So, by now we’ve all seen the teaser trailer for the new “Return Of The Living Dead” film. And I’m very ambivalent about it. Sure, the teaser presents us with an image for the ages: a Tarman zombie dragging a Christmas Tree through a snow covered landscape, but something feels a bit “off” to me.
Firstly, the teaser:
Now, the concept of zombies running rampant in the snow is pretty cool. if you’ve seen Dead Snow, then you know just how cool it can be. But horror films in snow can be hard to achieve successfully. If you get it wrong, it just looks like people running around in polystyrene balls, pretending to be cold. You have to really work to make it look genuinely cold. This teaser manages it (the biggest giveaway usually is a lack of visible breath vapour, which isn’t an issue for a zombie). Can it be maintained for an entire film? Well, we shall have to wait and see.
The “Tarman” himself? The few close up shots you get make the costume look a bit cheap to me. Whatever is supposed to be dangling from his body just looks like latex worms. It doesn’t look like strips of melting/decaying flesh, or rotted, shredded clothing. It literally looks like latex worms:
And a logic question (I know, it’s a zombie movie, why bring logic into it): What cemetery has a fully lit up Christmas Tree in it, complete with extra long extension cord? It isn’t a major thing, but it bugs me.
Also, this film appears to have no participation from anyone associated with the original except for Tony Gardner who appears to be handling some of the effects duties (which will apparently be all practical with no CGI according to the website, which is a positive). From what I’ve heard, original ROTLD production designer William Stout (who was truly responsible for the look & feel of the world the film takes place in) refused to return, and the films makers are engaged in a legal battle with the “ROTLD Originals” (the majority of the surviving cast members of the original film) over image rights and royalties.
And to further complicate things, the “ROTLD Originals” are involved in their own sequel, “Trash’s Revenge”.
So, I remain to be convinced here. I’m not discounting this film, far from it. It could turn out to be a good entry in the franchise. Equally so, I was excited many years ago when I heard about parts 4 & 5 being made, and we all know how they turned out….
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