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Jesse and some other kids find a barrel with a zombie in it. Hilarity ensues as they accidentally wake up the zombie and the zombie plague spreads to a nearby graveyard. Of course Jesse’s sister doesn’t believe him when he comes home ranting about zombies, but it isn’t long until the brother and sister, along with a young cable repairman, are on the run from a horde of zombies. Also along for the ride is an alcoholic doctor and a threesome of grave robbers, who seem hauntingly familiar…
Much like the first movie, Return of the Living Dead Part 2 tries to mix horror and comedy elements. Unlike the first one though, there is a lot more emphasis on comedy than horror in this movie. I would even say that the first movie totally outdoes the sequel in both the horror and gore departments. I’m almost certain that there are zombie fans out there who hate this movie for what is a huge lack of gore compared to the first movie. As well, the zombie makeup is good in spots, but it just doesn’t look as scary as that found in the first movie. I know that it seems like all I’m doing is complaining and unfavorably comparing this movie to its predecessor. The fact of the matter is that this movie isn’t even in the same league as the first Return of the Living Dead. However, for all of its flaws I still find I like it. It’s hard to explain too because there’s so many things to complain about in this movie. I guess I should say that this movie is fun. It isn’t really scary enough to keep away the casual audience. The gore in spots might keep people away, but overall I think non-horror movie fans might really enjoy this if they’re bored during Halloween night. Some hardcore zombie fans probably cringe at the thought of this movie, yet I have to stick to what I’ve already said, I like it.
I guess what I like best about this movie is that it is fun. Some of the characters are zany and deliver some of the jokes well. The grave diggers, two of which are portrayed by actors who starred in the first Return of the Living Dead really made this movie for me. They have some very funny lines and the references back to the first movie are enjoyable for anyone who watched it. Doc Mandel is another enjoyable character, who makes just about every scene he’s in a lot more fun. I can’t help but think that the movie would have been a certain classic if the whole cast was made up of characters like the grave robbers and Doc Mandel…
Where to begin? For reasons I don’t understand, once the zombie canister is opened, it starts to rain and the dead in the graveyard all awaken. In the first movie they had to cremate an entire zombie and some zombified animals in a furnace to create such an effect, and it made perfect sense to me. The chemicals in the zombie become air born in the clouds and come down in the rain. Here, it seems like they needed a reason for the zombies to come alive and just hoped no one would notice that it didn’t make any sense. I mean are we supposed to believe that the gas in the canister could cause all that? I could have even accepted that the gas from the canister traveled down to the graveyard and woke up some dead people, but I have no clue how it got into the rain again. What happened to the running zombies? In the first movie the zombies were an unstoppable threat because they could run. Here they move a lot slower, allowing the characters a lot of time to escape whenever they find themselves in a dangerous situation. Would it have been so hard for them to at least keep the zombies consistent? Why not just call this something else if the zombies aren’t even going to be the same as in the first movie? Of course they did use the tarman again. Poor tarman… In the first movie he was a complete badass and perhaps one of the greatest zombies in zombie movie history, but here he is a broken shell of his former self. He attacks Jesse and the boy outsmarts him by pushing him into a pond. He is bested by a ten year old, so we can only assume that the sheer shame of it is the reason he never appears again in the movie. Poor tarman… One of my biggest problems with the movie is the use of young and child actors. They all suck in terms of acting ability, but that can be been glossed over when they’re only minor characters. However, when they’re part of your main cast, you’re in trouble. Jesse escapes certain death so many times, it’s sickening. I just have a hard time believing that a mere boy could best the tarman… poor tarman… Jesse’s sister, Lucy, is just as annoying, and don’t even get me started on the cable repairman who is only a year older than Lucy…
I have to comment on the army in Return of the Living Dead Part 2 as well. I understand having the army evacuate the town and then quarantining it off once they know about the zombies. What I don’t get at all is the jeep with three soldiers in it driving around town. Are they lost? If they are, why would they be parked in the middle of town looking at a map when our main characters stumble upon them? I’m no military genius, but if I was lost in a town full of zombies, I’d find some where safe before I’d be looking at my map.
There’s a lot to dislike about this movie, but I still find it a lot of fun to watch. I would somewhat recommend it for hardcore zombie fans who have never seen it before, but for other horror fans, I’d say avoid it because there’s a lot better movies you could spend your time watching.
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