The Return of the Living Dead

"They're back from the grave and ready to party!"

1985 1h 31m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 2,379

ComedyHorrorScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Two employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a toxic gas from a misplaced top-secret U.S. Army shipment, causing the dead to rise from a nearby cemetery with an insatiable hunger for human brains.

“They're back from the grave and ready to party!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Clu Gulager
Burt
James Karen
Frank
Don Calfa
Ernie
Thom Mathews
Freddy
Miguel A. Núñez Jr.
Spider
Brian Peck
Scuz
John Philbin
Chuck
Linnea Quigley
Trash

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Dan O'Bannon
Writers: Dan O'Bannon, John A. Russo, Russell Streiner
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.6× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

41 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Return of the Living Dead Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Dan O'Bannon, shot by Jules Brenner. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Matt Clifford. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert Gordon shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Dan O'Bannon directs. Jules Brenner behind the camera. Matt Clifford scores. Robert Gordon cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 3.6× over at the box office.
341 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
5Part of the "Return of the Living Dead Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by Dan O'Bannon, shot by Jules Brenner. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Matt Clifford. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Robert Gordon shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Clu Gulager and James Karen and Don Calfa carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "They're back from the grave and ready to party!".
11IMDB entry: tt0089907 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12The top-rated still from this film on TMDB has 5 community votes — a signal the frame composition stuck with viewers.
13Classified under 20 themes, including "cemetery", "halloween", "dark comedy", "crematorium".
14Released under 13 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jules Brenner
Original score: Matt Clifford
Editing: Robert Gordon
Production design: William Stout
Makeup / hair: Kenny Myers
VFX supervisor: Pete Kleinow
Sound: Ray West
Stunt coordinator: Erik Cord
Runtime: 91 min · 1h 31m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,000,000
Box office: $14,241,310
Return: 356% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

Part of

Return of the Living Dead Collection

The series came about as a dispute between John A. Russo and George A. Romero over how to handle sequels to their 1968 film, Night of the Living Dead. The two reached a settlement wherein Romero's sequels would be referred to as the Dead movies, and Russo's sequels would bear the suffix Living Dead.

Also by

Dan O'Bannon

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2018-10-26
★ 7/10
So. Much. Damn. Fun. The Return of the Living Dead always takes me back to being a teenager. In a good way. Trash is taking off her clothes again. Final rating:★★★½ - I really liked it. Would strongly recommend you give it your time.
CinemaSerf2025-10-17
★ 7/10
“Burt” (Clu Gulager) is regaling new boy “Freddy” (Thom Matthews) with spooky tales in their medical supply warehouse and that takes them to the basement where the relics of the last zombie attack were stored in hermetically sealed metal jars. Rather stupidly, they open one and release not just it’s toxic gases but also one of it’s fairly peckish occupants! Fleeing for their very lives, they call in the boss “Frank” (James Karen) who in turn drags in the local funeral director “Ernie” (Don Calfa giving Christopher Lloyd a run for his money) to dispose of their recently acquired evidence. Snag? Well the cremation process creates loads of smoke which is conveniently carried by the rain into the soil of the adjacent graveyard and next thing, yep, the ground is alive with the long dead screaming for their ultimate painkiller - brains! These are shrewd and hungry critters who soon have paramedic and police officers on their menu, but what chance for our not so intrepid group? Especially as they are now accompanied by the hysterical young “Tina” (Beverly Randolph) who was out in the graveyard with her eclectic group of friends and who ran like hell when she was grabbed by something she didn’t want to grab back. It’s end to end stuff this, marrying some quickly paced dialogue with some remarkably decent special effects creating quite a fun horror film that is fairly light on fear but full of loads of comedy antics before the military resort to their ultimate sanction, thanks to “Col. Glover” (Jonathan Terry), and almost certainly make matters even worse for what I assume will be the next instalment.