APT PUPIL (1998) (Umbrella Entertainment Blu-ray Review)

APT PUPIL (1998) 

Label: Umbrella Entertainment
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: MA 15+
Duration: 111 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video:1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Bryan Singer
Cast: Brad Renfro, Ian McKellen, Joshua Jackson, David Schwimmer, Bruce Davison,   Ann Dowd,  James Karen, Elias Koteas 

Following The Usual Suspects (1995) I was very excited to see what newcomer director Bryan Singer would do next, when it was announced it would be an adaptation of Stephen King's Nazi next door novel Apt Pupil I was very excited. Set 1984 the film stars Brad Renfro (Ghost World) as high schooler  Todd Bowden who is a bit too curious about Nazi culture. So much so that he is able to identify his elderly neighbor Arthur Denker (Ian McKellan, Lord of the Rings) as fugitive Nazi war criminal Kurt Dussander, an officer in the ranks of the SS, who oversaw an extermination camp where atrocities were committed against the Jews.

The first sign that the kid is not your average teen is when he doesn't report the criminal to the authorities, instead he approaches the elderly man and informs him after some polite conversation that he knows who he is and what he has done, calling him by his true name and indicating the camp he oversaw. He uses this leverage to ply the man for detailed information about how it felt to do the things he did, going into great detail about the atrocities he committed. These morbid tales ignite a growing darkness within the teen, at one point purchasing a Nazi officer uniform which he demands the elderly Nazi wear while he puts him through his paces, it's a disturbing scene. 

The increased time spent together reliving Nazi atrocities has an effect on both individuals, the old Nazi's sadistic tendencies are seemingly re-awakened, while Todd's growing darkness continues to consume him, with his academic studies suffering, while growing apart from his best friend Joey (Joshua Jackson, TV's Fringe). Both men begin to dabble in animal cruelty, the old man attempts to roast a stray cat in his oven while Todd needlessly kills a pigeon at school. The old man's blood lust eventually leads to him luring a homeless gigolo (Elias Koteas) into his home with the intent to kill him with a knife, but a heart attack requires him to bring in Todd to finish the job, with a bit of black mail of his own leveraged over the teen.   

Eventually a chance encounter at the hospital has the Nazi being recognized by an elderly death camp survivor which puts Nazi-hunters n the trail of Denker, threatening to expose not just him but the teen's complicit nature in the whole ordeal. 

I've always found this film compelling, how it begins to explore the dark nature of the boy's disturbing fascination with Nazi culture, but it never really nails it down to a satisfying degree. Singer's adaptation also explores homosexuality and homophobia as well as the holocaust, but that too doesn't really have a satisfying message to convey, it's a film that has a lot of ingredients but they don't all come together in a way that I feel it should, it lacks depth. 

The late Brad Renfro turns in a nicely dark performance here, he was a talented guy and he portrays the kid's sickening curiosity with good intensity. He plays well off of the chilling turn from McKellan, with the pair entangled in a wicked cat and mouse game of blackmail and leverage, with increasingly dire results for both individuals. Watch for appearances from Bruce Davison (Willard) as Todd's dad, plus James Karen (Return of the Living Dead), Elias Koteas (Let Me In) and TV's Friends star David Schwimmer as Todd's guidance counselor with a hideously bad moustache. 

Audio/Video: Apt Pupil (1998) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment presented in 1080p HD and framed in 2.35:1 widescreen. The image looks solid throughout. There's no mention of a new scan for this release, so this is probably the same HD master used by Image for their out-of-print Blu-ray, it looks solid, the colors are strong and the black levels are decent throughout. The film has a bit of haziness to it because of some soft focus cinematography, so it's not a super sharp and crisp looking presentation, butt overall this is a solid looking presentation, a nice upgrade over the DVD.

Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitles, it's a healthy sounding stereo presentation with no issues with distortion that I could discern. The score from John Ottman (Lake Placid) holds up nicely, it gets some nice life in the mix, too bad we don't get a 5.1 audio track for this one, I am fairly certain all previous home video releases had one. 

Extras are slim, we get a 7-min vintage making of featurette with interviews from Bryan Singer, Brad Renfro, Ian McKellan, with loads of behind-the-scenes footage. We also get a theatrical trailer for the film and some TV spots.

