Fear Friday Presents... Return Of The Living Dead

Come on in all you Hep Dolls and Ghoulish Girls for another Fear Friday. Every Friday The Lounge will offer up a movie for your enjoyment. The movies can be a wide spread of the horror genre. From vintage to classic to slasher to thriller to the just plain cheesy. So get the popcorn popped, kill the lights and get ready for a little fright. This weeks selection...

Return of the Living Dead

Directed by Dan O'Bannon and released on August 16, 1985 by Orion Pictures Corporation. While working his first day at a medical warehouse, Freddy (Thom Mathews) learns about the top secret toxic bodies down in the basement from co-worker Frank (James Karen). What else is there to do but go look at them and oops...accidentally set them and the toxins free. Meanwhile, Freddy's punk rocker wannabe friends are waiting for him across the street in the graveyard. Bad place to be when the toxins hit those bodies and well, you know the story.
****
This has been a long time favorite of mine. I loved it when it came out and was pleasantly surprised that it has held up over the years. Yes, this is a big slice of stinky cheese. The acting is bad, the writing is bad and the outfits....eeeh! The 80's! But if you are a fan of the Living Dead movies and you can appreciate a great bad movie then you have to give this a try. It makes me laugh and the soundtrack is great.
****
A little trivia...
1. Tobe Hooper was originally slated to direct and it was supposed to be filmed in 3-D. Aaah! I did not know this. That would have been soooo cool!!!
2. The eye-test poster (seen most clearly after Frank and Freddy run into Burt's office after hearing the first re-animated cadaver) in Burt's office actually reads "Burt is a slave driver and a cheap son of a bitch who's got you and me here" if you put the letters together.
3. Some of the zombie extras were paid more to eat real calf brains in the film. Dan O'Bannon didn't want the actors to do anything he wasn't willing to do and ate some raw calf brains first in front of them.
4. After the "rabid weasels" are brought into the Resurrection Funeral Home and the tarp is removed, what is actually in the bags are those motorized toy monkeys that have the cymbals. The cymbals were removed for obvious reasons.
5. The film's German title is "Verdammt, die Zombies kommen", which is roughly "Oh Crap, the Zombies Are Coming" and the Danish title is "Ligene er ligeglade" which is roughly "The Dead Don't Care" - playing up the comical aspect of the film.
6. On the back of Freddy's jacket, in the theatrical version, the words "F**k You" are displayed. After realizing that the shot could not be used in case it was ever shown on TV, a second jacket was made that says "Television Version" and can be seen in the TV version of the movie.