Writer/Director Dan O’Bannon’s The Return of the Living Dead is both a loving homage to Night of the Living Dead as much as it’s a wholly original punk rock thing. Part comedy, part horror the film’s mixture of the genre is right up there with Ghostbusters, An American Werewolf in London, and Shaun of the Dead.
As the film begins one would think they’re in a Repo Man sequel with Freddy (Thom Matthews) getting a new job as his group of Punk Rock friends continue their Punk ways. Freddy is given the tour by his co-work Frank (James Karen) and quickly the conversation turns to a strange occurrence in Pittsburgh and a container from that incident. As things go the contents of the container are released and slowly but surely Zombies begin to rise from the grave.
If there’s one person that hasn’t gotten enough credit for the work, he had done in his lifetime it was Dan O’Bannon. From Alien to Heavy Metal to Dark Star he’s always been second fiddle to a heavier hitter. Which just isn’t the case. The more you look into O’Bannon’s work and what he did you find that he was the architect of a lot of the great in those projects. More than just beyond he was just a mere “screenwriter” – the more and more that is revealed the more it is apparent that O’Bannon brought in A LOT of the key creatives that made Alien what it is. The Return of the Living Dead solidifies that for anyone that hasn’t seen it. It is THE zombie movie that isn’t directed by George Romero or based on a George Romero film.
A through line through much of O’Bannon’s work is his brilliant use of blue-collar workers put into situations by their Corporate/Governmental Overlords they are ill-equipped to handle. The Return of the Living Dead is no different than Alien with its cast of working-class guys and punk rock kids all just trying to survive having no clue they are in the middle of something bigger. Though where Alien trades in genuine terror, The Return of the Living Dead trades in gore and laughs in equal measure.
Though one thinking that the movie is condescending in its humor will be pleasantly surprised to learn that O’Bannon respects the genre and his characters as much as any other straight-ahead genre pic. The writer/director finds a magical way to make the situations rather than the characters funny.
The standout here though is the Make-up FX work here. The work employed by FX artist Tony Garnder is lovely and artful to anyone that loves practical FX work. Garnder working in tandem with Production Designer Bill Stout (whose background was FX work) uses just about every type of practical, optical, make-up, and puppet trick in the book to create all sorts of unliving manner of humans and creatures to great comedic and gross-out effect makes it one of the best creature features of the 1980s. Yes, one of the best creature features of the 1980s.
Though it is the drop-dead cynical ending that ties just about everything together, The Return of the Living Dead manages to invoke the spirit of Night of the Living Dead without aping it in any way shape, or form. The former having a full-on Leanna Quigley dance number in the pale moonlight – fully nude I’ll add – that the latter has nothing of the sort. One could say that in that regard, Night is one-upped. Plus, you know the laughs.
The new 2022 4K Scan of the Original Camera Negative in Dolby Vision is a stunner! Again, with UHD it isn’t the clarity or sharpness that grips you but the image’s color reproduction and contrast level. The image is slightly darker than their 2018 Blu-Ray release but that’s because of the level of detail within the image. The black levels have detail that is not seen in the original Blu-Ray’s 2K Master. One only needs to watch the moment a third of the way through where rain begins to fall. There isn’t a single piece of artifacting or issue during the dark and rainy sections section of the film. This transfer does an excellent job of reproducing the quality and consistency of a beautiful freshly struck 35mm print. Bravo to Scream Factory for their remarkable work here.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC ONE (FEATURE FILM – 4K UHD):
Audio Commentary With Gary Smart (Co-author Of The Complete History Of The Return Of The Living Dead) and Chris Griffiths
Audio Commentary With Actors Thom Mathews, John Philbin, and Make-up Effects Artist Tony Gardner
Audio Commentary With Director Dan O’Bannon and Production Designer William Stout
Audio Commentary With The Cast and Crew Featuring Production Designer William Stout and Actors Don Calfa, Linnea Quigley, Beverly Randolph, and Allan Trautman
Zombie Subtitles In Their Own Words – The Zombies Speak
The first audio commentary featuring authors and filmmakers Gary Smart and Chris Griffiths opens with when they first saw the film during its UK initial release. Some of the details include Tobe Hooper originally attached to direct the film and the Cannon Films project that caused it to not happen, how the film was originally a 3D film, the novelization that was written by screenwriter John Russo, the work of Russo beyond The Return of the Living Dead, the connection to Friday the 13th Part 5, their visiting of the locations of the film when both visited the US on a project, the work of Tony Gardener – which was one of the first projects he did FX for, the work of Clu Gulager, the various sequels of the film, the FX work it took to create the ‘tar man’ zombie, the lack of Dan O’Bannon during the Oscar In Memorandum in 2009 after his passing, the various actors and stunt performers that portrayed zombies, a discussion of O’Bannon’s career and personal history, and much more. Smart and Griffiths deliver an elevated ‘fan’ (described by them early on) commentary track with an entertaining amount of factoids and discussion points about the film.