The single-disc release comes housed in an oversized Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork, both sides featuring the same image, what looks to be a collage of a pair of original movie posters for the film, with one side not having the unsightly ratings logo on the cover. Like the other Stephen King adaptations released by Umbrella the sleeve has the worn, dog-eared look of a paperback which gives the collection of Blu-rays a nice symmetry on the shelf when placed next to each other. The disc has an excerpt from the same key art. 

Obviously I would have loved some new extras for this title, it's controversial for several reasons, especially some behind-the-scenes stuff involving director Bryan Singer and some lawsuits filed against him by some young men who felt that some shower scenes, but that's not usually the sort of thing you find on an extra for a film, particularly about a still working director. That said, some new interviews would have been appreciated. 

Special Features: 
- Behind-The-Scenes (7 min) 
- Theatrical Trailer (3 min) 
- TV Spots (2 min) 

Apt Pupil (1998) is an underrated gem of Stephen King adaptation, it lacks depth and doesn't fully explore the themes it sets up, but I still find it a compelling Nazi-next-door film. Kudos to Umbrella Entertainment for making this release available again on Blu-ray, the out-of-print Image release has been fetching some steep prices on the secondary market, so this is a welcome release, and it's region-free!  

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART II (1988) (Scream Factory Blu-ray Review)

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART II (1988) 

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 89 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Ken Wiederhorn
Cast: James Karen, Thom Mathews, Dana Ashbrook, Marsha Dietlein, Philip Bruns, Michael Kenworthy

I have always wanted to like Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988) more than I actually do, and with the release of the Scream Factory Collector's Edition Blu-ray it seemed like as good a time as any to give it another watch, and maybe through the miracle of HD experience it as never before, so let's give this a shot. The sequel opens with an Army convoy transporting barrels of Trioxin during a dark and stormy night when one of the barrels flies right off the back of a truck unnoticed by the stoned soldier driving the vehicle. The next day suburban kid Jesse (Michael Kenworthy, The Blob) is being bullied by a pair of dip-shits named Billy and Johnny in the cemetery, he runs and hides in a nearby sewer where they find him before taking a break from harassing the kid when the trio discover the barrel of Trioxin. They take a moment to investigate this strange Army-branded barrel that they've found, but run screaming away in fright when a glass portal in the barrel reveals a creepy corpse that lay inside. However, when Jesse says he's going to call the number printed on the side of the barrel and report the discovery the bullies lock him inside a creepy old mausoleum, wanting to keep this new discovery for themselves. Jesse is later found in the mausoleum by a pair of inept graverobbbers, Ed (James Karen, Poltergeist) and Joey (Thom Mathews, Friday the 13th Part VI), the latter of whom drags along his exasperated girlfriend Brenda (Suzanne Snyder, Weird Science) on their cadaverous treasure endeavor. 

Meanwhile the bullies have gone back into the sewer and opened up the Trioxin container, in the process drenching themselves in the un-deadly green vapors inside it, which then seeps into the ground and the surrounding cemetery, including the mausoleum with the grave robbers, with the now familiar results for anyone who has seen ROTLD. Having left the mausoleum before all this Jesse escapes being contaminated by the green vapors, but does returns to look in on the barrel for himself a short time later. While the bullies are gone the corpse from the barrel remains at large, a new re-imagined version of the Tar Man from ROTLD, though a bit more cartoonish and slightly less gooey than his previous incarnation. The fiend attacks him but the kid manages to escape, running home to tell his older teen sister Lucy about the zombie threat, but she dismisses his warnings as nonsense and locks him away in his room while she spends some quality teen-time with handsome cable TV installer Tom (Dana Ashbrook, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me).

As hordes of the undead begin to emerge from the local cemetery the various factions convene and team-up to face off against the threat, with the bullies and the grave robbers experiencing the now familiar Trioxin-induced sickness, suffering from a lack of vitals and stiffening rigor mortis, plus a new found craving for human brains. I think a large part of the reason I keep coming back to this one is that Thom Mathews and James Karen are basically revisiting their characters from ROTLD, it's a testament to their onscreen chemistry how funny they are, re-visiting memorable lines straight from the first film to good effect, Karen has a bunch of great lines in particular, with a lot of macabre grave robbing humor. I do think the kid Jesse is pretty damn annoying, I'm firmly on his sister's side here, this kids a shit. It's always fun to see Dana Ashbrook in these 80's rolls, this one coming out the same year as comedy-horror Waxwork (1988), before he went onto appear in David Lynch's surreal TV crime-drama Twin Peaks. The film also inserts a local medical man Doc Mandell (Phil Bruns, Corvette Summer) a fairly obvious watered down stand-in for Don Calfa's probable-Nazi-mortician from the first film, coming across more as a Grandpa Howard (from Sixteen Candles), but he's got some good comedic timing so it's still fun. 

