Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave, (2005)

 

 

   Peter Coyote returns, (albeit, briefly,) this time trying to sell off his stock of Trioxin-5 to some rather shady foreign agents. 

Cut to a month or so after his sale attempts goes awry, (*SPOILER, and he gets killed!) and we find his next of kin is going through his stuff. When college student nephew, Julian, and his girlfriend, Jenny find another barrel of the Trioxin, they decide to have his chemistry major/genius buddy, Cody, check it  out. Unbeknownst to Julian, their stoner pal, Jeremy, ingests some of the materials, and trips out - Hard. 

Upon regaining his senses, Jeremy and Cody decide that this is exactly what their college's student body needs - A new drug, (cue the Huey Lewis.) 

All these kids need is Scooby Doo!

Soon, (and I mean REALLY soon!) the pair have created, packaged, and marketed their new hallucinogenic with a drugs network that would absolutely shame Walter White!

Well, the drug, (lovingly named ‘Z’) turns kids into zombies. And those zombies turn kids into zombies, and so on, and so on. But as most Z is consumed at a VERY professionally thrown Halloween Rave, no one seems to notice the mayhem.

Zombie Clown? Yeah, we have one.

Eventually, it is up to Julian and his friends, and a pair of thick-accented Keystone InterPol agents to attempt to control the situation.

Comrades!

So, an improbable set of circumstances, and an unlikely cohort of friends with implausible skillsets, take on zombies caused by a drug. And, despite this, the biggest surprise is that this movie is better than the previous two in the franchise!!!

I mean, yes, it has its tongue firmly in cheek, and the suspension of reality needed is super-high, (not even counting the zombies!) but there is at least a consistency - a cohesiveness to the logic, or lack thereof.

A very bleak and unrealistic portrait of college culture in 2005 is painted, too, but the soundtrack, although dated by today’s standards, DOES help to convey the early millennia party mentality, for better or worse.

The zombies, although mostly Russos, (see Zombie Classification Chart,) but are no longer nigh indestructible. They can be dispatched by a headshot, à la Romeros! They still say ‘Brains!’ and chase victims, but seem less intelligent than in previous “Return’ films. 

The ZMR  (Zombie Movie Rubric,) gave it a 2.0 out of 4, (which is way below the brilliant original,) but sits it squarely in the middle of the RotLD entries. True, aimed mostly toward millennials, it reads as plain goofy fun. 

It also marks the end of the Return of the Living Dead franchise. 

Here is the YouTube vid of the official trailer:
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD: RAVE TO THE GRAVE