The next audio commentary track with Actors Thom Mathews, John Philbin, and Make-up Effects Artist Tony Gardner hosted by Sean Clark. The group begins with how they were hired onto the production. Some of the other details include Clu Gulager’s anger during the production and his turning since the film’s rise in cult status, the infamous O’Bannon vs Gulager fight during the production, the reasons why Make-up FX artist Bill Munn was let go, Philbin taking friends and family to a New Beverly Screening – and their reaction, the work of production designer Bill Stout, working with the various actors and crew, the casting and Linnea Quigley and working with her, the rushed nature of the production and the production woes, and much more. The group’s track is more conversational affair with some information doled out about the film’s production.
The third audio commentary track with Dan O’Bannon and Production Designer William Stout begins very cheekily advising that this was based on “real life events”. Some of the details include the role that O’Bannon wanted to cast himself in, a hilarious story about Giger, Alien and skulls, how O’Bannon used Howard Hawks as a reference for the film, the various actors and how O’Bannon approached working with them, how Stout achieved from the distressed look in the various parts of the warehouse set, the problem finding forests in Los Angeles, Stout’s work with Tony Gardner to build a lot of the Puppets and Make-up FX work, the technical work that went into Linnea Quigley’s dance number, shooting the television version and a great anecdote regarding a piece of clothing, how Stout and O’Bannon collaborated during preproduction and the production, the difficulty shooting on a rain set, the work they did to achieve the ‘tar man’ scene, the trouble with being able to pull off visible rain on film, the subtle make-up FX work that’s done as the victims turn into zombie, the disappointment in some of the FX work done in the film, his view on what he truly wanted, Tony Garnder’s work with Stout to achieve some of the FX work and how it was achieved, the creation of Quigley’s make-up, an issue with a prop that Clu Gulager was using, some great anecdotes about the finale and stunt work, and much more. This archival commentary track is more of a conversation between O’Bannon and Stout that shifts through memories, stories, and some informative information about the production.
The fourth and final audio commentary track with the Cast and Crew featuring Production Designer William Stout, Actors Don Calfa, Linnea Quigley, Beverly Randolph, and Allan Trautman hosted by Sean Clark begin with who they are and who they played (the exception being Stout). Some of the other details include how each of the actors was cast, how Stout came onto the production design, some crazier stories about Dan O’Bannon, Quigley’s thoughts on the nudity and dancing during this production and in other films, the original casting of Clu Gluager’s characters, some stories about Gluager, Trautman working as ‘tar man’ and the difficulties, the make-up application and costumes and the casts difficulties and solutions, Calfa’s work on the character and the character being a Nazi, a great story about what were in the moving bags that were to house zombie parts, the various “hair trauma” that occurred for the various actors, and much more. This group commentary is a lively affair with a group that has a lot of affection for each other that leads to an entertaining and informative commentary track.
Zombie Subtitles – a cheeky bit of business that translates everything the zeds are saying and not saying. Of course, this is something that plays through the run time in any scene where the zombies are present.
DISC TWO (FEATURE FILM – BLU-RAY):
Audio Commentary With Gary Smart (Co-author Of The Complete History Of The Return Of The Living Dead) and Chris Griffiths
Audio Commentary With Actors Thom Mathews, John Philbin, and Make-up Effects Artist Tony Gardner
Audio Commentary With Director Dan O’Bannon and Production Designer William Stout
Audio Commentary With The Cast And Crew Featuring Production Designer William Stout And Actors Don Calfa, Linnea Quigley, Beverly Randolph, and Allan Trautman
Zombie Subtitles In Their Own Words – The Zombies Speak
The Decade Of Darkness
Theatrical Trailers
TV Spots
Still Gallery – Posters, Lobby Cards, Movie Stills, and Behind-The-Scenes Photos
Still Gallery – Behind-The-Scenes Photos From Special Make-up Effects Artist Kenny Myers’ Personal Collection
Note: the Commentary Tracks on the UHD disc reviewed above are the exact Tracks on the Blu-Ray.
