While all this is going on with Freddy and company, Freddy's friends are headed to see him at work. His girlfriend Tina (Beverly Randolph) told them where his new job is at. They get there way before he gets off of work, so they decide to go hang out in the cemetery and wait on him to get off work. This means that they're all partying in the cemetery as the noxious cloud floats over and brings the dead back to life. The ones that survive run for shelter anywhere they can, which means the supply warehouse and the crematory. Tina survives and reunites with Freddy. It's a short-lived reunion though as he's well on his way to becoming a zombie! All these characters are going to have to fight for their lives if they have any hope of surviving.
As I mentioned before, these zombies can think, speak, and feel, which makes them a bit more dangerous in my opinion. I will probably always refer to this as the "send more paramedics" movie as that's probably my favorite scene. When the zombies eat the first batch of paramedics, since they can think and speak, they then use the ambulance radio to request that home base "send more paramedics." The simultaneous amusement of hearing the zombies speak and the horror of the fact that they can lure their victims in is the most perfect description of the entire movie. The Return of the Living Dead is one of the funnier zombie movies that I've seen. There is a level of humor that just makes you laugh out loud, even if it is a horror movie. But you also realize in the back of your head that the things that you're laughing at also serve to scare you even more.
This edition has the Blu-ray and DVD copy. I highly recommend that you watch the Blu-ray if you can! First off, you can tell a difference in the picture. The DVD has a much grainier feel to it, especially on buildings, tombstones, and really any flat object. But the picture quality isn't as noticeable as the sound quality. The DVD is in Stereo, but the Blu-ray is in Dolby Digital 5.1 DTS-HD. It really makes a huge difference when you're listening to it, so much so that I don't think I'll watch the DVD version again if I can avoid it.
Both the DVD and the Blu-ray contain quite a few special features, but the Blu-ray of course has more. You'll learn a lot about the movie and the horror genre in them. The most interesting facts to me are that the "tar-guy zombie" and the zombie that had no legs were both real people. With the way that the tar-guy moved, I figured it had to be some sort of CG since he just doesn't look human. The no-legs zombie I also figured was some camera trick! The Decade of Darkness featurette is about the horror films of the late 70's and 80's, not just Return of the Living Dead. It was really interesting to me as I heard of some horror from that period that I've not seen before. There are a whole lot more special features, enough to keep you entertained for hours. The funniest special, in my opinion, is the "zombie" subtitles. These are available on both the DVD and the Blu-ray. Basically, any time the zombies are attacking, it provides a very humorous subtext that continually made me laugh! It's the best feature I've seen for any movie in a long time!
The Return of the Living Dead is a humorous zombie movie, but don't let that fool you into thinking that it isn't scary as well. It is not a Romero film, but instead has a feel that is all its own. If you're a fan of horror movies, I recommend you pick it up today. Even if you already own the DVD, seeing the film on Blu-ray with the surround sound makes it worth picking this new edition up as well!
