Day of the Dead
Return of the Living Deadisn’t just a comedic knockoff of George Romero ’s classic zombie movies , it actually connects directly to them . The first major zombie comedy , Return of the animation Deadpaved the way for future blends of laughs with the ravenous undead , such asZombieland , Shaun of the Dead , andPeter Jackson’sDead Alive . Whereas Romero’sNight of the Living Dead , Dawn of the Dead , andDay of the Deadplayed a zombie Revelation of Saint John the Divine mostly serious , Return of the Living Deadturned the scenario into a wild political party , full of punk rock music , wild costume , slapstick physical gag , and a knowing wink at the consultation .
If Romero ’s movies are a warning about what humans might fall into when face up with a infection that ca n’t be stopped , and a threat that ca n’t be reasoned with , Return of the Living Deadis a celebration of how stupidly hoi polloi might represent when face with zombies , and man ’s unlimited potential for self - destruction . One need only look atReturn of the Living Dead ’s uproariously dark ending , in which the entire townsfolk of Louisville is fly with nukes in edict to terminate the spread head of the zombie revolt .
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As unlike as the two movies are though , Return of the Living Deadis directly related to Romero ’s picture show in more way of life than one . Not only isReturn of the Living Deadconnected in - world to Romero ’s zombies , it ’s also tie in offscreen as well .
How Return of the Living Dead Connects to George Romero’s Movies
betimes on inReturn of the Living Dead , Freddy ( Thom Matthews ) , a newfangled employee at the divertingly name Uneeda Medical Supply Warehouse , is taken aside by his supervisory program Frank ( James Karen ) and prove around the place . As part of his orientation , Frank break to Freddy thatGeorge Romero’sNight of the sustenance Deadwas really based on a real - life case in which an accidental release of the chemical 2 - 4 - 5 Trioxin caused zombies to rear in Pittsburgh . The U.S. military grapple to contain the irruption and mostly cover up what find , although detail finish up leaking somehow . According to Frank , the military agreed to lease Romero makeNight of the Living Deadas long as the specifics of the outcome were change and the film maker denied any knowledge of the existent natural event . A barrel of Trioxin accidentally place to Uneeda after the incident of path leads toReturn of the Living Dead ’s snake god job .
While that ’s the in - universe connectedness between the two property , Return of the Living Dead ’s existence is actually a direct result of Romero and his collaborator John A. Russo break their freestanding means afterNight of the Living Dead . Russo got to keep theLiving Deadname and do what he desire with it , while Romero acquire to make his own snake god continuation elsewhere . Russo wrote a novel calledReturn of the Living Dead , then adapted it into a script . However when Dan O’Bannon was brought on to direct the film , he settle to toss most of Russo ’s tale out , turning what was a serious follow - up to Night into the comedy that horror fan now know and do it .
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