The Decade of Darkness (23:23) – is an archival featurette on ’80s Horror Films including The Return of the Living Dead. Many of the films discussed are from MGM (because this was produced for the DVD of The Return of the Living Dead). This featurette is interesting as it discussed horror rise in the 1980s because of social economic and political reasons. It tracks the evolution of the genre and various subgenres through the decade from the beginning till the 1990s. Featuring interviews with filmmakers Stuart Gordon, Joe Dante, John Landis, horror personality Elvira, and more.
Theatrical Trailers (8:31) – a collection of 5 theatrical trailers.
TV Spots (5:23) – a collection of 10 30-second TV spots.
Still Gallery 1 (7:21) – is a collection of 87 Posters, Lobby Cards, Movie Stills, and Behind-The-Scenes Photos. You have the option to allow the gallery to play automatically or navigate by using your next and back chapter stop buttons on your remote.
Still Gallery 2 (2:06) –is a collection of 24 Behind-The-Scenes Photos from Special Make-up Effects Artist Kenny Myers’ Personal Collection. You have the option to allow the gallery to play automatically or navigate by using your next and back chapter stop buttons on your remote.
DISC THREE (SPECIAL FEATURES – BLU-RAY):
The Return of The Living Dead Workprint
More Brains: A Return to The Living Dead
The FX of The Return Living Dead
Party Time: The Music of The Return of The Living Dead
The Origins of The Living Dead
The Return of The Living Dead: The Dead Have Risen
Designing The Dead – Interviews with Writer/Director Dan O’Bannon and Production Designer William Stout
HORROR’S HALLOWED GROUNDS
A Conversation with Dan O’Bannon
The Return of The Living Dead Workprint (1:48:05) – the feature begins with this notice from Scream Factory; A high-quality version of the workprint could not be located, but we felt fans would enjoy seeing this so we have presented it in the best version we could find. We hope you enjoy it. The workprint quality is sub-VHS quality. The image is degraded a few generations to the point of little detail. That being said this assembly is an interesting version. By no means is it better than the theatrical – the 20-minutes just makes it a bit too long – but it’s a fascinating look at what was left out and done differently – though it does not include the original song used during Trash’s dance. A fascinating extra feature to be included on the disc. NOTE: This feature is the menu’s last option, not the first.
More Brains: A Return To The Living Dead (1:59:43) – billed as the “The Definitive Documentary On The Return Of The Living Dead” this archival feature-length making-of documentary is just that. The documentary covers everything about the production. From the context in which the film was created (with George Romero and Russo parting ways to do their own sequels to the Classic Night of the Living Dead), the pre-production, the production, the post-production, the release and rise of the cult following post-home video release. Done through a lens of honest and unfiltered accounts of the troubles that O’Bannon and Company went through. Lack of money, legal battles, losing directors, issues during the production, and personality conflicts all contribute to a fascinating look at the making of the cult classic. Featuring comments/interviews with screenwriter John Russo, Orion Executive Paul Sammon, Production designer William Stout, Actors Thom Matthew, John Karen, Clu Gulager, Linnea Quigley, John Philbin, Jewel Shepard, Miguel Nunez, Allan Trautman, Co-producer Graham Henderson, Special Makeup FX artist Tony Gardner, and more.
The FX Of The Return Living Dead (32:49) – is an expanded version of the featurette from the original Scream Factory Blu-Ray release. The archival featurette looks at the various FX work and the troubles/solutions that came up. The featurette does discuss the issues and gifts it was to work with O’Bannon. It is interesting that William Munns is allowed to discuss some of the issues and troubles that caused him to be fired. All of the different FX and how they were achieved are discussed including extras eating real brains, and more. Includes interviews with Production Designer William Stout, FX Make-up Artists William Munns, Tony Gardner, Kenny Myers, Craig Caton-Largnet, and Visual Effects Artists Bret Mixon and Gene Warren Jr.
