July's Blu-ray of the Month: Return of the Living Dead (1985)

"On his first day on the job at an army surplus store, poor Freddy (Thom Mathews) unwittingly releases nerve gas from a secret U.S. military canister, unleashing an unbelievable terror. The gas re-animates an army of corpses, who arise from their graves with a ravenous hunger... for human brains! And luckily for those carnivorous cadavers, there is a group of partying teens nearby, just waiting to be eaten!"



Being that Return of the Living Dead is one of our favorite Horror flicks of all time, we already own it on Blu-ray. Of course the version we own is pretty plain and bare-bones, so the idea of upgrading to a Collector's Edition of the movie that boasts a new 2K scan and a ton of awesome bonus features is absolutely fine with us.



Especially since Scream Factory are the one's who are releasing it.



A new scan of the movie is reason enough for us to buy this one, but the fact that this 2-Disc set is going to include the EXCELLENT Horror Doc, More Brains: A Return To The Living Dead, makes it an absolute Must Own. Plus those other bonus features...



Bonus Features:



DISC 1:

• NEW 2K Scan Of The Interpositive.


• NEW Audio Commentary With Gary Smart (Co-author Of The Complete History Of The Return Of The Living Dead) And Chris Griffiths.


• Audio Commentary With Director Dan O'Bannon And Production Designer William Stout.


• Audio Commentary With The Cast And Crew Featuring Production Designer William Stout And Actors Don Calfa, Linnea Quigley, Brian Peck, Beverly Randolph, Allan Trautman.


• The Decade Of Darkness � Featurette On '80s Horror Films (23 minutes.)


• Theatrical Trailers.


• TV Spots.


• Still Gallery � Posters, Lobby Cards, Movie Stills And Behind-The-Scenes Photos.


• Still Gallery � Behind-The-Scenes Photos From Special Make-up Effects Artist Kenny Myers' Personal Collection.


• Zombie Subtitles For The Film.


• In Their Own Words � The Zombies Speak.

DISC 2: 

• NEW The FX Of The Living Dead With Production Designer William Stout, FX Make-up Artists William Munns, Tony Gardner, Kenny Myers And Craig Caton-Largnet, Visual Effects Artists Bret Mixon And Gene Warren Jr. And Actor Brian Peck (Expanded Version) (30 minutes.)


• NEW Party Time: The Music Of The Return Of The Living Dead With Music Consultants Budd Carr And Steve Pross And Soundtrack Artists Dinah Cancer (45 Grave), Chris D (The Flesh Eaters), Roky Erickson, Karl Moet (SSQ), Joe Wood (T.S.O.L.), Mark Robertson (Tall Boys) Plus Musicians Greg Hetson (Circle Jerks) And John Sox (The F.U.'s, Straw Dogs) (Expanded Version) (30 minutes.)


• NEW HORROR'S HALLOWED GROUNDS � Revisiting The Locations Of The Film


• The Return Of The Living Dead Workprint � Includes 20 minutes Of Additional Footage (In Standard Definition.)


• More Brains: A Return To The Living Dead � The Definitive Documentary On The Return Of The Living Dead (120 minutes.)


• A Conversation With Dan O'Bannon � His Final Interview (28 minutes.)


• The Origins Of The Living Dead � An Interview With John A. Russo (16 minutes.)


• The Return Of The Living Dead � The Dead Have Risen � Interviews With Cast Members Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Brian Peck, Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph, Linnea Quigley And More� (21 minutes.)


• Designing The Dead � Interviews With Writer/Director Dan O'Bannon And Production Designer William Stout (15 minutes.)

Even in a year when we're still getting new Blu-ray releases for movies like Phenomena, Suspiria, Session 9, and The Thing, this Collector's Edition of Return of the Living Dead has us excited in ways that we can't even begin to describe. You probably wouldn't want us to either.



This is a DAY ONE purchase for us, and it should be for you too. Pre-order that bad boy below.