The Return of the Living Dead

The Return of the Living Dead is a 1985 American comedy horror film written and directed by Dan O'Bannon in his directorial debut, and starring Clu Gulager, James Karen, Thom Matthews, and Don Calfa. The film tells the story of how a warehouse owner, accompanied by his two employees, mortician friend and a group of teenage punks, deal with the accidental release of a horde of unkillable, brain-hungry zombies onto an unsuspecting town. The film, described as a "mordant punk comedy," is known for introducing multiple popular concepts to the zombie genre: zombies eating specifically brains, as opposed to eating any form of human flesh; and zombies being invulnerable to a gunshot to the head. The film's soundtrack was noteworthy, as it featured several Los Angeles-based deathrock and punk rock bands of the era. The film was a critical success and performed moderately well at the box office. The film has spawned four sequels. Plot On July 3, 1984, at the Uneeda medical supply warehouse, foreman Frank tries to impress new employee Freddy by showing him military drums of a toxic gas called Trioxin. The drums wound up in the basement of the building, due to a delivery error years before. While hitting the side of a drum to prove it is secure, Frank accidentally unleashes the toxic gas, which seemingly melts the cadaver inside and reanimates another cadaver stored in a meat locker. Joined by their boss Burt, the three try to kill the reanimated corpse by puncturing the brain (which does not work), then dismembering the body. They discover that every part of the zombie's body can survive independently. Burt has the zombie incinerated at a nearby mortuary by his friend Ernie, but this inadvertently causes the deadly gas to contaminate the air, creating a toxic rainfall that reanimates the corpses in the nearby cemetery.