Expanded from a short film, Raiders Of The Living Dead (where do you suppose the title came from?) throws in terrorism, mad scientists plus zombie grave robbers and ends up making as much sense as Plan 9 From Outer Space. Not that the picture has energy to burn, but youll need a scorecard to keep up with whats happening as characters and plot threads are randomly introduced and discarded, seasons change between scenes and a villain wed forgotten about is re-introduced as a undead henchman. The opening hostage sequence has nothing to do with the main plot of a mad doctor turning people into zombies, the journalist hero fails to notice the disappearance of his assistant and theres a lengthy sub-plot about a teenager who makes a gun out of (why not?) a laserdisc player. Thank goodness the theme song (I saw something I shouldnt see/ Now the zombies are coming after me) lends the film a touch of class.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
