Return of the Living Dead Part II

In short, this movie mixes humor with good special effects considering the time it was released. This is a five star rated movie-

ok maybe i confused the review i put for the first one with this one.but hey,this is still great:D

Well, I'm really being generous giving this one three stars. But to be fair I did give it a watch just prior to writing this and it was better than I remembered, if only slightly. This love it/hate it sequel to the classic Return of the Living Dead fails to live up to the original in just about every aspect. The humor is cornier, the soundtrack is nowhere near as good, and even the gore effects seem to be a step down from the effects from the original. However it's still a good old fashioned 80's zombie flick with a hint of redeeming quality, so let's take a closer look.

Not much time is spent developing a plot or story here. Right from the get-go, a tank containing one of the infamous bodies falls off an army truck. Some meddling kids find it lodged in a drainage pipe, and wouldn't you know it, they unleash the poisonous zombie-creating gas. About 20 minutes into the film, the living dead are already rampaging the town in full force. A randomly assorted group of people attempt to escape the clutches of the zombies before their brains are eaten. This group containing a plethora or stereotype roles, (Annoying little kid, older teen sister with an attitude ala Ferris Bueller, the alcoholic and possibly senile old man, etc).

Thom Matthews and James Karen pretty much reprise their roles from the first film, only without actually reprising them. They are playing the same characters verbatim, and the infamous line from the first even makes an appearance when James Karen warns "Watch your tongue boy, if you like this job", to which Matthews replies "Like this job?!". These two are very enjoyable together in this film, although like the plot, the characters are unfortunately very underdeveloped. Although the original had lots of it, this film manages to be much more direct with the humor. Sadly most of it falls pretty flat and resorts to mundane situations such as the young lead cursing, zombies getting horny watching a woman in tights, and an almost Leslie Nielson-esque doctor. Although there are a few noteworthy moments, the scares and laughs here are far and few between.

All in all if you are a hardcore fan of the first, you'll get at least some form of enjoyment out of this chapter. However in reality, Return of the Living Dead 2 fails to match its predacessor without a shadow of a doubt. Thanks for reading!

As a huge fan of Return of the Living Dead (part one) and zombie movies in general, I have to say that part two is fairly entertaining, but not nearly as good as part one. The recurring roles of the two best (IMHO)characters in the first one definitely make the movie, but it's a little disappointing that they didn't get as much screen time. Freddy, er, Joey is just as loveable, and Tina, aka Brenda, is much tougher and therefore much more enjoyable to watch. Frank aka Ed doesn't disappoint either, when it comes to his moaning and whining, but again, his character doesn't get enough depth in this movie. On top of that, the main characters are an annoying little boy and his stereotypical teenage sister, aided by a teenage cable guy and a crazy old man who seems to be a combination of Burt and Ernie (from Part One, not Sesame St.). Nobody gets naked, but there's enough blood and gore to render an "R" rating for this sequel. While the first movie was meant to be a spoof, it still had enough plot and drama to qualify as a true zombie flick. Part two, however, is much sillier and cornier, and about the only redeeming aspects of it are the many cameos from the first one, including savvy talking zombies, a gawkish tarman, Frank/Ed and Freddy/Joey, and plenty of brains to go around. The ending is shockingly positive, unlike part one, and the whole movie leaves many questions to be answered. Questions like: Why is the transport of dangerous biohazardous material left in the hands of a careless army recruit who can't even tie a decent knot? How did everybody in town manage to evacuate, except for three households conveniently located on the same street? And was Michael Jackson less than Thrilled about being spoofed? All in all, it was a good movie, but not a great one. If you loved the first one, and want more of the same, then this movie will satisfy your lust for brains.

This movie will always hold a special place in my heart as being the first zombie movie I ever saw. I used to be really scared of this (I was five or six at the time) but now I just find it to be a cheesy slice of 80's zombie goodness. Some of the cast from the first film returns (along with the girl from the cult classic Killer Klowns) in a story similiar to the first but (in my opinion) better and more enjoyable. I liked the zombie FX and the over-the-top gore funny scenes. The dialogue was cheesy as hell but I assumed that was the point.