Party Time: The Music Of The Return Of The Living Dead (29:31) – this is also is an expanded version of the featurette from the original Scream Factory Blu-Ray release. The archival interview/featurette with Music Consultants Budd Carr and Steve Pross of how they put together this Punk Rock flavored soundtrack through Egnima and the label’s staple of acts. There are some great additional interviews by contributing artists like Dinah Cancer from 45 Grave, Greg Hetson from The Circle Jerks, Joe Wood from T.S.O.L., Karl Moet from SSQ, and others that go beyond just their tracks but into their careers and lives at the time, inspiration and excitement about being involved with a horror film and how their various songs were created.
HORROR’S HALLOWED GROUNDS (10:15) – the long-running series hosted by Sean Clark that revisits the locations of The Return of the Living Dead in and around Southern California.
A Conversation with Dan O’Bannon (28:32) – in what would be his Final Interview director O’Bannon gives an honest and interesting interview. O’Bannon discusses the casting of the film, his choice to use punks rather than “normal teens”, the casting of Linnea Quigley, the issues that came up between him and actress Beverly Randolph, a discussion about his handgun collection, and how it was bore out of paranoia, his difficult behavior on set, the on-set issues with Clu Gulager, the on-set relationship with cinematographer Jules Brenner, and much more.
The Origins of The Living Dead (15:12) – An archival interview with screenwriter John A. Russo. The writer begins with his early life as a cinema, specifically horror fan, and how that informed his and Romero’s creation of Night of the Living Dead, an account of the production of the Romero classic, the contract between him and Romero regarding the right to make a sequel and how it was tied to the making of The Return of the Living Dead, the development of the film – and how Romero and Russo informed each’s scripts, the original concept for his script, how novel that grew out of his concept back in the late 1970s and its success and recent reprinting, the various directors – including himself – that were attached, the novelization he wrote of this project, the competing Day of the Dead and attempts to adjusting schedules, and much more.
The Dead Have Risen (20:34) – An archival set of interviews from the initial DVD release with Cast Members Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph, and Linnea Quigley discussing the making of the film including some details that include shooting in sequence, casting, working with the older cast members, working with O’Bannon. The inclusion of this special feature is nice but very gloss as compared to the newer less filtered interviews.
Designing The Dead (13:39) – An archival set of interviews from the initial DVD release with Writer/Director O’Bannon and Production Designer Stout. Much of this interview is already gone over in the other special features. Though O’Bannon’s discussion of how he began was something that wasn’t discussed in other featurettes. O’Bannon and Stout are not recorded together but separately and edited together.
The Final Thought
Scream Factory’s 4K edition of The Return of the Living Dead adds the superlative upgrade along with their already stacked special features. One of the best discs of the year. Highest Possible Recommendations!!!
brains. Brains. BRAINS!!! Dan O’Bannon’s cult classic zombie horror comedy has risen again this time in 4K UHD glory. Scream Factory has brought all the trimmings and then some to this UHD upgrade.
The Film
Writer/Director Dan O’Bannon’s The Return of the Living Dead is both a loving homage to Night of the Living Dead as much as it’s a wholly original punk rock thing. Part comedy, part horror the film’s mixture of the genre is right up there with Ghostbusters, An American Werewolf in London, and Shaun of the Dead.
As the film begins one would think they’re in a Repo Man sequel with Freddy (Thom Matthews) getting a new job as his group of Punk Rock friends continue their Punk ways. Freddy is given the tour by his co-work Frank (James Karen) and quickly the conversation turns to a strange occurrence in Pittsburgh and a container from that incident. As things go the contents of the container are released and slowly but surely Zombies begin to rise from the grave.
If there’s one person that hasn’t gotten enough credit for the work, he had done in his lifetime it was Dan O’Bannon. From Alien to Heavy Metal to Dark Star he’s always been second fiddle to a heavier hitter. Which just isn’t the case. The more you look into O’Bannon’s work and what he did you find that he was the architect of a lot of the great in those projects. More than just beyond he was just a mere “screenwriter” – the more and more that is revealed the more it is apparent that O’Bannon brought in A LOT of the key creatives that made Alien what it is. The Return of the Living Dead solidifies that for anyone that hasn’t seen it. It is THE zombie movie that isn’t directed by George Romero or based on a George Romero film.