As with so many films before and after the descent from the original to the sequel is pretty steep, basically a retread of the first film with a lot of the same beats, but the script and execution aren't up to the challenge, falling far below the classic that Dan O'Bannon wrote/directed. But fear not, there's fun to be had here, the wonky blending of slapstick humor and half-hearted horror offers some silly laughs, and  you cannot deny the fun special effects of Kenny Myers (returning from ROTLD) and his team, they created a handful of cool-looking zombies including the re-imagined Tar Man, a zombie that's been blown in half, the crowbar zombie from the mausoleum and Billy the bully as a zombie is creepy looking, the kid has the look of a future serial killer even before he's transformed into the undead. 

Compared to the punk rock awesomeness of the original this is a let down, but I dig the special effects and the atmosphere in certain scenes, like the graveyard stuff with loads cool Gothic trappings with thick shrouds of fog and fun humor inflected montages of the dead rising from the graves, it's just too bad the story isn't better, the humor is way too slapstick and the horror elements are downplayed, Wiederhorn just went all out for the comedy, but he's not much of a comedy director in my opinion, he seems out of his element. I will say that this viewing was the best so far with improved an A/V presentation and a wealth of extras that did give me a new appreciation for the film. 

Audio/Video: Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988) arrives on Blu-ray from Scream Factory with a new 2K scan from the interpositive, performed by Warner Bros.. The sleeve has some contradicting claims about the transfer, while the special features listing indicates the 2K scan, there's written indication elsewhere on the same sleeve that this is a 4K scan from the original camera negative, but I do believe that this is a 2K scan from the interpositive, as advertised by both the wrap and slipcover - it looks like the 4K OCN info is a misprint. Regardless, the 1080p HD image is framed in 1.85:1 widescreen and looks solid all things considered. This is one of those fuzzy looking 80's productions that often looked like Vaseline has been smeared across the lens with diffused lighting and a gauzy appearance that has the magic ability to sap fine detail, but this is the best the film has ever looked on home video to my eyes.

Audio comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0 track, and while usually audio is not a big deal for me this is perhaps one of the most notable features of this new Blu-ray release, it features the unaltered theatrical audio/soundtrack for the first time since the original VHS/Laserdisc release. When this film arrived on DVD there was a licensing snafu that resulted in the score/soundtrack being altered and some weird voice over narration was added to the opening. Well, that phony soundtrack and voice-over are gone and we get the real deal, including some choice cuts from 80's rockers Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction (bonus points if you remember them!), Anthrax, Leatherwolf and even some Top 40 Robert Palmer with "Bad Case of Loving You". Fear not though if you have a soft spot for the DVD audio track, Scream Factory have you covered by included it here as an alternate audio option, optional English subtitles are provided.

The film might not wow me but the extras on this release are fantastic, beginning with two brand new audio commentaries, the first with actress Suzanne Snyder, and a second with Gary Smart (co-author of The Complete History of the Return of the Living Dead) and filmmaker Christopher Griffiths, plus a vintage commentary from the DVD with director Ken Wiederhorn and actor Thor Van Lingen who played the bully Billy. We also get a 25-minute 'Back to the Dead: The Effects of Return of the Living Dead Part II' with Special Make-up Effects creator Kenny Myers and Special Make-up Effects artists Andy Schoneberg and Mike Smithson who take us behind-the-scenes discussing the FX of the film, Myers says he didn't like the comedic bent of the film from the beginning, but enjoyed the extra time he was afforded to create the special effects. Lots of great insight into the creation and execution of the FX used in the film, including the silly Michael Jackson zombie that literally jumps into frame during the end credits.

'The Laughing Dead' is a new and very candid interview with writer/director Ken Wiederhorn (Shock Waves) who discusses how he came into directing, and coming onto the project with apprehension after his experience on another film which was retitled Meatballs 2 - despite the movie having nothing to do with the previous film, but then being OK with making this film a sequel even though hs original script had nothing to do with the original film! He also speaks about the excitement of working with a larger budget than he had before, the cast and special effects team, and some acne-fighting wisdom he departed onto Dana Ashbrook, also touching on the cult-status of the film and the joy of cashing residual checks from it. 

