5/6 Return of the Living Dead 4 & 5

Return of the Living Dead 4: Necropolis

"I can't shoot her! She's my friend! I lost my virginity to her."

IMDB.com Rating: 3.2 out of 10

Availability: Still in print and cheap.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxnZQgO-sxo

Watch Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8CHZ0N57h8
OH SHIT! Moment: A security guard's head gets ripped clean off, while his security guard-counterpart is pulled in half at the waist.

Beverage: Brain Hemorrhage

Ingredients:

 1 oz. Peach Schnapps

1 tsp. Bailey’s Irish Cream
2 drops Grenadine

Method:

Pour Peach Schnapps into a shot glass. Slowly add the Bailey’s Irish Cream and top with grenadine. The Irish Cream will curdle, resulting in a shot that appears to be a bloody, brainy mess. Enjoy!

_________________________________________________________________________________
There's a whole mess of reanimated corpses in the sequel that made did for the ocean what 'Jaws' did for zombies. Nothing. Tonight's movies are 'Return of the Living Dead 4: Necropolis' and 'Return of the Living Dead 5: Rave to the Grave'.

Like most movies nerds, when I read they were resurrecting the 'Return of the Living Dead' franchise, I got excited. I'm one of the few who love sequels; especially when they're straight-to-video or made-for-t.v. I guess that's the difference between being a nerd and being a snob. The cheaper they are, the better they are -- most of the time. Let's put it out there right now. These two movies are terrible. . .

. . .but I like them. There. I said it. 'Return of the Living Dead 4' is far from a perfect movie. It might seem like 'ROTLD 4' offers little to the movie-goer; but it's kinda a throwback to the cheap horror and sci-fi that made Friday nights fun. It's amazing how a poor script, pedestrian acting and bad stereotypes can be forgiven with a few awesomely gruesome effects -- strictly my opinion, of course -- and 'Necropolis' does it wonderfully.

I wouldn't say I'm a gore-hound, but I enjoy when a bad movie can offer up some fun tricks. In the end, all I want to be is entertained; and this entertains me. 

The film begins in Chernobyl with our antagonist, Charles Garrison, purchasing canisters of Trioxin; the substance that reanimates the dead. Charles, who works for a company called Hydra Tech, is experimenting with the Trioxin. He's also the uncle of our protagonist, Julian. Hmm, could that be the basis of the film's plot..? After one of Julian's jackass friends, Zeke, hurts himself on a bike; the ambulance takes him to Hydra Tech for zombie-testing, rather than the hospital. Thanks, Obamacare. . . Julian and the gang hop in the Mystery Machine and drive to Hydra Tech to find Zeke. Instead, they find the dark underbelly of the suburbs -- Hydra Tech is making zombies of mass destruction for deployment in war. Meanwhile, a gas leak turns two homeless guys and their dinner - a cooked rat on a spike -- into zombies, but they kinda make it an irrelevant plot point. From here, it's your basic story -- boy finds out uncle is evil scientist, zombie outbreak occurs, most of boy's friends and younger brother dies, boys long-dead parents come back to life as super-zombies made by for the military, army comes in and cleans up the living dead -- so, you're basic story.

Next up on the night, 'Return of the Living Dead 5: Rave to the Grave'. Let's be honest, these movies may as well not have the 'Return of the Living Dead' name, because there's very little which connects them to the original trilogy, other than the Trioxin, and a brief appearance from the Tarman.

IMDB.com Rating: 3.2 out of 10

Availability: Still in print and cheap.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsfCeyW1Cns

Watch Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJVtLKGdtQI
OH SHIT! Moment: Whilst zombie-Becky performs the act of road fellatio, she zombies-out and -- how to put this diplomatically -- she takes a little bit of his manhood, if you know what I mean, and I think you do. 

Beverage: A Bloody Brain Shooter

Ingredients:

1 1/4 oz. strawberry vodka such as Stoli 
1/8 oz. Rose's lime juice 
3/4 oz. Bailey's Irish Cream 
splash of grenadine

Method:

Chill vodka for better smoothness. Add vodka and lime juice to a shaker; shake, then strain into a shot glass. Using a straw, dip some Bailey's Irish Cream into the shot. Once you submerge the straw into the Bailey's, put your finger on top of the straw to hold the Bailey's in the straw. Dip the straw tip into the vodka and slowly release your top finger. The Bailey's will curdle a little bit due to the lime juice and you should be able to make strands of Bailey's.

Repeat the straw/Bailey's process to build a "brain" in the shot glass. Add a splash of grenadine to the concoction to add the "blood" to the mix. Down the hatch as a shot.

_________________________________________________________________________________

So, 'Return of the Living Dead 5: Rave to the Grave'. Again, this wasn't met with critical acclaim, but again, that doesn't mean I don't find it enjoyable. The film opens in with the evil uncle selling the cans of Trioxin. After a deadly case of negligence, everyone at the meeting dies except two Russian government officials. It's now up to them to track down the rest of the Trioxin, which is hiding in a secret room in Julian's attic. Unfortunately for them, Julian -- who's lived with the Trioxin canisters in his uncle's house for years without realizing it -- realizes there's Trioxin in the house and begins to make drugs out of it. They call it, "Z"; and everyone wants it. It has the feels of speed, ecstasy and a whole bunch of other shit which culminates in the grand finale -- death and the eventual rebirth as a zombie. You see, kids; drugs ARE bad. . .

But while everyone is tripping balls to their grave, Julian and his friends decide to have a massive party -- or a rave. . . And being it's Halloween, they want it Halloween-themed. See where the title comes in yet? I know, it's clever. Aldo and Gino, the two Russians, trace the Trioxin back to Julian's house and realize what's going on. Despite the zombie outbreak from a year prior, Julian and his friends don't notice anything odd about a bunch of zombies shambling around and just assume they're on drugs. The Russians call the military and kill everyone. End. Of. Movie.

 FOR BOTH MOVIES. On my scale:

Overall Enjoyment ----12
Redeeming Qualities---13
Rewatchability---------7
Fun/Special Effects----7
Directing/Quality------2
Plot/Pacing-------------4
Dialogue/Acting-------2
Gratuitous Killing & the Tarman-10
TOTAL---------------57

If nothing else, you can say the director gave this the ol' college try. . .because they film takes place at college. See what I did there? You know what you're getting yourself into when you watch these. Don't expect anything great. If it helps, watch these without thinking they are part of the 'Living Dead' films. Think of them as though they are a separate series of films. It might help with the enjoyment. And try and find the humor. These are movies which should be made fun of. Just because they're bad doesn't mean you can't enjoy them. Worth every penny. *2* stars.