dukeakasmudge Not as good as the original but it does come REALLY close.Return Of The Living Dead had the perfect mix of horror/comedy but part 2 was way more about comedy.I think if part 2 would've been more of a horror flick with a bit of comedy thrown in like part 1 then this movie would've been perfect.That would be my only complaint about part 2.1 of my favorite things was the return of James Karen & Thom Mathews.They were great together in the original & this movie as well.I wish they made more movies together.If they did, I know I would've watched them.Also the Michael Jackson zombie.That was unexpected & I had to rewind it a couple times & watch it over & over again.I'd tell anybody to check this movie out.I enjoyed every single moment of it.If you enjoyed Return Of The Living Dead then you'll most definitely enjoy Return Of The Living Dead part 2

tomgillespie2002 If you're a fan of the cult horror film Return of the Living Dead (1985), then chances are you've watched this lazy sequel, only to be left wondering where the last 90 minutes of your life have gone. The plot surrounds another lost toxic barrel, containing the chemical gas that will awake the living dead. An obnoxious child witnesses the birth of the zombies after the gas is accidentally released, and the town is soon overrun by seemingly indestructible, brain-eating zombies. A couple of gravediggers robbing the dead are caught up in the midst of the zombie outbreak, and with the boy and his family, try desperately to survive the onslaught.If the plot sounds extremely dull and familiar, it's because it is. The first film was a very amusing, and often quite clever little movie, bursting with ideas and scenes of pure lunacy brought to life by a cast who look like they're genuinely having fun. Part II obviously knows this, and rather than trying to expand on the originals quirky charm and develop the universe, director Ken Wiederhorn, who ended his relatively short career in television, chose to simply re-hash the first, involving similar scenes and situations, and even bringing back some of the actors. What the film becomes is almost pure comedy, aiming at a teenage audience (although the humour is for infants), and lacking the fun horror and gore from the first. There's nothing that even comes close to the limbless female zombie demanding "braaaiinnnss!" from the first.What we do get is a wise-cracking severed head with the voice of a finger-snapping black woman, a little boy hero who I was praying to be brutally murdered, and a zombie dressed as Michael Jackson doing the Thriller dance (yes, really). It's such a desperate, pathetic attempt to humour an audience that was most likely getting into each other's pants in the back row, and I fail to see how this would amuse anyone apart from those who are entertained by jangling keys. Even James Karen and Thom Mathews, who were very funny in the first, look uncomfortable with the crap they are given to work with. It's just one boring, cringe- inducing 90 minutes, made worse by the fact that this is a missed opportunity, given the quirky charm of the first. One fellow IMDb reviewer put it better than I can, so I quote - "not funny, not campy, not scary, not good."www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

SombeeKillah "I feel like we've been here before. You... Me... Them!" That's what Thom Mathews "Joey" says and that how I felt about this film. Thom Mathews and 'James Karen nearly duplicate their roles from Return of the Living Dead as a pair who are sickened by zombie gas. In both films they have the exchange, "Listen kid, if you like this job..." "Like this job? Like this job!" They only changes were their names, they were Freddy & Frank, now their Ed & Joey. Only this time they are not funny at all. James Karen even becomes a full fledged zombie who attacks a soldier and eats brains! But he was not convincing for me or scary at all. Thom has another girlfriend, Suzanne Synder (Brenda), in this one who is basically playing the same helpless role Beverly Randolph (Tina)played in the first one. The "so-called hero" in this one is played by a young Dana Ashbrook in the role of "Tom".In one of the most disturbing scenes for me is where the zombies are attacking a pet store and killing all the helpless animals, "Tom" gets mad and hits a zombie with the ambulance he is driving with and figures out the only way to kill these bastards is by electrocution.Which leads to the "grand finale". It is said that The blue electrocution lines in the final sequence were all hand-drawn frame by frame and cost over $50,000.Near the very end of this electrocution scene, a Michael Jackson impersonator zombie can be seen - a direct reference to his Thriller music video. This zombie is played by actor Brian Peck, the only person to have had a role in the first 3 movies in the 'Return of the Living Dead' franchise. Playing the role of 'Scuz' in the first, many of the closeup zombies in the second ('Pussface', ''Thriller', 'Jaw', 'Eye-Pop', 'Zombie on Car Roof') and finally 'Ballistics Technician' in the third. The only other actors I recognized were Philip Bruns ( Of Flashdance and Seinfeld fame)who played the Drunk Doctor.He was so so. And Mitch Pileggi (Skinner of the X-Files fame) playing a kill crazy sergeant. I wish they would have had more of him. Anyways, I feel this sequel was OK but not great. Gonna go see the 3rd one now and see if that's better. Bye!

asmushar This movie does not deserve some of the harsh reviews it has garnered here imo. It is a much better horror film than ROTLD 3 and you can totally write off ROTLD 4+5 which were horrendous and I don't mean so bad they were good, I mean god awful! This movie centers around what looks to be a new suburban area ( so new 1/2 the houses are partially constructed). The hero here is a young boy and his sister. The characters are OK and make no mistake this film in no way approaches the original. However I did like the introduction of electricity as a means of destroying the "living dead". It has a certain sci-fi plausibility to it. Electricity essentially fry's the cadavers reanimated cns as well as every other nerve system as well in effect finally eliminating the zombie. Electrical current would also have the effect of dehydrating the reanimated tissue-so like I said sci-fi plausibility. This film is better than average and worth a look if you liked the 1st one. Again, don't expect the same quality though.