'Undead Melodies' with composer J. Peter Robinson (Mind Ripper) whose shows up to discuss his approach to scoring film, not going for the obvious comedy phrasings, instead being more atmospheric and brooding, what he calls a "serious piece of work", but also dissecting the final product and mix, feeling the music wasn't mixed very well into the film, that there should have been more give and take with the effects and what not. 

Actor Troy Fromin who appears as the weed-smoking Army truck driver at the start of the film shows up for a very brief 2-min interview discussing how he was so excited to be cast as an extra in the film. You can tell this guy must tell everyone he has ever met about his role in the film and - and who can blame him, I would too if it was me!

Another coll extra is that Scream Factory have included all the interviews from the 'They Won’t Stay Dead: A Look at RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD II' documentary that pertained the sequel, with interviews from the cast and crew from this and the first film, a nicely candid set of interviews, well-produced and still a very cool. 

The disc is buttoned-up with vintage featurette, interview, behind-the-scenes footage, trailers, TV spots and a pair of galleries. The single-disc release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a reversible sleeve of artwork, the a-side is the original poster artwork and the b-side is a new illustration from artist Graham Humphreys who also did the new artwork for Scream Factory's ROTLD release, so it's cool that have some symmetry and they look great on the shelf right next to each other.   

Special Features:
- NEW 2K scans from the interpositive
- NEW Audio Commentary with actress Suzanne Snyder
- NEW Audio Commentary with Gary Smart (co-author of The Complete History of the Return of the Living Dead) and filmmaker Christopher Griffiths
- NEW Back to the Dead: The Effects of “Return of the Living Dead Part II” – including interviews with Special Make-up Effects creator Kenny Myers and Special Make-up Effects artists Andy Schoneberg and Mike Smithson (25 min) HD 
- NEW The Laughing Dead - a new interview with writer/director Ken Wiederhorn (19 min) HD 
- NEW Undead Melodies – an interview with composer J. Peter Robinson (13 min) HD 
- NEW interview with actor Troy Fromin (2 min) HD 
- Audio Commentary with writer/director Ken Wiederhorn and co-star Thor Van Lingen
- They Won’t Stay Dead: A Look at RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD II including interviews with  James Karen, Thom Matthews, Brian Peck, Kenny Myers, Susan Snyder, Michael Kenworthy and more… (30 min) HD 
- Archival Featurette – Live from the Set (6 min) 
- Archival interviews with Ken Wiederhorn, James Karen, Thom Matthews and Kenny Myers (3 min) 
- Behind the Scenes footage (4 min) HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) HD
- Teaser Trailer (2 min) HD
- TV Spots (2 mn) 
- Still Gallery of posters and stills (6 min) HD
- Still Gallery of Behind-the-Scenes stills from Makeup Effects artists Kenny Myers and Mike Smithson (2 min) HD

Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988) is a problematic sequel, it's not awful but it pales in comparison to the original film, which is a punk-zombie classic. There's still a lot of fun to be had here though, with cool undead make-up FX and the somewhat confusing return of James Karen and Thom Mathews from the first film. The main distraction here is that there's an imbalance of comedy and horror, if feels out of whack, but it's trashy fun, glad to see it get a true special edition from Scream Factory with loads of extras and a quality presentation. 

THE UNBORN (1991) (Scream Factory Blu-ray Review)

THE UNBORN (1991) 

Label: Scream Factory 
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 96 Minutes
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Rodman Flender
Cast: Brooke Adams, James Karen, Lisa Kudrow, Kathy Griffin

The Unborn (1991) is a creepy sci-fi thriller about an infertile couple, children's author Virginia (Brooke Adams, Invasion of the Body Snatcher) and her lawyer husband Brad Marshall (Jeff Hayenga) have tried for several years to bring a baby into the world. After years failure, miscarriages and a nervous breakdown for Virginia they join in on an experimental in-vitro fertilization program developed by Dr. Richard Meyerling (James Karen, The Return of the Living Dead). The process is an immediate success much to the surprise of the couple, but several months into her pregnancy Virginia begins to experience some strange happenings associated the pregnancy which cause her to look deeper into the career of Dr. Myerling, and soon after she begins to suspect that the doc may have impregnated her with some seriously strange semen - but to what end?. 

