5 Star

Punk Zombie Revival.

Well it’s come back time, and what a time to come back. Forty years after it hit the big screen, this directing debut from famed writer Dan O’Bannon (Lifeforce, Alien) parodies Night of the Living Dead, but brings a punk-teen comedy element to the Zombie genre. Now in beautiful 4K, the gore is gorier and the practical effects are even more impressive. Also with this release, you get the 2011 feature length documentary, that gives you the real insight into the making of the film and how everyone interacted during the filming of this genre defining film. More Brains. Forty years on, this film is still a benchmark film in its genre, and it was Dan O’Bannon’s vision, and in the documentary you find out how driven he was to get his vision in the can. The Documentary was directed by Bill Philputt (Stormtroopers of Death: Kill Yourself – The Movie). Very eye-opening.

The opening disclaimer tells us the events portrayed in the film are true, as are the people and organizations also real.

It’s the third of July 1984 5:30 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and it’s a normal day in Louisville, Kentucky. Freddy (Thom Mathews, Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, Bloodmatch) has been lucky enough to get a job, much to the chagrin of his gang of friends, Tina (Beverly Randolph, Death House, Freaks of Nature), Chuck (John Philbin, Point Break, Children of the Corn), Spider (Miguel A. Núñez Jr., Scooby-Doo, The Family Business (TV Series)), Suicide (Mark Venturini, Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning, Best Seller), Casey (Jewel Shepard. The Cooler, Christina), Scuz (Brian Peck, X-Men 2, The Last American Virgin), and Trash (Linnea Quigley, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Night of the Demons). Freddy isn’t with his friends, as he is with Frank (James Karen, Poltergeist, Mulholland Drive) at UNEEDA medical Supplies, where he begins training for his new job.

There is every type of equipment or medical supplies any organization or physician could possibly want. Frank’s boss Burt (Clu Gulager, The Initiation, The Killers) leaves them to their evening. Frank tells Freddy a strange story of an event that happened in 1969 in Pittsburgh at a VA Hospital. Where the toxic gas 245-Trioxin was released in a morgue, the gas reanimated the corpses. We all know how that story goes.

It turns out that the military managed to solve the problem by putting the very active corpses into specially designed barrels, they were then shipped out to a facility, but they never arrived. But they did end up at UNEEDA, and they are still down in the cellar.

Well, as you can imagine things take a turn for the worst, and the rest is history. What a release from Arrow Video, as this is a seminal film of its genre, and now in 4K along with the documentary, this is a must purchase for horror fans.

(See below for special features)

The Return of the Living Dead is available on 4k Blu-ray.

 

4K ULTRA HD LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Orlando Arocena
• Perfect bound collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Gary Smart and a preview of the forthcoming sequel comic Revenge of the Living Dead
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Orlando Arocena

 

DISC ONE – FEATURE (4K ULTRA HD)

• 4K restoration from the original negative
• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Original* lossless mono audio plus DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by writer-director Dan O’Bannon and production designer William Stout
• Audio commentary by Stout and actors Don Calfa, Brian Peck, Linnea Quigley, Beverly Randolph and Allan Trautman
• Audio commentary by actors Thom Mathews and John Philbin and make-up effects artist Tony Gardner
• Audio commentary by fans and filmmakers Gary Smart and Chris Griffiths
• The Origins of the Living Dead, an archive interview with author John Russo
• The FX of the Living Dead, an archive featurette on the special effects
• Party Time: The Music of Return of the Living Dead, a featurette on the film’s soundtrack
• Horror’s Hallowed Grounds, an archive tour of the locations by Sean Clark
• The Dead Have Risen, an archive featurette with Calfa, Peck, Quigley, Randolph, Trautman, Clu Gulager and James Karen
• Designing the Dead, an archive featurette with O’Bannon and Stout
• The Decade of Darkness, an archive featurette about 1980s horror classics
• Deleted scenes from a VHS workprint
• Theatrical trailers and TV spots

 

DISC TWO – MORE BRAINS! (LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE BLU-RAY)

• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of the 2017 feature-length documentary about the making of the film, featuring extensive interviews with cast and crew
• A Conversation with Dan O’Bannon: The Final Interview
• Deleted scenes from the documentary
• Return of the Living Dead in 3 Minutes
• Resurrected Settings: The Filming Locations Today