# The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

> A reckless warehouse mistake unleashes brain-hungry corpses in a punk-charged, relentlessly irreverent zombie nightmare.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/movie/5966

## Facts

- Runtime: 91 min
- Genres: Comedy, Horror, Science Fiction
- Director: Dan O'Bannon
- Cast: Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Thom Mathews, Miguel A. Núñez Jr., Brian Peck, John Philbin, Linnea Quigley
- TMDB rating: 7.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089907/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: graphic
- Mood: irreverent, grotesque, frantic, halloween party, late night cult movie marathon

## Movies like The Return of the Living Dead

- [Night of the Living Dead (1990)](https://ember.film/movie/11617)
- [Night of the Creeps (1986)](https://ember.film/movie/9452)
- [Street Trash (1987)](https://ember.film/movie/13280)
- [Poultrygeist II: Dawn of the Chicken Dead (2026)](https://ember.film/movie/7484689)
- [C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud (1989)](https://ember.film/movie/36146)
- [Dead Heat (1988)](https://ember.film/movie/25450)
- [Queens of the Dead (2025)](https://ember.film/movie/7336075)
- [Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988)](https://ember.film/movie/14754)
- [Dance of the Dead (2008)](https://ember.film/movie/7512)
- [Night of the Comet (1984)](https://ember.film/movie/11114)

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