#perhaps the single most influential zombie film outside of Romero? i mean you ask someone to do an impression of a zombie and chances

[mariocki]

The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

"I thought you said if we destroyed the brain, it'd die?"

"It worked in the movie!"

"Well, it ain't working now, Frank."

"You mean the movie lied?"

#the return of the living dead #horror imagery #gore tw #horror film #american cinema #dan o'bannon #john a. russo #russell streiner #rudy ricci #clu gulager #james karen #don calfa #thom mathews #beverly randolph #linnea quigley #brian peck #jewel shepard #john philbin #miguel a. núñez jr. #mark venturini #perhaps the single most influential zombie film outside of Romero? i mean you ask someone to do an impression of a zombie and chances #are they'll start groaning 'braaiinnsss'; that's this film! that fully wasn't a thing before this movie invented it! and with one swoop a #piece of pop culture immortality was born. not that that is the extent of this film's gifts: it takes the satirical dark humour of Romero's #colour zombie movies and ratchets it into full on splatstick‚ goofy comedy; there's the killer punk soundtrack; a truly iconic (and epoch #defining) appearance by scream queen Lin Quigley; hugely impressive and atypical turns by older Hollywood figures like #Gulager and James Karen‚ endlessly quotable dialogue... this is the gift that keeps on giving! at times playful and irreverent but not #without moments of real empathy and sharp commentary (the very ending is a truly bravado middle finger to the audience) #tears apart the whole mythos of horror cinema in the 80s but also larger 80s culture and particularly US society #and even more particularly the militaristic attitudes of the Reagan era US government. delightfully waspish but absolutely never #taking itself too seriously. a treat of a film!