Brooke Adams is pretty darn good in the role of the expectant mother, she plays vulnerable and strong without resorting to cliched hysterics, plus she plays the paranoia of the situation really well, egged on by the experiences of the other expectant moms in the same experimental baby-making program who, with what turn out to be - SPOILER ALERT  - an evil breed of super-human buns-in-the-oven.

This flick has a decently creepy vibe and some occasional lite body-horror elements, and a fun cast including James Karen who plays the overly-nice but still creepy doc, I love this guy and he always brings a smile to my face. Also be on the lookout for comedienne Kathy Griffin (she of the decapitated Trump effigy infamy) as one-half of an over-the-top lesbian couple/birthing coach, and we even an get a rare horror appearance from Lisa Kudrow (Clockwatchers) who went onto star in the TV mega-hit Friends a few years later. 

There's a lot of pregnancy-horror tropes on display in the flick, the story is not exactly original but I liked it enough, thanks in large part to charms of James Karen and Brooke Adams, who keep things interesting even when the threadbare story might not. As I tend to enjoy schlock more than the cream of the crop I liked that this is more It's Alive than Rosemary's Baby, and this one falls somewhere in between with a 90's veneer that has aged better than expected. I've always thought a lot of 90's cinema looked bland the first time around, but re-visiting them lately I find that they have a new found patina I agree with. One of the strangest moments in the film, aside from the threat of a super-intelligent offspring, is a bizarre rocking chair sex scene that while not played for laughs  is certainly a strange, the movie has a few choice scenes of weirdness like this that kept it interesting for me.

  
Just as the talent onscreen is notable so too are the names behind-the-scenes, the film was also the start for director Rodman Flender (Idle Hands), and early entries in the careers of cinematographer Wally Fister (Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy) and screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferris who went onto write the Bruce Campbell-starring apocalypse thriller Mindwarp (1995) before penning the more prestigious The Game (1997) for David Fincher. Notably, the score was also co-composed by 70s/80s new-waver Gary Numan, for those not in-the-know might be most familiar with his new wave classic "Cars", adding some atmosphere to the proceedings. 

The Unborn covers a lot of familiar territory as far as evil-fetus stuff goes, but it does so with a steady hand, delivering creepy paranoia and sci-fi thrills along with some body-horror elements that make for a solid watch, feeling a bot like an extended version of an X-Files episode, this is definitely a slice of 90's terror worth re-discovering. 

Audio/Video: The Unborn (1991) arrives on Blu-ray from Scream Factory with a new 2K scan from original elements, the 1080p HD image is framed in 1.85:1 widescreen, it has a nicely filmic look with a consistent layer of fine grain, color reproduction is solid and the black levels are deep with good shadow detail. Some of the latex appliances show up more than I would have noticed on TV airings of the film, but overall this is a very pleasing image with good clarity and modest amount of depth. 

Audio on the disc comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA stereo track, dialogue and effects sound good, the score from new-waver Gary Numan sounds terrific in the mix, optional English subtitles are provided. 

Extras are slim but appreciated, we get a brand new audio commentary from Producer/Director Rodman Flender and filmmaker Adam Simon who give us a nice candid account of working for Roger Corman, plus we get an HD trailer for the film. The single-disc release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a 2-sided wrap featuring the original one-sheet artwork on the cover and the reverse image is a scene from the film, the disc also features the same key art as the cover. 

Special Feature:
- NEW 2K scan of the original film elements
- NEW Audio Commentary with Producer/Director Rodman Flender and filmmaker Adam Simon
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) HD 

The Unborn (1991) is a decently creepy prego-horror, feeling like a 90's update of Rosemary's Baby by way of It's Alive, and enhanced by a solid cast and some creepy body-horror stuff, not a classic but definitely something ripe for re-discover now that we have a great looking Blu-ray from Scream Factory.

THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985) (COLLECTOR'S EDITION BLU-RAY REVIEW)

THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985) 
2-DISC COLLECTOR'S EDITION

Label: Scream Factory 
Release Date: July 19th 2016 
Region Code: A
Duration: 91 Minutes
Rating: R
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: Englisg DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono, DTS-HD MA 2.0, DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English subtitles
Cast: Miguel A. Nuñez Jr., Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph, Brian Peck, Clu Gulager, Don Calfa, James Karen, Jewel Shepard, John Philbin, Linnea Quigley
Director: Dan O'Bannon

Dan O' Bannon's The Return of the Living Dead (1985) was hands down my VHS horror cassette of choice all through high school and beyond. Having grown up on a steady diet of George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1978) I was primed and ready for this '80s punk rock zombie movie when it landed on VHS with that very cool artwork that caught your eye on the shelf. It had everything a young me needed as a horny teenager who loved horror, plenty of splatter, some tasty black comedy, a nude Linnea Quigley and an awesome 80s punk rock soundtrack featuring THE DAMNED, TSOL, THE CRAMPS and that iconic "Partytime" tune by 45 GRAVE. The blend of comedy and gore was unrivaled at the time, and its the rare movie that even comes close nowadays. When it comes to horror-comedies very few can rival this classic. Many a day I would come home from school bummed after a long day of remedial academia and social teen leprosy, but I only needed to toss this on the TV and let the apocalyptic good times wash away my teen aged worries.

The movie opens at the Uneeda Medical Supply warehouse in Louisville, Kentucky as Frank (James Karen, Poltergeist) shows a new employee named Freddy (Thom Mathews) around the place, cracking a few jokes before showing him some military drums that were accidentally shipped to the warehouse, which are kept down in the basement. He tells Freddy that the events from the movie Night of the Living Dead were based on reality, that inside the drums are reanimated corpses that were brought back to life during a military experiment gone wrong. While showing the newbie the drums Frank accidentally breaks the seal on the container and unleashes the toxic gas inside, and the two are knocked unconscious. They awaken a short time later feeling ill after having been contaminated by the toxic gasses inside. 

Returning to the main floor of the warehouse they are startled to find that a cadaver stored in the walk-in freezer has been reanimated. Frank reluctantly call the warehouse owner Burt Wilson (Clu Gulager) to help come assist with the situation. All three are panicked by the events and end up beheading the yellow-skinned cadaver with a hacksaw after pinning it's head to the ground with a pick-axe. The cadaver however refuses to die, causing the three men to dismember the cadaver, placing the parts in garbage bags. Now what to do about those reanimated body parts in the bags? The three men take the parts to the mortuary next door where the mortician Ernie (Don Calfa) hears the strange story. Calfa is fantastic as the mortician, who may be a Nazi in hiding based on his name and some hints dropped in the movie. After a bit of convincing Ernie lets them dispose of the reanimated body parts in the mortuary incinerator, but the toxic chemicals contaminate the air, reanimating the hundreds of corpses buried beneath the ground in the cemetery. 

Meanwhile Freddy's punk rocker friends learn that he has a new job and have decided to pick him up at the warehouse> We have Freddy's girlfriend Tina (Beverly Randolph), Suicide (Mark Venturini), Spider (Miguel Nunez), Trash (Quigley), Scuz (Bran Peck), party girl Casey (Jewel Shepherd), and new waver Chuck (John Philbin). They arrive at the cemetery next to the warehouse to wait for Freddy. As the sun sets punker chic Trash strips off her close and does an erotic nude dance atop a grave stone, when it begins to rain, the toxic tainted smoke from the mortuary mixes with the rain and soon the dead are rising and munching on punk rockers. 

The zombies from The Return of the Living Dead were way ahead of their time, they were fast, they were somewhat smart, and they even spoke. This is the movie that set the precedent that zombies eat brain, before this movie you didn't have kids on Halloween shambling around in zombie make-up moaning "braaaaaains", which is mighty impressive. In a scene the living  interrogate one of the zombies, asking it why they're eating brains, the dessicated corpse responds to "ease the pain of death", which is both chilling and fascinating. Of course I have to mention the Tarman, one of the greatest zombie creations ever put onscreen, my hats goes off to special effects creators William Munns, Tony Gardner, Kenny Myers And Craig Caton-Largnet who did some awesome practical effects work on the movie. 

There's so much to love about this movie, which was the first movie directed by Dan O'Bannon who was already known for writing the screenplays for Alien, the cult-classic Dead And Buried and the sci-fi horror epic Lifeforce. It is a bit surprising that he was able to knock this out of the park with his first directed movie, but he did it, this is a classic horror-comedy that in my mind is unrivaled. A lot of the movies success has to pinned on the great casting in the movie, beginning with the duo of Thom Mathews and James Karen as the employees of the warehouse, they have such a great chemistry and vibe well off each other, as does Clu Gulager and Don Calfa, eaxch of their line deliveries is pitch perfect. Then we have the assortment of punk rockers and new wavers, the most memorable being the bright-haired Linnea Quigley as Trash who is mostly nude for the duration of the movie, she's death obsessed and horny and it makes for a fun watch. 

