Movies
Have a Taste for More Brains!? It’s ‘A Return to the Living Dead’
Just when you thought it was safe to be dead! Members of the creative team behind the award-winning Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy and Bio Channel’s Inside Story: Scream have joined forces once again to unearth the story behind cinema’s coolest zombie movie, The Return of the Living Dead.
More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead is the definitive exploration of the outrageous splatter classic which has continued to terrify and entertain horror fans for over twenty-five years with its delicious mix of blood, guts, sex and punk. Boasting off-beat humor, plenty of attitude and one of the most famous zombies ever committed to celluloid, it’s easy to see why the film’s legacy continues to grow.
Filming on the two-hour retrospective began in April 2011 in and around Los Angeles, and fans will finally be able to explore the film’s journey from the world of Night of the Living Dead to the mind of acclaimed writer/director Dan O’Bannon. Narrator Brian Peck (“Scuz” from the original 1985 film) guides you through the blood, sweat and tears as cast & crew look back on their graveyard experience creating the movie that’s been called “a beauty of a cult classic!”
This entertaining and informative project will be the ultimate account of the tongue-in-cheek, stylish and apocalyptic zombie movie. It features — for the first time ever! — contributions from all the main cast as well as clips, photographs, storyboards, conceptual art, publicity materials, archival documents and behind-the-scenes footage.
“Watching movies like Return of the Living Dead at a young age set me on a course for the horror films I love today,” says director Bill Philputt. “It’s an honor to work so closely with people I’ve known for years. Getting such great insight into the making of the film, as only the cast and crew can give, has been a fantastic experience.”
Executive producer Michael Perez agrees, “Working with the cast of the film very closely for the last five years, they became more than clients and turned into great friends. Being able to see the impact they and the film have had on fans all around the world is incredible, making me realize Return of the Living Dead has a real story to tell. I decided I wanted to help bring that to life and I hope the fans of the franchise will embrace this incredible retrospective as they have the movie.”
“When I was approached to produce the project, I quickly proceeded to rewatch the original film,” adds producer Thommy Hutson, who has some experience unlocking the behind-the-scenes secrets of horror genre classics as writer/producer of Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy and Inside Story: Scream, among others. “Within minutes I realized I couldn’t pass the opportunity up. Return of the Living Dead is classic 80s horror: it’s scary, funny, gory, sexy and completely cool. I just really loved the idea of exploring how the film was made and quickly realized the behind-the-scenes stories were sometimes as scary, funny, gory and sexy as the film itself!”
Beverly Randolph, star of the original 1985 film and executive producer of the retrospective, adds, “It has been so wonderful to finally set the record straight. Our incredible fans have so many great questions that they want answered and we are finally able to give them what they want. It has been such a wonderful and warm stroll down memory lane, and I am forever grateful for this chance to remember something so special and to be able to capture it forever!”
In addition to the comprehensive two-hour documentary, the October DVD release of More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead features an additional two hours of killer extras that will make viewers want to come back from the grave and party!
Andrzej Żuławski’s 1981 psychological horror movie Possession is getting a remake from Smile writer/director Parker Finn, and Deadline reports that The Batman actor Paul Dano has joined the cast.
No word at this time on character details, though.
The original film starred Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill as a married couple in Cold War-era West Berlin whose relationship spirals into a supernatural nightmare. In Finn’s update, Margaret Qualley and Callum Turner will star as the turbulent couple in Finn’s Possession, and Adjani has officially given her blessing on Qualley’s casting.
Parker Finn is writing and directing the new take on Possession.
He’s also producing alongside Jonathan Fass via Bad Feeling, along with Roy Lee and Andrew Childs via Vertigo, and Robert Pattinson. Marc Bienstock is serving as exec producer.
Our own Brian Keiper celebrated Possession‘s 40th anniversary here on BD back in 2021, writing: “Few movies depict emotional turmoil as effectively and daringly as Andrzej Zulawksi’s Possession. It is a challenging and sometimes inscrutable film, both for the mind and the emotions. Zulawski struggles through a number of deep issues throughout the course of the film; issues that speak to some of humanity’s deepest pains and fears. In many ways it is about loss— loss of political ideals, loss of faith, and loss of innocence. But most of all, Possession is about the fear, pain, and anger that comes from the loss of a marriage.”
This will mark Dano’s first horror role. The actor previously appeared in sci-fi hits Looper and Okja.
Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill in Possession
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