History Film / TheReturnOfTheLivingDead

* NotUsingTheZWord: Averted. At one point Spider says, "There's zombies all over the cars outside." Earlier still, Freddy uses the word when discussing ''Night of the Living Dead'' with Frank.

* NukeEm: [[spoiler:It only spreads the virus.]]

* SecondLawOfMetafictionalThermodynamics: The army has no idea how to get rid of the zombies. They bomb the whole town. This proves to be ill-advised.

** Although to be fair, since a bite does not spread the Zombie plague to the living, it's not an exponential outbreak. Eventually, with enough firepower, the horde will be dealt with.

* ZergRush: How the zombies kill.

-->'''Freddy (after driving a pickax through a zombie's brain does nothing to kill it)''': You mean the movie ''lied''?!

-->'''Freddy (after driving a pickax through a zombie's brain does nothing to kill it)''' You mean the movie ''lied''?!

* EyeTake: Tarman's eyelids melted off when his tank was breached, so he spends his screentime unendingly glaring at potential prey. Brrr...!

** Frank, Freddy, and Burt release the yellow animated cadaver, you can clearly see that it charges directly at Burt despite Frank and Freddy being practically right next to it. [[spoiler:Later on, it's revealed that Frank and Freddy, having been exposed to the Trioxin, were [[ZombifyTheLiving actually slowly dying before eventually zombifying]]]]. Not to mention, if you listen to its scream real good when it charges Burt, you hear it say "BRAINS!"

* ForgottenFallenFriend: Downplayed somewhat with Trash. She is accidentally left behind by the others and gets mauled by the dead, and is later consistently shown as a nude ghoul eating others' brains. However, aside from Casey and Chuck noting her absence upon barring up the warehouse, she is never talked about by the others again, likely due to seeing Freddy in his sorry state of decay. Towards the end when Spider reunites with Casey and Chuck, he responds "I don't know" when the former asks about the others' fates. Given [[EatenAlive each]] [[EnclosedSpace of]] [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie their fates,]] plus [[HeroicBSOD his own reaction]] to Freddy's zombification, he may just be trying to spare them the AwfulTruth.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: With the punks, Suicide is this. According to him, the only times the others call him are to get a ride in his car, and otherwise, he's "too spooky" to be around. His venting-out monologue to Trash at the graveyard shows he's clearly not happy with this. Casey at one point refers to him and

* ForgottenFallenFriend: Downplayed somewhat with Trash. She is accidentally left behind by the others and gets mauled by the dead, and is later consistently shown as a nude ghoul eating others' brains. However, aside from Casey and Chuck noting her absence upon barring up the warehouse, she is never talked about by the others again, likely due to seeing Freddy in his sorry state of decay. Towards the end when Spider reunites with Casey and Chuck, he responds "I don't know" when the former asks about the others' fates. Given [[EatenAlive each]] [[EnclosedSpace of]] [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie their fates,]] plus [[HeroicBSOD his own reaction]] to Freddy's zombification, he may just be trying to spare them the AwfulTruth.

* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: The voice of the "Send more paramedics!" zombie has been altered and is no longer as funny as the original version. Likewise, the Tarman's voice has been changed. In the original it was a chillingly distorted, somewhat high-pitched, often excited sounding voice. For unknown reasons it was changed into a simple deep, flat voice. For some reason, however, the original Tarman voice [[InconsistentDub is present]] (along with the zombie that asks for more cops) in the credits montage.

** Frank, Freddy, and Burt release the yellow animated cadaver you can clearly see that it charges directly at Burt since [[spoiler:Burt was apparently the only living person in the room while Frank and Freddy after being exposed to Trioxin were either dying otherwise already dead.]] Not to mention, if you listen to its scream real good when it charges Burt, you hear it say "BRAINS!"

However, due to a clerical error, a few such Barrels of Doom were shipped to a Louisvilie, Kentucky medical supply warehouse currently employing our intrepid heroes, and stored there for years. As testament to the strength and quality of the barrels, one of them springs a leak as soon as the foreman reassures his new employee of the solid military construction by slapping its side. The Trioxin gets into the cadaver freezer, animating the contents. The shambling, hungry dead escape, craving their favorite food: brains...