A through line through much of O’Bannon’s work is his brilliant use of blue-collar workers put into situations by their Corporate/Governmental Overlords they are ill-equipped to handle. The Return of the Living Dead is no different than Alien with its cast of working-class guys and punk rock kids all just trying to survive having no clue they are in the middle of something bigger. Though where Alien trades in genuine terror, The Return of the Living Dead trades in gore and laughs in equal measure.
Though one thinking that the movie is condescending in its humor will be pleasantly surprised to learn that O’Bannon respects the genre and his characters as much as any other straight-ahead genre pic. The writer/director finds a magical way to make the situations rather than the characters funny.
The standout here though is the Make-up FX work here. The work employed by FX artist Tony Garnder is lovely and artful to anyone that loves practical FX work. Garnder working in tandem with Production Designer Bill Stout (whose background was FX work) uses just about every type of practical, optical, make-up, and puppet trick in the book to create all sorts of unliving manner of humans and creatures to great comedic and gross-out effect makes it one of the best creature features of the 1980s. Yes, one of the best creature features of the 1980s.
Though it is the drop-dead cynical ending that ties just about everything together, The Return of the Living Dead manages to invoke the spirit of Night of the Living Dead without aping it in any way shape, or form. The former having a full-on Leanna Quigley dance number in the pale moonlight – fully nude I’ll add – that the latter has nothing of the sort. One could say that in that regard, Night is one-upped. Plus, you know the laughs.
One may want to stay away from The Return of the Living Dead Part II.
The Transfer
The new 2022 4K Scan of the Original Camera Negative in Dolby Vision is a stunner! Again, with UHD it isn’t the clarity or sharpness that grips you but the image’s color reproduction and contrast level. The image is slightly darker than their 2018 Blu-Ray release but that’s because of the level of detail within the image. The black levels have detail that is not seen in the original Blu-Ray’s 2K Master. One only needs to watch the moment a third of the way through where rain begins to fall. There isn’t a single piece of artifacting or issue during the dark and rainy sections section of the film. This transfer does an excellent job of reproducing the quality and consistency of a beautiful freshly struck 35mm print. Bravo to Scream Factory for their remarkable work here.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC ONE (FEATURE FILM – 4K UHD):
The first audio commentary featuring authors and filmmakers Gary Smart and Chris Griffiths opens with when they first saw the film during its UK initial release. Some of the details include Tobe Hooper originally attached to direct the film and the Cannon Films project that caused it to not happen, how the film was originally a 3D film, the novelization that was written by screenwriter John Russo, the work of Russo beyond The Return of the Living Dead, the connection to Friday the 13th Part 5, their visiting of the locations of the film when both visited the US on a project, the work of Tony Gardener – which was one of the first projects he did FX for, the work of Clu Gulager, the various sequels of the film, the FX work it took to create the ‘tar man’ zombie, the lack of Dan O’Bannon during the Oscar In Memorandum in 2009 after his passing, the various actors and stunt performers that portrayed zombies, a discussion of O’Bannon’s career and personal history, and much more. Smart and Griffiths deliver an elevated ‘fan’ (described by them early on) commentary track with an entertaining amount of factoids and discussion points about the film.
The next audio commentary track with Actors Thom Mathews, John Philbin, and Make-up Effects Artist Tony Gardner hosted by Sean Clark. The group begins with how they were hired onto the production. Some of the other details include Clu Gulager’s anger during the production and his turning since the film’s rise in cult status, the infamous O’Bannon vs Gulager fight during the production, the reasons why Make-up FX artist Bill Munn was let go, Philbin taking friends and family to a New Beverly Screening – and their reaction, the work of production designer Bill Stout, working with the various actors and crew, the casting and Linnea Quigley and working with her, the rushed nature of the production and the production woes, and much more. The group’s track is more conversational affair with some information doled out about the film’s production.
