30 Day Horror Challenge: Day 14

There are so many different ways that zombie films have been portrayed on screen, it borders on the ridiculous. Each movie seems to have its own canon and set of rules. Some are based in a realistic setting. Others force you to suspend your beliefs to maximum limits. Almost all of them have their own merits.

Your favorite zombie film.

The Return Of The Living Dead (1985)

In the United States, zombie films were mostly known as George Romero creations. This movie does have some ties with Romero. When Romero made Night Of The Living Dead, he had a partner named John Russo. When they parted ways after the film, Russo retained the rights to the "Living Dead" name, so he wrote a novel called "The Return Of The Living Dead". Romero was free to make sequels, but couldn't use the "Living Dead" name.

After Tobe Hooper bowed out of the production to make Lifeforce, Dan O'Bannon was brought in to punch up the script. Eventually, he was offered the job of director. O'Bannon accepted, on the condition that he could radically rewrite the script. The result hardly resembles Russo's novel, but instead of the social commentary of Romero's films, the finished product relied on comedic elements and creativity.

The film starts off with a medical supply foreman showing off to a new employee. He shows the newbie a drum containing the mummy of a failed military experiment. The seal ends up being broken and toxic gas escapes leading to a reanimation of everything deceased.

There are many classic moments in the film and there are more than a few fan favorites from this film, such as the "Tarman" and a half woman corpse explaining the dead's fixation on brains. It's a great escape movie with a great punk rock soundtrack.

"What? What the hell are you doing with a bunch of rabid weasels?"