Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave (2005)

Film Title: Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave
Released: October 15, 2005
Directed by: Ellory Elkayem
Written by: William Butler & Aaron Strongoni

Starring: John Keefe, Jenny Mollen, Cory Hardrict, Aimee-Lynn Chadwick & Cain Manoli

Plot: The teenage survivors of Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis are now in college. When they come across a trioxin canister, one of the more entrepreneurial among them starts making a drug called Z from the contents, unwittingly turning those whose use it into the brain-craving undead.

IMDb: 3.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes: No score
My Score: 1.75/5

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave, the fifth installment of the series, was filmed back to back with its predecessor, Necropolis. That being the case, the same cast (those that survived, anyway) and creative team was in place for both films. Rave to the Grave is probably the better movie, though. That's not say that its good, because it isn't. The movie opens with Peter Coyote attempting to sell one of the trioxin canisters he stole from Hybra Tech at the end of Necropolis to a group of Russians. This is a reversal from the beginning of that movie where he was buying the canisters from a group of Russians. Anyway, he gets killed by a zombie during the transaction, as does one of the buyers. Coyote's nephew, John Keefe, and his friends Cory Hardrict and Aimee-Lynn Chadwick, the only survivors of Necropolis, are now together in college, although they seem to have no memories of anything that happened in that film. For example, Coyote kidnapped one of Keefe's friends, turned his dead parents into zombie cyborgs and was responsible for his younger brother's death but is upset when he finds out Coyote died. After Keefe is given the news of Coyote's death, he goes to his house and discovers a secret room in the attic with the remaining trioxin canisters. Not knowing what they are, he and his girlfriend Jenny Mollen take one of them to Hardrict, a computer genius in the previous film and now a chemistry expert, to analyze it. He discovers that it has very similar properties to the street drug ecstasy. Keefe and Mollen want to turn the canisters into the authorities but Hardrict, along with Mollen's brother Cain Manoli, decide to make a street drug called Z out of it before it gets confiscated and make some quick cash. If you've seen even one Return of the Living Dead film you know that any exposure to trioxin results in you being turned into a zombie and it is no different here. Once Keefe and Mollen discover what Hardrict and Manoli have done, its too late as they have a full scale zombie uprising on their hands. To complicate matters, its Halloween and Manoli, who is a DJ, is throwing a huge rave where the drug is being distributed freely. Due to the costumed nature of the holiday, most of the zombies go unnoticed until they start eating their victims. The Russians from the beginning (Claudiu Bleont and Sorin Cocis) are bumbling Interpol agents who spend most of the movie trying to retrieve the remaining canisters. What makes Rave to the Grave better than Necropolis is that the level intentional comedy and absurdity has been ratcheted up. A zombie getting decapitated with an electric guitar, the cartoonish convulsions of those high on Z, and the "tarman" zombie from the canister trying to make his way to the rave to join his undead brethren holding a sign on the side of the freeway that reads "Rave or Bust" are just a few examples. Needless to say, nobody stops for him. Much of the intentional comedy comes from the inept Russians and their interactions with the Americans and each other. Not that any of the jokes are particularly funny but they do give a generally more lighthearted feeling to movie. Rave to the Grave also sports more gore than the previous film and contains nudity, something which was absent from Necropolis. I guess the boob factor was okay in this one now that the kids are out of high school and in college. Not that I'm saying nudity makes a movie better but it certainly doesn't hurt in this case. I rated Necropolis 1.5 out of 5 stars and since Rave to the Grave is better that than that one, but not good enough to be rated a 2, I've split difference and given it the odd rating of 1.75.

Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis (2005)

Film Title: Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis
Released: October 15, 2005 (US television premier)
Directed by: Ellory Elkayem
Written by: William Butler & Aaron Strongoni

Starring: John Keefe, Aimee-Lynn Chadwick, Cory Hardrict, Jana Kramer & Peter Coyote

Plot: A group of teenagers attempt to rescue one of their friends from a secret facility and unleash a hoard of zombies in the process.