Audio/Video: The Return of the Living Dead arrives on 2-disc Bu-ray from Scream Factory with a brand new transfer from a 2K scan of the interpostive looking very film like and vibrant with a fine layer of grain and an impressive amount of fine detail. Skin tones look accurate and the shadow detail is nice and deep, this is a noticeable upgrade from the previous MGM Blu-ray back in 2011. 
The movie benefits from three DTS-HD MA audio options, we have the 2.0 Mono, 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 Surround with optional English subtitles. I gave all three options a shot and really feel the 2.0 mono is the way to go, the stereo and surround mixes lack the upfront strength of the mono presentation, the music is too low in each of the non-mono mixes. The SSQ score and 80's punk rock soundtrack sound fantastic with inclusions from The Cramps, T.S.O.L., Tall Boys and of course the iconic "Party Time" from 45 Grave! Scream Factory went back to the original audio tracks to create a new soundtrack, unfortunately The Damned’s “Dead Beat Dance” could not be cleared for inclusion on the dis, but otherwise the original audio is as first heard in the theaters when the film played first-run, which is mighty cool considering past versions of the movie had been neutered to some degree. 

Onto the bonus features we have all the extras from the previous MGM Blu-ray, these include an audio commentaries with Director Dan O'Bannon And Production Designer William Stout, plus another with the Cast And Crew Featuring Production Designer William Stout And Actors Don Calfa, Linnea Quigley, Brian Peck, Beverly Randolph, Allan Trautman. Scream have also ported over all the extras from the MGM Blu-ray, these being A Conversation With Dan O'Bannon – His Final Interview (29 Mins), The Origins Of The Living Dead – An Interview With John A. Russo (15 Mins), The Return Of The Living Dead – The Dead Have Risen – Interviews With Cast Members Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Brian Peck, Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph, Linnea Quigley (21 Mins) and Designing The Dead – Interviews With Writer/Director Dan O'Bannon And Production Designer William Stout (15 Mins). Its great to have these MGM produced archival featurettes included. Scream have even ported over the worst extras from the MGM release, the Zombie Subtitles For The Film and In Their Own Words – The Zombies Speak, woof. 

Scream have not just porting over all the extras from the MGM disc but also licensed the extras that were included on the Region B locked release from Second Sight, that being the Severin produced featurettes The FX Of The Living Dead With Production Designer William Stout, FX Make-up Artists William Munns, Tony Gardner, Kenny Myers And Craig Caton-Largnet, Visual Effects Artists Bret Mixon And Gene Warren Jr. And Actor Brian Peck (Expanded Version) (33 Mins) HD, plus Party Time: The Music Of The Return Of The Living Dead With Music Consultants Budd Carr And Steve Pross And Soundtrack Artists Dinah Cancer (45 Grave), Chris D (The Flesh Eaters), Roky Erickson, Karl Moet (SSQ), Joe Wood (T.S.O.L.), Mark Robertson (Tall Boys) Plus Musicians Greg Hetson (Circle Jerks) And John Sox (The F.U.'s, Straw Dogs) (Expanded Version) (30 Mins) HD. The interviews with the band members and music consultants are very cool if you're a fan of the punker soundtrack, it ends with Steve Pross showing off various vinyl versions of the soundtracks. The Second Sight release included the More Brains: A Return To The Living Dead – The Definitive Documentary On The Return Of The Living Dead (120 minutes) doc, and so too does the Scream release, which is an amazing making of doc produced by the same team that brought us the horror doc Never Sleep Again. Unfortauntely Scream did not license all the extras for the doc which was included on the Second Sight disc, so you may want to hold onto that and/or the doc if you own those. Read my review of More Brains:  A Return To The Living Dead – The Definitive Documentary On The Return Of The Living Dead HERE. 

