This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Review by 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒆 ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ Pro
This review may contain spoilers.
𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒆 ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚’s review published on Letterboxd:
day four of hooptober! watched the return of the living dead early, back in vegas with part of my fam (mom, elora, and david. my dad was building furniture and he doesn’t care for zombie movies) i hope you continue to eat up my notes cos we’re almost done with our zombie era:
tell me why i thought the main young guy was tallahassee from zombieland lol
lmao the slomo during the gas leak scene was funny. love the slow fall, had me and my fam dying
breaking bad took notes with the sulfuric acid
lots of characters in this. love the punk/alt friend group lol for some reason my mom said that was me and my friends?? uh okay. idk she’s weird lol also she freaked out when that ginger was sexual and stripped in the graveyard lmfao
also spoiler but i totally predicted that plot point that when they burned the remains, it would spread to the graves lol
omg wasn’t expecting a dolly zoom in this film but werk! very cool
i love the silliness and whimsy of this one, love when horror films are unserious
damn the two guys do NOT look great lol when it was revealed they were room temperature was crazy. they look like they have an Advanced Fever or something. but love how trash rises from the dead as a sexy, naked zombie and kills some rando almost vampircally
thought it was insane how the zombies could talk in this one. the voice distortion was crazy when the guy was ordering more food (dark joke)
my sil did NOT like that one bisected zombie with its spine wiggling lol i was like it’s like a dog tail. she did not like my joke either lol BUT she did like how the two guys were named burt and ernie cos she’s a muppet stan
major spoiler for the ending but my bro totally clocked that it was the same general from the beginning (i completely forgot about him) and i thought it was crazy how they just decided to nuke the place lmfao but then ofc it continued to spread through more remains rain
overall, the return of the living dead gave me a real taste of just how wild and experimental zombie movies can get. the film leans into its slightly campy chaos, and its refusal to take itself too seriously makes it an entertaining ride. from trash literally rising sexy and nude, to zombies talking (major!) in quirked up voices, the return of the living dead straddles the line between absurd comedy and horror in ways romero never did (he got somewhat close with bub). sure, the bomb drop and the remains rain promises another cycle of doom, but honestly, that’s the charm. this isn’t about realism, it’s about vibes—punk energy, dumb humor, and the sheer audacity to reimagine zombies as something both spooky, funny, and maybe even a lil sexy. a messy and fun watch.