The Return of the Living Dead
The Return of the Living Dead is a 1985 film from the USA, directed by Dan O'Bannon, running 86 minutes. reelscum files it under zombie and splatter.
- Year
- 1985 · 1980s films
- Country
- USA
- Runtime
- 86 min
- Director
- Dan O'Bannon
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026
- Obscurity
- known (18/100)
- Also known as
- Return of the Living Dead I · Return of the Living Dead
Defined in the glossary: Zombie, Splatter
Punk soundtrack, running zombies, and the film that invented 'BRAINS'.
The zombie comedy that gave the genre its brains obsession. Dan O'Bannon takes the premise sideways: these dead run, talk, and specifically crave brains, released by a military chemical into a Kentucky suburb full of punks. It is fast, funny and mean.
The punk soundtrack, the melting effects and the pitch-black ending mark it as a very 1985 film, and O'Bannon directs his own script with real wit. It runs directly counter to Romero's solemnity, on purpose.
The most purely fun zombie film on this shelf.
Trailer
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Where to watch
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The cycle in depth
- Gut-munchers: the Italian zombie boom, 1979 to 1983
There was no first one. Argento recut Romero, Fulci forged the sequel, and Italy spent four years feeding the British censors.
Filed alongside
Day of the Dead
The bleakest Romero. Bub is the only sympathetic character in it.
Dawn of the Dead
A shopping mall, four survivors, and Savini's finest hour.
White Zombie
Lugosi, Haitian folklore, and the first zombie film. No eating involved.
The Beyond
Makes no sense whatsoever and is Fulci's best film. Dream logic, fully committed.
Zombi 2
A zombie fights a shark. Fulci's splinter shot is still the worst thing here.
Bad Taste
Shot at weekends over four years by Jackson and his friends. Astonishing.
I Walked with a Zombie
Val Lewton doing Jane Eyre in the Caribbean. Beautiful and barely horror.
Re-Animator
Where the effects and the writing finally matched. Jeffrey Combs is perfect.
Braindead
Jackson before the trilogy. The lawnmower scene ends the argument.
City of the Living Dead
The drill scene. Otherwise thin, but the atmosphere is thick.
The Toxic Avenger
Troma's only good film, and the head-crushing is still funny.
Ichi the Killer
Miike hands out sick bags at the premiere and earns every one of them.