* TakeAThirdOption: Once the Trioxin is released by Frank, the zombie apocalypse begins and corpses are alive again. Frank and Freddie hurry over to the office and discuss what should they do. Freddie suggests the cops, Frank shoots that down cause then the cops would hold the company liable for the disaster and litigations will pour in. Freddie then suggests the number stated on the barrels in case it happens, but Frank points out that's the ARMY. So Frank decides to call in their boss Bert. Bert however decides the cops need to get involved, but the zombies already ate them, so he desperately calls the military - not knowing that they don't pursue a search-and-rescue effort like the cops do but rather have nukes pointed at the town in case a Trioxin outbreak occurs.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Once Tarman escapes the tank, he remains hidden until about forty-four minutes into the movie when he comes after Tina. Even after Chuck and Casey are forced to go back to Uneeda, he still isn't seen or heard. [[JustifiedTrope Given his state of decay,]] however, it was probably in his best interest to wait it out until more prey came to him; [[SmartBall Casey and Chuck were also sensible enough to not even think about unblocking the door after what happened with Suicide.]] Also, we never see what Ernie did with the corpse he was working on when Burt and company first showed up at the mortuary. See AdaptationExpansion above for more info.

** As Burt and Ernie burn the evidence of the Trioxin leaking, Frank sneers, "Some big favor. I can operate that goddamn thing." In one version, Freddy asks in reply, "But who'd want to?" [[spoiler:Frank would, later in the film, to take himself out of the equation before he can eat any brains.]]

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: With the punks, Suicide is this. According to him, the only times the others call him are to get a ride in his car and otherwise he's "too spooky" to be around. His venting-out monologue to Trash at the graveyard shows he's clearly not happy with this.

* FurnaceBodyDisposal: Ernie disposes of the remains of a zombie via the retort at the morgue he works at. This backfires, since the fumes spread the Trioxin into the clouds, resulting in a rain that causes more zombies to rise. [[spoiler:Frank uses the same furnace to kill himself after realizing his infection is almost complete.]]

* MadeOfIron: Freddy's skull withstands several blows from a hunk of pipe, an 8-pound sledgehammer and a jar of nitric acid, experiencing only minor skin abrasions.

* WhatTheHellHero: Burt gives Frank an earful for breaking the trioxin tanks open, even when he specifically told him not to even go near them. Later in the aftermath of Suicide's death (in the workprint only), Tina chews out Casey for her and Chuck not saying they saw Freddy enter the cemetery morgue, which they could've gone to and avoided Tarman alltogether.

** Suicide's mother is a CrazyCatLady who evidently takes in strays and keeps them for company. They live in a slum apartment and Suicide stays with her so she can take care of him. Suicide's car is mentioned to stink of cat feces and god knows what else. In an example of AdaptationPersonalityChange, while he brushes off Trash's advances in the film, he has a full on sex scene with her in the book and was earlier encouraging her to take everything off during her dance. It's also mentioned he always had a thing for her.

** How Chuck came to know Casey in high school is established and also explains that Casey is an atheist, making her reactions to the undead a lot more understandable. On that note, Spider is heavily implied to be one as well at least when Sunshine died.
* AndIMustScream: The zombies in the canisters are still "alive" and unable to move, trapped in a constant state of rot, unable to die and unable to ease their suffering.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: With the punks, Suicide is this. According to him, the only times the others call him are to get a ride in his car and otherwise he's "too spooky" to be around. His venting out monologue to Trash at the graveyard shows he's clearly not happy with this.

* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: The voice of the "Send more paramedics!" zombie has been altered and is no longer as funny as the original version. Likewise, the Tarman's voice has been changed. In the original it was a chillingly distorted, somewhat high pitched, often excited sounding voice. For unknown reasons it was changed into a simple deep, flat voice. For some reason, however, the original Tarman voice [[InconsistentDub is present]] (along with the zombie that asks for more cops) in the credits montage.
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: At one point Spider starts babbling and Ernie slaps him.
* HeroicBSOD: Ernie, after encountering his first zombie. Spider, too, has a meltdown after seeing Freddy all zombified, though Ernie's ArmorPiercingSlap quickly snaps him out of it.

* ImColdSoCold: An interesting version happens when, after two of the main characters are exposed to Trioxin, they start feeling crappy and complain about the cold. Near the climax they feel better as zombies.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Literally, in this case. Casey and Chuck witness Freddy, along with Frank and Burt, heading into the morgue during the party, but don't tell the others on Chuck's insistence that it can't be their friend. This results in Tina heading off to the warehouse to find her boyfriend where she gets attacked by the Tarman. While she ultimately survives, Suicide isn't so fortunate. The workprint actually has Casey admitting to it after the fact, which Tina is understandably pissed.

