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The Return of the Living Dead

Screening on Film
Directed by Dan O'Bannon.
With Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa.
US, 1985, 35mm, color, 91 min.
Print source: MGM/UA

No punk rock film series would be complete without the original punk rock zombie movie. Directed by Hollywood veteran Dan O'Bannon, better known as writer of the Alien series, this film is a tongue-in-cheek amalgam of 1980s punk clichés and mythologies: the punk rocker with a spooky job, his crew of bad news friends – the Thug, the Slut, the New Waver – and the secret government experiment gone horribly awry. Featuring a deathrock soundtrack boasting such bands as 45 Grave and the Cramps, The Return of the Living Dead follows the gory exploits of undead punks and their insatiable search for brains. More brains!

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