I was a little vague in my review of Return of the Living Dead about why I thought the film was so great. I focused on how funny the characters were and the uniqueness of the zombies. I wish I could write that review again so I could mention the real elements that made the film so magnificent. Especially after watching Return of the Living Dead Part II.

This is one of the most bizarre sequels I’ve seen as not only does it misunderstand the humour and horror of the original but also recycles its characters and subplots.

The premise of Return of the Living Dead Part II is almost identical to that of its predecessor. A toxic gas is released accidently in a suburban American town, causing the dead to rise. A group of townsfolk gang together and try to survive.

The Characters

In my review of the original I described how funny and likable the characters were, when what I really meant was how funny the situation was. The characters were actually very serious in their portrayal, which made the film funnier. On the surface the film was a bleak horror based on the apocalyptic tensions of the Cold War that was present at the time, with some comedy woven into it.

This isn’t the case with the sequel. Part II is evidently a full-blown comedy. Characters insult each other, drop one liners, cower like babies; they’re all playing for laughs.

James Karen and Thom Matthews return to play the same characters they played in the original, just more over the top and less funny. Karen plays a grumpy old graverobber and Matthews a young hip graverobber. If the fact that they’re just comic clones of Freddy and Frank wasn’t bad enough, their characters experience the same plot beats as they do in the first film, even reciting the same dialogue. 

Fortunately, they’re not the only main characters. One is a young boy called Jesse. If you like Stranger Things and are into 80s’ nostalgia you might enjoy his character. He’s essentially the ‘smarter than everyone kid’ in the words of Christian Toto. He uses his child-like wits and knowledge to help the group flee from the zombies.

The best character in the film has to be Doc Mandel, an elderly local who joins the gang of survivors. He’s totally oblivious to the zombie attack at first, baffled and offended by the teens who’re breaking into his house and demanding to use his car. He’s a blunt, old fashioned man and, while completely inappropriate for a Return of the Living Dead film, the most fun to watch.

The Zombies

One thing I’ll give Part II credit for is its production design. The zombies, the gore and the overall scale of the film is better. The individual character zombies in the original looked great but the zombie extras just looked like people with mud on their faces. This isn’t the case with Part II. The makeup and animatronics for the cartoony character zombies are great, however the makeup for the zombie extras is just as good. Similar to those of Tom Savini’s in Day of the Dead with their rotten scarred faces and various skin tones.

And there’s a lot of them. Hundreds on screen at a time. If you like zombie action like that in 2004’s Dawn of the Dead and 28 Weeks Later, it’s worth sticking around for these scenes. The best example being when the zombies first rise from the cemetery. It’s very much like the scene in the original just with better production value.

Unfortunately, like the characters, the zombies are mostly played for laughs. They step on top of each other when climbing out of their graves, freeze when they see an attractive woman in an aerobics video and crack one liners themselves.

Return of the Living Dead didn’t really need a sequel so the fact that Part II doesn’t live up to the classic standards of the original isn’t a shock. However, its recycled characters and plot beats and poor, cheap comedy totally alienates it from the themes and intentions of the first film. I’d only enjoy it as a standalone innocent comedy with some horror but as a sequel to one of the best horror films of the 80s’, there’s no way I can recommend it.

I give Return of the Living Dead Part II a bad 4 out of 10.