Exclusive to this disc is a new episode of Sean Clark's Horror;s Hallowed Grounds which is always a favorite feature of mine.  Clark visits a few of the locations used in the movie in Los Angeles including the railroad crossing, General Glover's house, the Uneeda Medical Supply Company, and the Ressurection Cemetery which is now part of the 'burbs. Also exclusive is the inclusion of the work print of the movie which runs about twenty minutes longer that the theatrical cut. It is sourced from a bad VHS which looks awful, but it is an awesome bonus. The last of the extras is a 23-minute featurette The Decade of Darkness (23 Mins) which looks back at 80s horror, containing interviews with directors Joe Dante, John Landis, Stuart Gordon, author John Kenneth Muir, Fangoria's Tony Timpone and actor Bill Mosely with clips from Killer Klowns from Outer Space, The Fog, Pumpkinhead, Motel Hell, Dolls, TCM2 and Dressed to Kill. If you're any kind of horror fan this is standard entry level stuff, but again is a nice inclusion. There's also two barnd new audio commentaries, the first with Gary Smart (Co-author Of The Complete History Of The Return Of The Living Dead) And Chris Griffiths and a second with Actors Thom Mathews, John Philbin And Make-up Effects Artist Tony Gardner

Collector's Edition Special Features: 

Disc 1:
- NEW 2K Scan Of The Interpositive
- NEW Audio Commentary With Gary Smart (Co-author Of The Complete History Of The Return Of The Living Dead) And Chris Griffiths
- NEW Audio Commentary With Actors Thom Mathews, John Philbin And Make-up Effects Artist Tony Gardner
- Audio Commentary With Director Dan O'Bannon And Production Designer William Stout
- Audio Commentary With The Cast And Crew Featuring Production Designer William Stout And Actors Don Calfa, Linnea Quigley, Brian Peck, Beverly Randolph, Allan Trautman
- The Decade Of Darkness – Featurette On '80s Horror Films (23 Mins)
- Theatrical Trailers (9 Mins) HD 
- TV Spots (5 Mins) HD 
- Still Gallery – Posters, Lobby Cards, Movie Stills And Behind-The-Scenes Photos (88 Images) 
- Still Gallery – Behind-The-Scenes Photos From Special Make-up Effects Artist Kenny Myers' Personal Collection (25 Images) 
- Zombie Subtitles For The Film
- In Their Own Words – The Zombies Speak

Disc 2:
- NEW The FX Of The Living Dead With Production Designer William Stout, FX Make-up Artists William Munns, Tony Gardner, Kenny Myers And Craig Caton-Largnet, Visual Effects Artists Bret Mixon And Gene Warren Jr. And Actor Brian Peck (Expanded Version) (33 Mins) HD 
- NEW Party Time: The Music Of The Return Of The Living Dead With Music Consultants Budd Carr And Steve Pross And Soundtrack Artists Dinah Cancer (45 Grave), Chris D (The Flesh Eaters), Roky Erickson, Karl Moet (SSQ), Joe Wood (T.S.O.L.), Mark Robertson (Tall Boys) Plus Musicians Greg Hetson (Circle Jerks) And John Sox (The F.U.'s, Straw Dogs) (Expanded Version) (30 Mins) HD 
- NEW HORROR'S HALLOWED GROUNDS – Revisiting The Locations Of The Film (10 Mins) HD 
- The Return Of The Living Dead Workprint – Includes 20 minutes Of Additional Footage (In Standard Definition) (118 Mins)
- More Brains: A Return To The Living Dead – The Definitive Documentary On The Return Of The Living Dead (120 minutes)
- A Conversation With Dan O'Bannon – His Final Interview (29 Mins)
- The Origins Of The Living Dead – An Interview With John A. Russo (15 Mins)
- The Return Of The Living Dead – The Dead Have Risen – Interviews With Cast Members Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Brian Peck, Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph, Linnea Quigley And More… (21 Mins)
- Designing The Dead – Interviews With Writer/Director Dan O'Bannon And Production Designer William Stout (15 Mins)

Sream Factory have brought us the definitive editon of The Return of the Living Dead with a new 2K scan and improved audio with the most complete soundtrack since it was in the cinema in the eighties. On top of that they have ported over nearly all the extras from previous releases and spoiled fans with more even new cool stuff, including the extended work print of the movie! The movie is an all time favorite, a hi-energy horror-comedy that continues to win over fans with each new year. Dan O'Bannon made an instant cult-classic with this one, and it only gets better with age, if you're a horror fan this is a must-own movie, and this is the must-own version.