20 Greatest Horror Movies Of The 80s
18. The Return Of The Living Dead
With Dan O'Bannon serving as writer and director for The Return Of The Living Dead, fans of horror knew they were in safe hands. O'Bannon's track record prior to its release in 1985 included special effects work on Alejandro Jodorowsky's unreleased version of Dune as well as writing the screenplay for Ridley Scott's Alien.
The Return Of The Living Dead is an altogether different kind of horror movie than Alien - a full-on horror comedy featuring a great punk/new wave soundtrack which became an instant cult classic for its light-hearted (but still bloody) approach to the relatively young sub genre of zombie movies.
It also popularised the idea that zombies have a predilection for eating human brains, striking an effective balance between goofy comedy, outrageous gore and sly nods and winks to the works of zombie maestro George A. Romero.
It's just a shame the sequels were such poor imitations - but then if there's one thing 1980s horror movies were noted for it's introducing ever-worsening entries in the franchise.