The Return of the Living Dead has become a staple in the horror genre for punkers and zombie fans alike, and its influence has spread in countless ways. It helped to define a new breed of zombie – the brain eater – rather than the shambling mindless dead of George A. Romero’s Living Dead franchise. It fueled many adolescents’ wet dreams thanks to a fully nude Linnea Quigley, albeit with a mold upon her pubis. It ushered a new horror icon into fans’ hearts with Tarman, the melting origin zombie. It also recapitulated the allure of EC Comics-era imagery, from its gothic locales to the humorous signs and decorations found throughout the film. But probably The Return of the Living Dead‘s most important contribution to horror was its interplay of terror, gore, and dark humor – a difficult combination to pull off, but director Dan O’Bannon manages to perfectly encapsulate how those elements go together like zombies and flesh.
The Return of the Living Dead is clearly influenced by the likes of Night of the Living Dead and Romero’s more military-tinged political commentary in both Dawn and Day, but O’Bannon’s film goes further than that. He’s stepping outside the norms of the zombie genre, because besides the rising from the grave and the eating people part, these zombies are completely different. Return‘s zombies seem to retain some semblance of their former human selves, recognizing their identities while fueled by an undying lust for human brains. In an iconic scene, our protagonists interview a woman’s torso, who explains the mechanism behind these walking dead: they feel they’re dead, they feel themselves rot, and only brains can stop the pain.
It’s a gruesome reveal that, despite the comedy, still manages to stick with the viewer. The zombies in O’Bannon’s film are constantly suffering, something that Night of the Living Dead never really mentioned. There’s a morbid science behind Return‘s zombies, especially when the film highlights Freddy (Thom Mathews) and Frank (James Karen) turning into the undead after exposing themselves to the 2-4-5 Trioxin; their change doesn’t happen immediately, nor is it painless, and ultimately the only thing that can end the pain is either a brain buffet or a suicidal conflagration.
Enough about zombie biology, though, because there’s a lot more to praise about The Return of the Living Dead. O’Bannon keeps a keen eye on pacing, alternating early on between Freddy and Frank as they accidentally release the zombie virus after messing with an illicit government experiment and Freddy’s punk friends waiting for him to get out of work in the nearby cemetery. This allows Return to make the best of both scenarios. Freddy and Frank are a knock-out team, the Abbott and Costello of the 1980s – Karen in general is at the top of his game, eating up every scene with a shit-eating grin that wins the viewer over immediately.
The same is true for our punks, who fill up every scene they’re in with post-adolescent rebellion. I talked about Quigley’s Trash a little while ago, prancing around naked in just about every scene, but the rest of the group is full of memorable characters like Suicide (Mark Venturini), the hardcore guy who still respects the dead, or Tina (Beverly Randolph), who doesn’t fit in with the rest of the crowd despite dating Freddy. The way Return is structured allows O’Bannon to jump back and forth between the two groups, with Freddy, Frank, and later Burt (Clu Gulager) attempting to sort through the mess they’ve made after meddling with government property and the punks partying it up to popular punk rock of the time. They all come together, too, a meeting of two unlikely cliques that amplifies the humor significantly.
The thing about Return is that it manages to maintain its Grand Guignol style while it jokes about the subject matter and, metacritically, the horror genre itself. The special effects really are solid for the budget, and O’Bannon’s film gets a lot of mileage out of its detailed settings. Combining that with the memorable characters makes for a hilarious time, with Gulager playing it straight and mortician Ernie (Don Calfa) adding odd quirks to the dynamic.
While on the surface The Return of the Living Dead seems like a brainless horror comedy, it is certainly steeped in the anarchy of its punk roots. The film is a clever indictment of government and military ineptitude; its sole military character, Colonel Glover (Jonathan Terry), is a miserable mess of a man whose sole purpose is to wait for a call about 2-4-5 Trioxin’s release and then send out a nuke to cover up the whole mess. The film pokes fun at this, obviously, but it’s hard not to read this as a lack of faith in agencies meant to protect the country – who would rather kill everyone involved than deal with the situation before it becomes a national catastrophe.
The Return of the Living Dead isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination; its budget limitations are evident in some scenes, the aforementioned Colonel Glover is strangely absent except for a quick introduction at the beginning of the film, and the inanity of its plot won’t appeal to a certain kind of viewer. But those issues are easy to overlook because O’Bannon’s film is just so damn fun, and it’s important to appreciate how vital the film has been for the horror genre. Its energy and entertainment value never fail to revitalize the audience, and The Return of the Living Dead simply leaves one craving for even more brains.
4K UHD
Scream Factory released The Return of the Living Dead on Blu-ray back in 2016 with a 2K scan of the film’s interpositive. For their new UHD, they have secured the original camera negative for a new 4K scan to make the most use of the upgraded tech. The most immediate impact viewers will notice with the new scan is a sharper image and one that features a cooler color grade, since the previous Blu-ray from Scream Factory featured a more yellowed tint presumably due to the interpositive. Here, colors look more natural and often darker, and with the UHD’s use of Dolby Vision HDR, the contrasts between blacks and reds are significantly enhanced. Shadows are often utilized in the film and the HDR truly makes these moments stand out with excellent deep black levels while maintaining delineation. Grain is moderately noticeable, but ultimately not obstructive or chunky; background details are readily apparent (see screenshot of the creative vision chart for an example).