The third audio commentary track with Dan O’Bannon and Production Designer William Stout begins very cheekily advising that this was based on “real life events”. Some of the details include the role that O’Bannon wanted to cast himself in, a hilarious story about Giger, Alien and skulls, how O’Bannon used Howard Hawks as a reference for the film, the various actors and how O’Bannon approached working with them, how Stout achieved from the distressed look in the various parts of the warehouse set, the problem finding forests in Los Angeles, Stout’s work with Tony Gardner to build a lot of the Puppets and Make-up FX work, the technical work that went into Linnea Quigley’s dance number, shooting the television version and a great anecdote regarding a piece of clothing, how Stout and O’Bannon collaborated during preproduction and the production, the difficulty shooting on a rain set, the work they did to achieve the ‘tar man’ scene, the trouble with being able to pull off visible rain on film, the subtle make-up FX work that’s done as the victims turn into zombie, the disappointment in some of the FX work done in the film, his view on what he truly wanted, Tony Garnder’s work with Stout to achieve some of the FX work and how it was achieved, the creation of Quigley’s make-up, an issue with a prop that Clu Gulager was using, some great anecdotes about the finale and stunt work, and much more. This archival commentary track is more of a conversation between O’Bannon and Stout that shifts through memories, stories, and some informative information about the production.
The fourth and final audio commentary track with the Cast and Crew featuring Production Designer William Stout, Actors Don Calfa, Linnea Quigley, Beverly Randolph, and Allan Trautman hosted by Sean Clark begin with who they are and who they played (the exception being Stout). Some of the other details include how each of the actors was cast, how Stout came onto the production design, some crazier stories about Dan O’Bannon, Quigley’s thoughts on the nudity and dancing during this production and in other films, the original casting of Clu Gluager’s characters, some stories about Gluager, Trautman working as ‘tar man’ and the difficulties, the make-up application and costumes and the casts difficulties and solutions, Calfa’s work on the character and the character being a Nazi, a great story about what were in the moving bags that were to house zombie parts, the various “hair trauma” that occurred for the various actors, and much more. This group commentary is a lively affair with a group that has a lot of affection for each other that leads to an entertaining and informative commentary track.
Zombie Subtitles – a cheeky bit of business that translates everything the zeds are saying and not saying. Of course, this is something that plays through the run time in any scene where the zombies are present.
DISC TWO (FEATURE FILM – BLU-RAY):
Note: the Commentary Tracks on the UHD disc reviewed above are the exact Tracks on the Blu-Ray.
The Decade of Darkness (23:23) – is an archival featurette on ’80s Horror Films including The Return of the Living Dead. Many of the films discussed are from MGM (because this was produced for the DVD of The Return of the Living Dead). This featurette is interesting as it discussed horror rise in the 1980s because of social economic and political reasons. It tracks the evolution of the genre and various subgenres through the decade from the beginning till the 1990s. Featuring interviews with filmmakers Stuart Gordon, Joe Dante, John Landis, horror personality Elvira, and more.
Theatrical Trailers (8:31) – a collection of 5 theatrical trailers.
TV Spots (5:23) – a collection of 10 30-second TV spots.
Still Gallery 1 (7:21) – is a collection of 87 Posters, Lobby Cards, Movie Stills, and Behind-The-Scenes Photos. You have the option to allow the gallery to play automatically or navigate by using your next and back chapter stop buttons on your remote.
Still Gallery 2 (2:06) –is a collection of 24 Behind-The-Scenes Photos from Special Make-up Effects Artist Kenny Myers’ Personal Collection. You have the option to allow the gallery to play automatically or navigate by using your next and back chapter stop buttons on your remote.
DISC THREE (SPECIAL FEATURES – BLU-RAY):
The Return of The Living Dead Workprint (1:48:05) – the feature begins with this notice from Scream Factory; A high-quality version of the workprint could not be located, but we felt fans would enjoy seeing this so we have presented it in the best version we could find. We hope you enjoy it. The workprint quality is sub-VHS quality. The image is degraded a few generations to the point of little detail. That being said this assembly is an interesting version. By no means is it better than the theatrical – the 20-minutes just makes it a bit too long – but it’s a fascinating look at what was left out and done differently – though it does not include the original song used during Trash’s dance. A fascinating extra feature to be included on the disc. NOTE: This feature is the menu’s last option, not the first.
