And so with what is effectively Return of the Living Dead V, this stupid franchise is over. Return of the Living Dead started off as a horror comedy that veered more towards teen horror in the later sequels. But what if we could have both? What if they made a zombie horror movie that’s also a teen comedy? Too bad “teen comedy” in the mid 2000’s meant lots of boobs and pot. What else was I expecting for October of the Living Dead…?
So we’ve got a couple returning characters from the last film, Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis. Uncle Charlie gets killed in the opening scene, which sets up Julian finding his uncle’s hidden cannisters of Trioxin-5 in the attic. Unsure what it is he takes it to his friend Cody, who discovers that the mysterious chemical can give you one hell of a trip. Jeremy (Mr. Cain Mihnea Manoliu) is the resident stoner and the worst character, so of course he takes it and sells it as a drug named Z, because you act like a zombie when you’re on it. Expectedly, taking too much Z turns you into a real zombie, and it’s later revealed taking any will eventually turn you. Becky gets turned by a scratch, which I have several questions about, but whatever; Cody gets his throat torn out, and in the end the only survivors of the titular Rave to the Grave being attacked by the US government is Julian, this movie’s replacement for Katie (Jenny Mollen), and one of the agents who had been looking for the cannisters. Oh, yeah, there are two bumbling agents. They’re the comic relief characters. Hilarious. The movie ends with the tar zombie that escaped the cannister giving up on trying to hitchhike to the rave and just shambling down the highway. No, it doesn’t make much sense, does it?
Why turn this sequel into something just above a stoner comedy? I don’t think a single decision worked out, both for the characters and the filmmakers. In addition to cheap shit like one of the corpses clearly breathing before they administer Trioxin-5, the whole thing just felt… sleezy. There’s a bunch of nudity just for the sake of seeing boobs, but also other choices that don’t feel right. At one point a song is playing with the lyrics, “I like my girls like I like my drugs, everywhere and ready to pass out.” Fuckin’ yikes, man. And then there’s the cheer the cheerleaders give near the beginning that just only works–arguably–in a low budget zombie movie. Oh, and before I share it, of course they get attacked by zombies. One bites a cheerleader’s butt. My sides. They are splitting from laughing so hard. Ha.
K to the I to the L to the L
-Nameless Cheerleaders
We’ll kill ya, we’ll thrill ya, we’ll leave your team in pain
And when we drag you across the court, you’ll leave a greasy stain
We’ll put you 6 feet under, we’ll make you cry and sniff
We’ll give you rigor mortis, and keep you hard and stiff
We’ll beat you, we’ll eat you, you’ll make a tasty snack
And if you think you’ll get away, you must be high on crack
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