More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead (2011)

Wednesday 13 February 2013

More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead (2011)

This one will be a short one, but it's definitely as weet one too.

In 1985, Dan O'Bannon and his misfit cast & crew gave us one of the best and most beloved zombie flicks of all time: The Return of the Living Dead.

There aren't many horror flicks that combine humor and horror as well as ROTLD did, and its quality is why it has remained so popular decades after its release. Also, Tarman. Tarman is a big reason that this movie is so awesome. He's the best zombie that the 80's, and maybe of all time.

I still remember the first time I saw Tarman shamble on screen and gurgle out a wet and terrifying "Brains! More brains!" It was a defining moment for me and my burgeoning horror fandom, and remains to this day one of my favorite movie moments of all time.

When I heard that there was an ROTLD documentary out there that had the cast and crew talking about the making of the movie, I knew I had to see it ASAP.

As far as movie Doc's go, most of them are underwhelming to me. Sure, most of them are neat to watch, but they tend to feel a bit too polished and restrained for my taste. I want to know what really happened on set. I want to know about the issues, the gaffs, the battles and the dysfunction. I want to know the truth of it all. The good and the bad. More Brains delivers all of that, and so much more.

We find out that Director Dan O'Bannon was a bit of a tyrant to work for, and how the set was often times a pretty hellish place to be for cast and crew alike. Starlet Beverly Randolph seems to have been downright scared of the guy, which may explain why she didn't do much acting after ROTLD. We even get to hear stories from a crew member who was fired mid-production. That's the kind of stuff that make behind the scenes documentaries interesting.

It also goes without saying that anytime you get to sit and listen to Clu Gulager and James Karen talking candidly, it's a good thing; Clu Gulager is foul mouthed and very matter of fact, in addition to being funny as hell, and James Karen seems like he's one of the most genuinely sweet people ever. Their segments were our sentimental faves here.

How do you not love this guy?

The extras on this disc are crazy good as well as being crazy plentiful. There's tons of deleted scenes, behind the scenes footage, bloopers, test footage and interviews, including a really great interview with late Director Dan O'Bannon himself. They even give us little retrospectives of ROTLD parts 2 & 3, which just added to the awesomeness of it all. The extras alone make this DVD worth renting/owning.

Name a more iconic zombie character than Tarman. Go ahead, we'll wait.

This movie and it's jam-packed-with-cool-extras DVD is an A+ of an experience. If you're a fan of Return of the Living Dead (and its sequels), then seeing it is a no-brainer... even the more casual fan will have a good time with it, because it's just that interesting. Rent it if you like, but in all honesty it's worth every cent of its $ 15 price tag, considering the wealth of extras it offers. Either way, see it and enjoy.

There's nothing quite like the way Hotties looked in the 80's, is there? Linnea Quigley, Jewel Shepard and Beverly Randolph definitely made our childhood a better time. Thanks for the fantasies, ladies.