6. The Return of the Living Dead
The Return of the Living Dead functions as a sequel of sorts to the amazingly influential horror masterpiece Night of the Living Dead. Dan O'Bannon, the man behind the screenplay for Ridley Scott's Alien, wrote and directed this slapstick send-up of the Romero zombie universe. O'Bannon took the premise of reanimated corpses hunting the living to its comedic extremes with the welcome additions of pratfalls, outre gore and ample nudity. Return of the Living Dead invented the idea that zombies specifically crave human brains and reinvented the walking dead as nearly invisible killing machines. Perhaps the greatest joke in the film is the extremely nihilistic conclusion that takes the downer ending of Night of the Living Dead and ups the ante by ten megatons (literally). The sequel favoured comedy over horror to its detriment but the original found a perfect balance of laughter and scares that makes it a standout in the horror comedy pantheon.