* TakeAThirdOption: Once the Trioxin is released by Frank, the zombie apocalypse begins and corpses are alive again. Frank and Freddie hurry over to the office and discuss what should they do. Freddie suggests the cops, Frank shoots that down cause then the cops would hold the company liable for the disaster and litigations will pour in. Freddie then suggests the number stated on the barrels in case it happens, but Frank points out that's the ARMY. So Frank decides to call in their boss Bert in. Bert however decides the cops need to get involved, but the zombies already ate them, so he desperately calls the military - not knowing that they don't pursue a search-and-rescue effort like the cops do but rather have nukes pointed at the town in case a Trioxin outbreak occurs.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Once Tarman escapes the tank, he remains hidden until about forty-four minutes into the movie when he comes after Tina. Even after Chuck and Casey are forced to go back to Uneeda, he still isn't seen or heard. Also, we never see what Ernie did with the corpse he was working on when Burt and company first showed up at the mortuary. See AdaptationExpansion above for more info.
* WhatTheHellHero: Burt gives Frank an earful for breaking the trioxin tank open, even when he specifically told him not to. Later in the aftermath of Suicide's death (in the workprint only), Tina chews out Casey for her and Chuck not saying they saw Freddy enter the cemetery morgue, which they could've gone to and avoided Tarman alltogether.

* YouCantKillWhatsAlreadyDead: Played for laughs when Burt and Frank think that [[RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain destroying the head]] will take care of the zombie they accidentally resurrected, since that's the way it worked in ''Film/{{Night of the Living Dead|1968}}''. This just results in a headless zombie chasing after them.

** Good God, the zombies alone take screaming to a whole new level compared to the infected people in 28WeeksLater and 28DaysLater. The paramedics literally haul ass to the van when they hear the zombies actually scream. Interestingly, the screaming the zombies do is what makes the film terrifying.

** Good God, the zombies alone take screaming to a whole new level compared to the infected people in Film/28WeeksLater and Film/28DaysLater. The paramedics literally haul ass to the van when they hear the zombies actually scream. Interestingly, the screaming the zombies do is what makes the film terrifying.

* AnachronismStew: Frank tells Freddy that the Trioxin leak near Pittsburgh that inspired ''[[Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968 Night of the Living Dead]]'' happened in 1969, which is impossible since the film came out in 1968. It's probably done intentionally since in the original script Frank says the year it happened was 1966, so it was changed to show Frank's CriticalResearchFailure.

* AnachronismStew: Frank tells Freddy that the Trioxin leak near Pittsburgh that inspired ''[[Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968 Night of the Living Dead]]'' happened in 1969, which is impossible since the film came out in 1968. It's probably done intentionally since in the original script Frank says the year it happened was 1966, so it was changed to show how poor Frank's memory is.

* AnachronismStew: In the original script, Frank tells Freddy that the Trioxin leak near Pittsburgh that inspired ''[[Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968 Night of the Living Dead]]'' happened in 1966, but for some reason in the film it's changed and he says that the year was 1969, which is wrong since ''Night of the Living Dead'' came out in 1968.

* DamselInDistress: Tina narrowly avoids being eaten, twice. First by Tarman, and later by Freddy. She's rescued by her friends at the last minute, both instances. [[spoiler:Sadly though, the second occurrence still ends in tragedy as the town gets nuked, killing her and all of the other survivors]].
* DecoyProtaonigst: Frank and Freddy have most of the spotlight in the beginning but around midway, the film starts focusing on Burt, Ernie, Spider, and Tina, mainly because [[spoiler:Frank and Freddy are slowly turning into zombies]].

''Return'' is based on the premise that ''[[Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968 Night of the Living Dead]]'' was based on actual events; it seems that a chemical called 2-4-5 Trioxin, developed for use as an herbicide to destroy marijuana plants, was accidentally released into a basement morgue of a VA hospital in UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}}, causing the cadavers stored there to reanimate. Unable to contain the undead threat, the military placed the lively corpses inside sealed barrels. After the story leaked out, the government allowed ''Night of the Living Dead'' to be made, but ordered the filmmakers to alter the story and claim it was fictional.

