Moral-Flexibility.Net

Return of the Living Dead (1993) directed by Brian Yuzna.
(Proposed Title: “Cadavers, in a dangerous time.”)
Starring Kent McCord, James T. Callahan, Melinda Clarke, Abigail Lenz and J. Trevor Edmond.
Zombie Film Rating:

“Does this bunny suit make me look fat?”

Teaser: Curts Dad is the officer responsible for the most recent series of trials involving 245 trioxin. When Curts girlfriend Julie is killed in a motorcycle crash Curt sneaks onto the base, and uses Trioxin-245 to reanimate her. This, of course, has mixed results and the lovers have to come to terms with her new hunger for flesh, and his fathers efforts to contain the outbreak.

While this is a solid effort to move the franchise in a new direction the film suffers from some fatal flaws. The outbreak never feels like it’s on the brink of exponential growth, in fact it’s never more than a handfull of people that are infected. This combined with Julies efforts at reconciling her love for Curt with her hunger for flesh is never explained, if zombies were effected by their feelings and experiences from when they were living, why do all other zombies revert to mindless Shamblers?

“Jesus Christ! It came back to life!” - Julie

“Bad zombie, Bad, Bad Zombie! No brai…”

Plot Summary: The movie opens introducing Colonel John Reynolds who heads up the military facility attempting to control the effects of 245 Trioxin on Cadavers. In the first few lines of dialogue we get told that this “temporary” facility is chronically underfunded and suffering from a number of security shortcomings.

We are then introduced to Colonel Reynolds son Curt, and Curts girlfriend Julie. Curt has stolen his fathers access card and he and Julie plan to enter the facility to get a first hand peek at what kind of research is taking place. They arrive just in time to witness the most recent experiment using the Trioxin, an experiment which despite initial success turns out poorly. Curt and Julie flee the base and rush home for some quick nookey.

Their romantic romp is interupted by Colonel Reynolds returning home, he tells Curt that he’s been reassigned (as a result of the mishap on base) and they’ll be leaving town. Curt, of course, doesn’t want to leave Julie and after a brief arguement with the Colonel storms out with Julie, having decided to move out of the house.

“How could you eat that…that man?” - Curt
“It’s your fault!” - Julie

“Respect you when? That’s funny…”

Their new found freedom together is brought to a quick end, however, as Curt looses control of his motorcycle causing Julie to fly through the air and strike a telephone pole. While her IQ is unaffected, her pulse has stopped.

Curt rails against the injustice of it all, then in a moment of inspiration decides to sneak Julies body back onto the base, and use the lab to reanimate her (what could go wrong?). Fortunately security at the base has not increased in the slightest, and he manages to carry the corpse of his dead girlfriend right into the lab with only a few delays. He successfully reanimates Julie, but in the process manages to release a zombie from the barrel of 245-trioxin. Julie begins realising that she is, in fact, dead and begins a whining that won’t end until the movie does.

After compromising the security of the facility, and getting one of the few security staff killed by the barrel zombie, Curt and Julie rush off to a convenience store in an effort to resolve Julies hunger. Once there they interupt a robbery, bite a gang member, steal the mortally wounded store owners van, snack on his brains and finally elude police pursuit by entering the city sewer system.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me, I’m not alive, I’m not dead, I’m just so lonely.” - Julie

“He ate my partner! Are you listening?”

Once in the sewer Julie agonizes over her new self, while Curt tries to come to terms with his ghoulish life partner. Julie finally decides to commit suicide (good thinking) by jumping off a bridge, and as Curt recovers her body the two of them once again encounter the gang members from the convenience store intent on delivering some good old fashioned revenge.

Before the gang members can reach Julie and Curt, a homeless man (River Man) takes them in, showing them the way to his home in a pump room under the city. Julies deterioration, self mutilation and whining continue. The gang members enter the sewer in search of our young lovers. Meanwhile a military containment team under the command of Colonel Reynolds continues to search the city in an effort to limit the spread of the infection, and it too heads towards the sewers.

“Sergeant, as of now I’m in control of the situation. I want it upgraded immediately to total indiscriminate containment.” - Lieutenant Colonel Sinclair

“Accessorizing for the afterlife is a bitch.”

The gang members, along with their infected comrade, are the first to discover the lovers, and in an ill advised moment their leader decides to take a romantic moment alone with Julie deciding she is just some sort of S&M girl. Things slide downhill from this part, with their leader dead, and their infected companion scheduled for zombification Julie slices through one remaining gang member, while the last is killed by an infected friend.

Riverman, Julie and Carl now barricade themselves into the pump room, as the zombified gang members attempt to smash their way in. As the barricades collapse, Curt convinces Riverman to take Julie and to escape up the only other exit from the pump room (more good thinking), as Julie isn’t in love with Riverman, she eats him, much to Curts dismay.

The army arrives at the last moment, using their experimental process (”Paretic Infusion”) to incapacitate the zombies, including Julie. On their return to the facility, Curts father seeks to make amends, but Curt finds he can’t just walk away from Julie. He finds her in a cage labelled “Specimen 32 - Brain Intact”. As a scientist explains the plans they have for the zombies, Curt frees Julie, causing enough confusion among the staff that the Riverman zomibe escapes and runs amuck.

“You’re Colonel Reynolds son aren’t you? Believe it or not you’re looking at the weapon system of the future.” - Generic Scientist

“Zombie behind me? You think I’d fall for tha…”

As the situation rapidly deteriorates (for the first time in this movie), zombies escape their cages and barrels of Trioxin 245 are breached, allowing yet more zombies to join the fray. As the staff either escape or are eaten, Curt is bitten by one of the zombies and makes his decision to stay with Julie until the end. The end is of course minutes later as they share a final kiss, and climb into the disposal furnace.

Critique: While a distinct improvement over Part II, this film leaves me wanting. We feel no anxiety as the infected wander near and far, there’s no explosive growth of the infection which gives the events a feeling or ugrency. Far from it here, our characters repeatedly find each other, and stay isolated from the rest of society.

I was also concerned with Julies handling of her transformation. Far from extended periods of whining, yes we get it, you’re a zombie, you hunger for flesh, I had hoped for some explanation as to why she, and only she, retained feelings from her living self and was able to override the lust for flesh that every other zombie seemed to suffer from. Her love for Curt was insufficient, she is easily not the first love-struck person in zombie history to get infected. This should have been better explained.

These concerns aside, this film is a fairly slow paced film, but is still a watchable effort.

The Final Word: Go on, you know you want to. It’s not great, but there’s a whole lot worse out there.

Comments RSS