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Return of the Living Dead: Part II (1988)
Miles ahead of the Original
Actually, **** out of four.
This one has it all. A good cast with funny performances from 1980s horror film recognizables like James Karen (Part I, Invaders from Mars), Thom Mathews (Part I, F-13 Part VI), and Suzanne Snyder (Killer Klowns, Night of Creeps). Philip Bruns (Silent Night Bloody Night), as Doc Mandel, is fun as well. Snyder is her usual crazy, goofy self while Karen and Mathews are like some Laurel and Hardy ish team which helps the film out dearly, working well together once again. Also, Dana Ashbrook and Michael Kenworthy both appeared in other horror films in 1988, Waxwork and The Blob, respectively.
The story is pretty basic and that's fine cuz we don't need twist endings or extensive plot devices here, just some good laughs, good direction by Ken Wiederhorn (Shock Waves) and well designed zombies by Kenny Myers. Memorable zombies for that matter.
As for the DVD cut, if you know how to switch back and forth b/w the french language track whenever there's no dialogue for a while, do it cuz it contains the original J. Peter Robinson score, which is excellent and one of the main reasons why this movie has a fan base to begin with. Maybe WB will issue out a version that has the original on the English language track! Ironically, even Wiederhorn's commentary track mentions that the new score for the DVD is sub-par. Frankly, it sucks compared to the original. Despite this cut, I still have high regard for this film and will be on the lookout for a better version one day (we can all hope, right?) It's interesting to note that Robinson and D.P. Robert Elswit have gone on to major Hollywood productions and it's easy to see why judging by their work here.
This is a surprise sleeper from 1988, probably the best year out of the 1980s for horror films (Killer Klowns, The Blob, ROTLD II, Halloween 4, F-13 Part VII, The Brain, Pumpkinhead, Phantasm II, Nightmare 4, Child's Play, just to name a few). With horror films like these, I'm glad I was 7 yrs. old in 1988, lol!! This one is miles ahead of the original only cuz the tone seems darker and much more serious in the original, even though it's essentially a spoof. This one is just that- a horror comedy!! (almost in league with Shaun of the Dead for horror comedy stature). Some light comedy, some light, yet entertaining horror.
Highly recommended! * * * *