IMDb: 3.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes: No score
My Score: 1.5/5

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

The fourth installment of the series, Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis attempts a return to the comedy/horror formula of the first two films but fails pretty miserably in all aspects. Poorly acted with a ridiculous script, from start to finish its hard to find any redeeming value in it. The effects are okay but nothing special and even Peter Coyote stinks up the screen. A teenager (Elvin Dandel) involved in a minor dirt bike accident is inexplicably taken to the Hybra Tech research facility code named Necropolis instead of the hospital. When his best friend (John Keefe) inquires about him at the hospital, he's told that his friend died due to a drug reaction in the ambulance. But the boy's ex-girlfriend (Jana Kramer), who works in the Hybra Tech security office (!?!?), sees him on a monitor being wheeled toward the research center so she knows he's not dead. What's a group of friends to do? Break into the facility, of course! Duh! Unbeknownst to the group, Keefe's uncle (Peter Coyote), guardian of him and his little brother following their parents death, is an evil scientist who works in the Necropolis facility with zombies. He travels to Chernobyl to buy the last known trioxin canisters from some Russians in the opening sequence. Oh yeah, Keefe's little brother, who seems to be eleven or twelve, is nicknamed Pyro because he builds flame throwers in the front room. I wish I was making this up. The sexy blonde of the group (Diana Munteanu) seduces one of the security guards with a terrible pick-up line ("Hey big boy, ever get your freak on with a triple-jointed, Sagitarian gymnast?") and then proceeds to have sex with him off camera as there is no nudity in the movie. After the group sets off a security alarm, Kramer accidentally releases all of the zombie subjects from their cells while trying to silence it. They also come across Coyote, who tells Keefe that his dead parents are in the bio-weapons division of the facility. When Keefe finds them, he discovers that they have been turned into zombie cyborg killing machines. You think the kids are going to have to fight them later? If you said yes, you'd be right because Coyote releases them for no apparent reason other than to watch zombie cyborg killing machines kill their own children. Ever see a zombie in a fist fight? No? Well after you've watched this movie you will have. Of course most of the kids end up dead by the end, including Pyro surprisingly, but then the SWAT team shows up to save the survivors from the zombie cyborgs with their tank. But not before Coyote escapes with some barrels of trioxin for the sequel. Its pretty funny to me that the best actor in the movie is not an actor at all. Right before the credits roll, award-winning anchorman Harold Greene delivers a newscast wrapping up the events of the film. Not being from Southern California where he spent most of his illustrious career, I didn't know who he was but was impressed because he acted and sounded like a real anchorman. Hey! There it is! Harold Greene is the one redeeming thing in the movie.

Return of the Living Dead III (1993)

Film Title: Return of the Living Dead III
Released: August 1993 (Fantasy Filmfest)
Directed by: Brian Yuzna
Written by: John Penney
Starring: Melinda Clark & J. Trevor Edmond

Plot: When a teenage couple sneak into a military base, they witness a top secret test that brings the dead back to life. After they get into a motorcycle accident that kills the girl, the boy brings her back using the same process.

IMDb: 5.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 44/100
My Score: 3/5

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Return of the Living Dead III is a return to form for the series after the dismal Return of the Living Dead Part II. The drop dead (pun intended) gorgeous Melinda Clark (billed as Mindy Clark) and her boyfriend, J. Trevor Howard, sneak into the military base where Howard's father (Kent McCord) works as head of a secret project researching the chemical trioxin, a gas that reanimates the dead. After they watch a test in action, they are involved in a motorcycle accident in which Clark dies. Distraught, Howard breaks back into the base and revives her using the gas. After they make their escape, they go on the run but their problems only escalate as she slowly tuns into a brain-craving eating machine. Unique to this entry is the device of using self-inflicted pain as a way to curb the zombie appetite. Clark utilizes this technique throughout the film, culminating in the look from movie's poster. The picture ends up falling apart in the third act with a logic-defying zombie escape back at the base that sacrifices plot for effects. Most of the actors are less than spectacular but the weaker aspects of the film are buoyed by a great performance from Clark, the really nice make-up effects and some surprisingly touching moments between the leads. Recalling James Karen's similar decision from Return of the Living Dead, the young lovers burn themselves in an incinerator after Howard gets bitten by zombie while protecting Clark in the climax. James T. Callahan, Sarah Douglas, Mike Moroff, Basil Wallace and Playboy Playmate Pia Reyes co-star. Clark won the Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Actress and the movie won the Silver Scream Award at the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Gérardmer Film Festival.

Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988)

Film Title: Return of the Living Dead Part II
Released: January 15, 1988
Directed by: Ken Wiederhorn
Written by: Ken Wiederhorn
Starring: James Karen, Thom Matthews & Dana Ashbrook

Plot: When a military canister falls off of a transport truck, a group of kids accidentally open it and release a  mysterious gas that travels to the nearby graveyard. After that, the dead begin to rise from the grave, hungry for brains!

IMDb: 5.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 0/100
My Score: 1.5/5

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Trying to capture the comedy/horror tone of its predecessor, Return of the Living Dead Part II fails miserably, and from what I can tell, its largely the fault of writer/director Ken Wiederhorn. The set ups are nearly identical: a canister containing a zombie is accidentally opened near a graveyard and the gas inside begins to raise the dead. The similarities don't stop there; far from it. James Karen and Thom Matthews are leads once again and their characters share similar fates. Wiederhorn believes this to be so hilarious that not only do Matthews and Karen repeat dialogue from the first film (Karen: "You better watch your tongue, boy, if you like this job." Matthews: "Like this job!?") but Matthews says to Karen, "Its like we've been here before! Its like I dreamed this whole thing! You, me, them!" (motioning to the zombies). Hell, Matthews' girlfriend, played by Suzanne Snyder, won't leave his side as he turns into a zombie, just like Beverly Randolph wouldn't in the first film. Wiederhorn did add his own special, and in my opinion, terrible touches, though. Like Karen removing a reanimated dismembered head out from inside of a bag and sticking his finger in between the chomping teeth, zombies transfixed by TV aerobics and zombies who joyride in stolen vehicles just for a few examples. I will say this, though; he does change up the scenery in this one. This time we visit suburbia, a hospital and a power plant...so that's something. There are more varying zombie effects this time out, but unfortunately quantity does not equal quality as they are inferior to those of the first film. And at least the army doesn't nuke the city this time around to contain the threat. Instead, the heroes zap the zombies with electricity to kill them, because everyone knows that electricity beats zombie in rock, paper, scissors. I'm also not alone in thinking this one is a stinker. Did you notice the 0/100 Rotten Tomatoes score? Puppeteer Allan Trautman reprises his role as the "Tarman" zombie released from the cannister, Mitch Pileggi has a small role as an army sergeant and Forrest J. Ackerman and Doug Benson appear as zombies. It was nominated for a Saturn Awards for Best Music and two Young Artist Awards: Best Young Actor in a Horror or Mystery Motion Picture (Michael Kenworthy) and Teenage Choice for Best Horror Motion Picture.

The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

Film Title: The Return of the Living Dead
Released: August 16, 1985
Directed by: Dan O'Bannon
Written by: Dan O'Bannon, based on a story by Rudy Ricci, John A. Russo, & Russell Streiner
Starring: Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa & Thom Matthews

Plot: When a military canister breaks open and releases a  mysterious gas into the air, the dead begin to rise from the grave, hungry for brains!

IMDb: 7.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 90/100
My Score: 3/5

The movie that introduced specifically brain eating zombies, the Return of the Living Dead spawned a franchise that has so far spanned five films. The story centers around three men and a group of teenage punk rockers caught up in a tide of reanimated corpses. The overall performance of the ensemble cast isn't the greatest acting that you'll ever see but certainly isn't the worst, either. The soundtrack features such notable punk bands as the Damned, the Cramps, T.S.O.L., 45 Grave, and the Flesh Eaters as well as Roky Erickson and SSQ. After he and George Romero parted company after Night of the Living Dead, John Russo kept the rights to the name Living Dead for any future projects. Using the novel of the same name Russo had written as a basis, Tobe Hooper was set to direct the feature before backing out to direct Lifeforce instead. Brought in to polish the script, Dan O'Bannon was offered the director's chair and accepted, with his only stipulation being that he got to do some drastic rewrites to the script to distance the material from Romero's series. To that end, the finished product bears very little resemblance to Russo's novel or Romero's films and includes nudity (if only from one character), moments of slapstick and an overall more darkly comedic tone. The standout zombie effects are that of "Tarman," performed by puppeteer Allan Trautman, and "Half-Corpse," an animatronic puppet created and performed by Tony Gardner (read more about his impressive career here). It was nominated for four Saturn Awards: Best Horror Film, Best Actor (James Karen), Best Director (Dan O'Bannon) and Best Make-Up. Watch the trailer below or the full movie here.