It had been a long time since I reviewed the original Return of the Living Dead, so with that in mind it was time to get onto part 2. The movie opens up with a a stray barrel of Trioxin (the reanimating agent from the first film) falling off a truck. The scene then switches to young Jesse who as involuntarily been drafted into a “gang” of sorts by a couple of older kids. They seek shelter in an old mausoleum and find the old barrel of Trioxin. One of the older boys gets rather sick from coming into contact with the barrel. Anyway, Jesse, sensing something is wrong goes back into the cemetery to find the first of the zombies rising from the ground. The grave tenders (robbers) from the first film are still at it and harvesting valuables from the deceased in the cemetery. They see the escaping gas from the cannister going right throughout the cemetery. It’s not long before the zombie contagion spreads out past the cemetery
THE VERDICT
Return of the living dead part 2 is rather schlocky. The zombies look more comical than scary. On the positive side, it’s one of those movies that basically anyone can watch. There’s a couple of gory bits but for the most part its all quite sedate Even. There’s nothing to be taken too seriously in this film. This film also wears its 80’s cheesiness on its arm. There’s a couple of actors I’m pretty sure I’ve seen in other things but can’t seem to place them. Night of the Living Dead part 2 doesn’t suck, but it’s far from essential viewing. I’d say honestly stick to the original or skip ahead to part 3. It seemed the box office felt the same way with this one only grossing half of what the original did. This one is just really for the collectors and completists only.
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