In comparisons, you can see that the image quality is marginally better, and so this 4K UHD upgrade is recommended for those that can take advantage of the Dolby Vision HDR/HDR 10 specifically, since that is where the majority of the noticeable enhancements occur. For those that don’t have that luxury, a double-dip may not be worth it.
Audio is presented with the same options as the previous Blu-ray: the original DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track, a DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo track, and a DTS-HD MA 5.1 option. These remain unchanged from the prior Blu-ray and all sound quite good, though I am partial to the original audio option. It’s important to note that this release still does not feature the scene with “Dead Beat Dance,” since the rights are still not available in the US. Also included on both the UHD and Blu-ray are English subtitles and zombie subtitles. Audio commentaries from Gary Smart and Chris Griffiths, Thom Matthews, John Philbin, and Tony Gardner, Dan O’Bannon and William Stout, and William Stout, Don Calfa, Linnea Quigley, Brian Peck, Beverly Randolph, and Allan Trautman are all included, ported over from past releases.
The extra features are contained to the Blu-ray disc and a second disc of bonus extras, all of which were included on the previous Blu-ray so we won’t review them in full here. Please see the list of extras included with time stamps, as well as our screenshot gallery, for more details on these extras.
EXTRA FEATURES
DISC ONE (FEATURE FILM – 4K UHD):
- NEW 2022 4K Scan Of The Original Camera Negative
- In Dolby Vision (HDR 10 Compatible)
- DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, 2.0
- Audio Commentary With Gary Smart (Co-author Of The Complete History Of The Return Of The Living Dead) And Chris Griffiths
- Audio Commentary With Actors Thom Mathews, John Philbin And Make-up Effects Artist Tony Gardner
- Audio Commentary With Director Dan O’Bannon And Production Designer William Stout
- Audio Commentary With The Cast And Crew Featuring Production Designer William Stout And Actors Don Calfa, Linnea Quigley, Beverly Randolph, And Allan Trautman
- Zombie Subtitles
- In Their Own Words – The Zombies Speak
DISC TWO (FEATURE FILM – BLU-RAY):
- NEW 2022 4K Scan Of The Original Camera Negative
- DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, 2.0
- Audio Commentary With Gary Smart (Co-author Of The Complete History Of The Return Of The Living Dead) And Chris Griffiths
- Audio Commentary With Actors Thom Mathews, John Philbin And Make-up Effects Artist Tony Gardner
- Audio Commentary With Director Dan O’Bannon And Production Designer William Stout
- Audio Commentary With The Cast And Crew Featuring Production Designer William Stout And Actors Don Calfa, Linnea Quigley, Beverly Randolph, And Allan Trautman
- The Decade Of Darkness – Featurette On ’80s Horror Films (1080p; 23:23)
- Theatrical Trailers (1080p; 8:31)
- TV Spots (1080p; 5:23)
- Still Gallery – Posters, Lobby Cards, Movie Stills And Behind-The-Scenes Photos (chapter breaks; 7:21)
- Still Gallery – Behind-The-Scenes Photos From Special Make-up Effects Artist Kenny Myers’ Personal Collection (chapter breaks; 2:06)
- Zombie Subtitles
- In Their Own Words – The Zombies Speak
DISC THREE (SPECIAL FEATURES – BLU-RAY):
- The Return Of The Living Dead Workprint – Includes 20 minutes Of Additional Footage (480i; 1:48:05)
- More Brains: A Return To The Living Dead – The Definitive Documentary On The Return Of The Living Dead (1080p; 1:59:43)
- The FX Of The Return Living Dead – With Production Designer William Stout, FX Make-up Artists William Munns, Tony Gardner, Kenny Myers And Craig Caton-Largnet, Visual Effects Artists Bret Mixon And Gene Warren Jr. (1080p; 32:49)
- Party Time: The Music Of The Return Of The Living Dead – With Music Consultants Budd Carr And Steve Pross And Soundtrack Artists Plus Musicians (1080p; 29:31)
- The Origins Of The Living Dead – An Interview With John A. Russo (1080p; 15:12)
- The Return Of The Living Dead: The Dead Have Risen – Interviews With Cast Members Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph, Linnea Quigley And More… (1080i; 20:34)
- Designing The Dead – Interviews With Writer/Director Dan O’Bannon And Production Designer William Stout (1080i; 13:39)
- HORROR’S HALLOWED GROUNDS – Revisiting The Locations Of The Film (1080p; 10:15)
- A Conversation With Dan O’Bannon – His Final Interview (1080i; 28:32)
Verdict
For those that already own The Return of the Living Dead with Scream Factory’s previous Blu-ray, this new 4K transfer is worth an upgrade provided you can take advantage of the HDR elements in the film, since that is where this release shines. If you’re looking for video quality alone, the transfer is slightly better than the previous option. For extras, these are all the same bonus features that were on Scream Factory’s previous release, and this also lacks an upgraded Dolby Atmos track for additional tech improvements.
