---
title: "The Return of the Living Dead: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-return-of-the-living-dead/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-return-of-the-living-dead"
critics_score: 75
critics_reviews: 7
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Return of the Living Dead (1985): what the critics said

Critics' score 75 from 7 reviews: 4 positive, 3 mixed, 0 negative.

Most critics like it, and the praise lands on the comedy. The reviews describe a fast, gleeful film that breaks the usual zombie rules and enjoys doing so, with the humour, the gore and the lively performances coming up again and again. Several single out the dialogue and the punkish, anything-goes spirit, and the more recent write-ups treat it as a comedy-horror that has lasted well.

The reservations are about brains rather than entrails. Time Out finds the film fun and bloody but short on ideas, and Variety, writing at the time, thinks the opening is funny before a threadbare production and a familiar story let it down, though it credits James Karen’s goofball turn with much of the early comedy. Even an admirer at Empire admits uneven patches. The spread is fairly narrow: nobody dislikes it, the older reviews are cooler than the newer ones, and the one New York Times notice could not be read.

## Slant Magazine — Jeremiah Kipp

Rating 4.5/5. 11 October 2022. 

Kipp calls this the definitive home-video release of the film. He praises its sharp, detailed 4K image and the extensive extras.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/the-return-of-the-living-4k-uhd-review-dan-obannon/)

## Empire — Chris Hewitt

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 1 June 2012. 

Hewitt calls the film essential, enormous fun, celebrating its gleeful subversion of zombie conventions. He singles out its black comedy, inventive plot turns, and punkish anything-goes spirit, while noting uneven patches.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/return-living-dead-review/)

## Time Out

Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 15 March 2012. 

The review finds O’Bannon’s zombie romp fun and suitably gory, but held back by a lack of brains. It praises the film’s gore-drenched take on zombie tradition while faulting its ideas.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/newyork/film/the-return-of-the-living-dead)

## The New York Times

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 16 August 1985. 

The URL identifies a New York Times review of the 1985 film. The page content is inaccessible, so its verdict and any specific praise or complaint cannot be verified.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/16/movies/screen-return-of-the-living-dead.html)

## Variety — Variety Staff

Fi1m's normalised score 55/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1984. 

The review is mixed, praising the film’s terrifically funny opening while finding the production threadbare and the story familiar. It singles out James Karen’s goofball performance as a key source of the early comedy.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/1984/film/reviews/the-return-of-the-living-dead-1117794424/)

## Eye for Film — Jennie Kermode

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 15 March 2008. 

Kermode finds the film hugely entertaining, with real thrills and gore beyond its parody. She praises its exuberant humor and creepy, relentless zombies, calling it a zombie-comedy classic that has stood the test of time.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-return-of-the-living-dead-film-review-by-jennie-kermode)

## Den of Geek — Duncan Bowles

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 18 December 2007. 

Bowles celebrates the film as fast-paced, funny, and endlessly entertaining. He particularly praises its lively performances and sharp dialogue, alongside its exuberant gore and unconventional take on zombie rules.

[Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/return-of-the-living-dead-review/)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-return-of-the-living-dead.md