''Return'' is based on the premise that ''[[Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968 Night of the Living Dead]]'' was based on actual events; it seems that a chemical called 2-4-5 Trioxin, developed for use as an herbicide to destroy marijuana plants, was accidentally released into a basement morgue of a VA hospital in UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}}, causing the cadavers stored there to reanimate. Unable to contain the undead threat, the military stored the lively corpses in sealed barrels. After the story leaked out, the government allowed ''Night of the Living Dead'' to be made, but ordered the filmmakers to alter the story and claim it was fictional.

''Return'' is based on the premise that ''[[Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968 Night of the Living Dead]]'' was based on actual events, caused when a gas called 2-4-5 Trioxin was released into the morgue in the basement of a VA hospital in UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}}, causing the bodies to jerk around as if they were alive. Unable to contain the undead threat, the military stored the lively corpses in sealed barrels. When the story leaked out, the government allowed ''Night of the Living Dead'' to be made, but they ordered the filmmakers to alter the story and claim it was fictional.

However, due to a clerical error, a few such Barrels of Doom were shipped to a Louisvilie, Kentucky medical supply warehouse currently employing our intrepid heroes, and stored there for years. As testament to the strength and quality of the barrels, one of them springs a leak as soon as the foreman reassures his new employee of the solid military construction by slapping the side of one of them. The Trioxin gets into the cadaver freezer, animating the contents. The shambling, hungry dead escape, craving their favorite food: Brains...

[[quoteright:327:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_51pew78t71l.png]]

''The Return of the Living Dead'' is a 1985 horror-comedy film written and directed by Dan O'Bannon, starring Creator/CluGulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph, Creator/MiguelANunezJr, and Creator/LinneaQuigley. It spawned the ''Film/ReturnOfTheLivingDead'' zombie film series.

* CoolOldGuy: Burt kicks more ass than any of the seemingly tough punks.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: As Burt and Ernie burn the evidence of the Trioxin leaking, Frank sneers, "Some big favor. I can operate that goddamn thing." In one version, Freddy asks in reply, "But who'd want to?" [[spoiler:Frank would, later in the film, to take himself out of the equation before he can eat any brains.]]

* TooDumbToLive: Frank sealed his own fate (as well as Freddy's) when he burst the tank holding Tarman open. His reason for showing them off just to scare/impress the kid becomes this once you hear Burt yell at him for even acknowledging the tanks' existence let alone going to see them even after the army specifically told him not to. This ultimately spiraled into the town being nuked and killing any possible survivors along with the zombies (which are heavily implied to have spread out anyway). [[SarcasmMode Thanks a lot, Frank]].

* Woobie: Tina.
* WrongGenreSavvy: During the scene where Frank, Freddy, and Burt try and fail to destroy the cadaver on their own by RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain:

** Suicide's mother is a CrazyCatLady who evidently takes in strays and keeps them for company. They live in a slum apartment and Suicide stays with her so she can take care of him. Suicide's car is mentioned to stink of cat feces and god knows what else. In an example of [[AdaptationPersonalityChange]], while he brushes off Trash's advances in the film, he has a full on sex scene with her in the book and was earlier encouraging her to take everything off during her dance. It's also mentioned he always had a thing for her.

* RealityEnsues: Inverted. Remember how the zombie infestation in ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'' worked the way it would've in real life, with the ending that reveals that the infestation was stopped as easily as it had started? Well, in this movie, it doesn't work that way.
--> ''You mean the movie lied!?''
** Although to be fair, since a bite does not spread the Zombie plague to the living, it's not an exponential outbreak. Eventually, with enough firepower, the horde will be dealt with.

* TheEighties: Almost a cross-section, too. You have punks, preppies, greasers, and so on all in the same group of kids - complete with EightiesHair, of course.

* TokenMinority: Subverted with Spider as he is the only non-caucasian in the group of punks, and yet he has a prominent role throughout the film, becoming [[Deuteragonist a second lead of sorts]] to Burt. [[spoiler:He manages to survive until the very end of the movie when the whole town is nuked, effectively killing all the survivors]].

* ReReleaseSoundtrack: The movie's theatrical and original VHS release featured "Dead Beat Dance" by The Damned in an early scene. Due to rights issues, however, the song has been removed from all subsequent home video releases and television broadcasts beginning with the Hemdale Video release in 1991. The song "Young Fast Iranians" by The F.U.'s is usually substituted in its place.