More Brains: A Return To The Living Dead (1:59:43) – billed as the “The Definitive Documentary On The Return Of The Living Dead” this archival feature-length making-of documentary is just that. The documentary covers everything about the production. From the context in which the film was created (with George Romero and Russo parting ways to do their own sequels to the Classic Night of the Living Dead), the pre-production, the production, the post-production, the release and rise of the cult following post-home video release. Done through a lens of honest and unfiltered accounts of the troubles that O’Bannon and Company went through. Lack of money, legal battles, losing directors, issues during the production, and personality conflicts all contribute to a fascinating look at the making of the cult classic. Featuring comments/interviews with screenwriter John Russo, Orion Executive Paul Sammon, Production designer William Stout, Actors Thom Matthew, John Karen, Clu Gulager, Linnea Quigley, John Philbin, Jewel Shepard, Miguel Nunez, Allan Trautman, Co-producer Graham Henderson, Special Makeup FX artist Tony Gardner, and more.
The FX Of The Return Living Dead (32:49) – is an expanded version of the featurette from the original Scream Factory Blu-Ray release. The archival featurette looks at the various FX work and the troubles/solutions that came up. The featurette does discuss the issues and gifts it was to work with O’Bannon. It is interesting that William Munns is allowed to discuss some of the issues and troubles that caused him to be fired. All of the different FX and how they were achieved are discussed including extras eating real brains, and more. Includes interviews with Production Designer William Stout, FX Make-up Artists William Munns, Tony Gardner, Kenny Myers, Craig Caton-Largnet, and Visual Effects Artists Bret Mixon and Gene Warren Jr.
Party Time: The Music Of The Return Of The Living Dead (29:31) – this is also is an expanded version of the featurette from the original Scream Factory Blu-Ray release. The archival interview/featurette with Music Consultants Budd Carr and Steve Pross of how they put together this Punk Rock flavored soundtrack through Egnima and the label’s staple of acts. There are some great additional interviews by contributing artists like Dinah Cancer from 45 Grave, Greg Hetson from The Circle Jerks, Joe Wood from T.S.O.L., Karl Moet from SSQ, and others that go beyond just their tracks but into their careers and lives at the time, inspiration and excitement about being involved with a horror film and how their various songs were created.
HORROR’S HALLOWED GROUNDS (10:15) – the long-running series hosted by Sean Clark that revisits the locations of The Return of the Living Dead in and around Southern California.
A Conversation with Dan O’Bannon (28:32) – in what would be his Final Interview director O’Bannon gives an honest and interesting interview. O’Bannon discusses the casting of the film, his choice to use punks rather than “normal teens”, the casting of Linnea Quigley, the issues that came up between him and actress Beverly Randolph, a discussion about his handgun collection, and how it was bore out of paranoia, his difficult behavior on set, the on-set issues with Clu Gulager, the on-set relationship with cinematographer Jules Brenner, and much more.
The Origins of The Living Dead (15:12) – An archival interview with screenwriter John A. Russo. The writer begins with his early life as a cinema, specifically horror fan, and how that informed his and Romero’s creation of Night of the Living Dead, an account of the production of the Romero classic, the contract between him and Romero regarding the right to make a sequel and how it was tied to the making of The Return of the Living Dead, the development of the film – and how Romero and Russo informed each’s scripts, the original concept for his script, how novel that grew out of his concept back in the late 1970s and its success and recent reprinting, the various directors – including himself – that were attached, the novelization he wrote of this project, the competing Day of the Dead and attempts to adjusting schedules, and much more.
The Dead Have Risen (20:34) – An archival set of interviews from the initial DVD release with Cast Members Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph, and Linnea Quigley discussing the making of the film including some details that include shooting in sequence, casting, working with the older cast members, working with O’Bannon. The inclusion of this special feature is nice but very gloss as compared to the newer less filtered interviews.
Designing The Dead (13:39) – An archival set of interviews from the initial DVD release with Writer/Director O’Bannon and Production Designer Stout. Much of this interview is already gone over in the other special features. Though O’Bannon’s discussion of how he began was something that wasn’t discussed in other featurettes. O’Bannon and Stout are not recorded together but separately and edited together.
The Final Thought
Scream Factory’s 4K edition of The Return of the Living Dead adds the superlative upgrade along with their already stacked special features. One of the best discs of the year. Highest Possible Recommendations!!!
Scream Factory’s UHD edition of The Return of the Living Dead is out October 18th
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