Pretty good and like I said its definately worth buying.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "It worked in the movie!"
Review: Re-animated corpses, swearing, blood & gore, full-frontal female nudity, iconoclastic jabs at American culture, and lots of gallows humor--what more could a horror fan ask for?

Any genre fan who has a morbid sense of humor is sure to enjoy 1985's THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD. In the same vein as other tongue-in-cheek horror shtick such as the Chiodo Brothers' KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE and Sam Raimi's ARMY OF DARKNESS, this one's specifically a spoof of George Romero's classic and highly revered zombie film NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Director/Screenwriter Dan O'Bannon, probably best known for having penned the original ALIEN movie, does a fantastic job of lovingly poking fun at the Horror and SF genres while at the same time satirizing everything from the U.S. Military to Punk Rock. This movie is not only funny, it's got plenty o' "brains"!

And you can't beat the financial value of the DVD edition. Not only does it cost less than a lot of other full-length, widescreen DVD thrillers--including some that are hardly worth the plastic and aluminum it took to make 'em--but it also includes these cool extras: an optional audio commentary by O'Bannon and production designer William Stout; both the G-rated and R-rated theatrical trailers; over 5-minutes of various TV spots; some storyboard-like production stills; and a really cool "Designing the Dead" featurette, in which O'Bannon and Stout discuss the evolution of the final look and feel of the movie (lots of great shots of Stout's EC-Comics-like designs for the zombies offered in this one).


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