The Living Dead

The Living Dead

Since the beginning of film, people have been spellbound by horror movies. They seem to excite the viewer with emotions of fright, excitement and thrill. And since there have been horror movies there have been monsters to bring fright to the viewers during and after the movie. A common monster that can be found in multiple films is the zombie; also know as the living dead. One of the greatest living dead directors and screenplay writers would have to be George A. Romero. From his famous trilogy of living dead movies his final installment, Day of the Dead, proved to the world that zombies can be just as scary as any other horror monsters. He was thought as the only horror director that could make a good horror picture with the living dead. Then in 1985, a director and screenplay writer by the name of Dan O’Brian created the movie, The Return of the Living Dead, which regenerated the genre of the living dead. The Return of the Living Dead and Day of the Dead, both share a common theme that the living dead will always prevail over the living.

The Return of the Living Dead begins with Freddy on his first day on the job at a medical supply store. Freddy and a coworker unintentionally release a nerve gas from a secret U.S. military canister. Before they realize what they have done the dead in the shop start coming to life. Thinking the problem can be solved by disposing of the evidence in the store they ask a cremator to burn the bodies. When he agrees and the bodies are burned, unknowing to them the fumes from the smoke cause the gas to rain around the surrounding cemetery. Unfortunately a group of teenagers are partying in the cemetery when the dead start rising from their graves. Before anyone ...

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...ach other in the wilderness. So again in indirect ways the living dead have triumphed over living by making them run away from everything they know, into a primitive life environment. Therefore throughout the entire movie the living dead triumphed over the living.

The theme that the living dead will always overcome the living is displayed throughout the movies The Return of the Living Dead and Day of the Dead. Both movies showed that this theme came in both direct and indirect contact from the living dead. Most importantly both of these movies created a creature that could not be contained by the living. This puts fright back into the viewer that if one of these stories became true we would have no way of stopping the living dead. So the next time someone makes a joke about the dead coming to life remember that if it does happen this is no hope for mankind.