As 2018 comes to a close I thought it would be a good time to share my favorite physical releases of the year. I am a big supporter of physical media and will continue to support it. I like owning my movies that I can hold, not in some cloud somewhere. I love box art. This year was a great year for exclusive Steelbooks at Best Buy. Some of them will make my list. In deciding the number I fell on the most obvious one, 18.
Number 16 is the horror/comedy, Return of the Living Dead Part II!
It was a long wait for Return of the Living Dead II to arrive of blu-ray and Scream Factory delivers a great disc.
Return of the Living Dead Part II, revolves around a group of teenage boys that stumble upon a canister of the deadly Trioxin. The boys accidently open the canister and unleashes the Trioxin into a nearby cemetery, where a threesome of Ed, Joey and Brenda go into a mausoleum to rob graves.
Soon the living dead rise from their graves to reign terror on the local town.
Return of the Living Dead II is an odd movie. The first Return of the Living Dead is a brilliant blend of horror and comedy. Directed with flair, it’s a horror classic. Part II almost completely abandons all hints of horror and goes right for screwball comedy. Much of the comedy comes from not so scary zombies. Some of the comedy falls flat which makes for an uneven viewing experience. Even the famous tar man zombie makes another appearance in the film, but the lighting and the way tar man is shot he loses a lot of what made him great. The performances also are a little uneven. Thom Matthews and James Karen return from the first film, but playing different characters that end up with the same fate. They are pretty fun, so too is Jesse the young hero. The rest of the cast is ok, nothing that stands out. There is one true horror scene, Jesse is being stalked by a zombie in the basement of a hospital that lends itself to some great horror and gore moments. It is fun seeing a bunch of practical effects used to some gory goodness that only a film from the 80’s can deliver.
I do enjoy the film and any sequel to one of the greatest horror film ever was most likely to be a step back. But the director’s choice to make it more of a straight up comedy really hurt the overall quality of the film. Flawed but fun.
Return of the Living Dead II had never looked better. The brand new 2K scan does wonder to the film. I’ve seen the film many times but watching Scream’s new transfer it was like watching it again for the first time. Textures can be seen. Colors truly pop. This is a great transfer.
The dead have also never sounded better. One of the biggest issues with the previously released DVD is the not so great replaced soundtrack, well Scream Factory has fixed this by including the original music from the theatrical release! That makes Return of the Living Dead II a must for fans. I have never heard the original mix and it makes for a much more satisfying experience. The rest of the film also sounds great. From dialogue to gore this film is thumping.
Scream Factory has packed Return of the Living Dead II with some great new features. A whopping three commentaries can be found on the disc, two brand new, and one ported over from a previous release. All three are great with my favorite being with Gary Smart and Christopher Griffiths it’s full of history and is lots of fun. Also included is about an hour and a half of new interviews. I love when the participants are candid about their time on a movie. The disc has fun and very honest interviews, all a must watch.
Return of the Living Dead Part II is not the best zombie movie, but that’s ok. It’s a fun B-movie that has some really fun moments. It deserves to be on blu-ray. Scream Factory once again delivered an amazing disc that fans of the film and fans of the zombie genre will surely devour.
Film: B-
Video: A
Audio: A+
Extras: A
Overall: A