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Return of the Living Dead (1985) KILL COUNT

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◄ Old (2021) KILL COUNT Return of the Living Dead (1985) KILL COUNT Beetlejuice (1988) KILL COUNT ►

Return of the Living Dead (1985) KILL COUNT is the four hundred and forty-fourth video of The Kill Count.

Overview[]

On July 3, 1984, at the Uneeda Medical Supply Warehouse, foreman Frank tries to impress new employee Freddy by offering him military drums of a toxic gas called Trioxin. The drums wound up in the basement of the building, due to a delivery misconception years before. While hitting the side of a drum to verify it is secure, Frank accidentally releases the toxic gas, which seemingly melts the cadaver inside and reanimates another cadaver kept in a meat locker. Joined by their boss Burt, the three attempt to kill the reanimated corpse by impaling the brain (which does not work), and then dismembering the body. They discover that every portion of the zombie's body can endure independently. Burt has the zombie burned up at a nearby mortuary by his friend Ernie, but this inadvertently causes the fatal gas to pollute the air, developing a toxic rainfall that reanimates the corpses in the nearby cemetery.

Meanwhile, Freddy's girlfriend Tina and his friends Spider, Trash, Chuck, Casey, Scuz, and Suicide arrive at the graveyard to wait for Freddy to finalize the work. While Trash starts undressing and dancing on a gravestone, Tina goes to the storehouse and wanders into the basement, where she discovers the reanimated but horribly disfigured cadaver from the barrel that was presumed to have dissolved. The rest of the group arrives shortly after and saves her in the nick of time, although Suicide is killed. After Casey acknowledges she saw Freddy entering the mortuary, the group tries to reach him through the cemetery, where they are attacked by the re-emerging zombies. Trash is killed and Chuck and Casey flee back to the warehouse, but Spider, Tina, and Scuz reach the mortuary. The three discover Frank and Freddy growing ill from their exposure to the gas and call for paramedics, who say their tests imply the men are no longer alive even though they are conscious. Trash, her body immersed in the chemical-laden mud, grows from it transforms into a zombie, and starts to hunt and feed. When Burt and Ernie learn of the dead rising from their graves, they secure the mortuary. Scuz is killed while defending the barricade and the zombies eat the paramedics and police who arrive on the scene. The group tends to grab the upper half of one of the zombies and control her on the mortuary table. She clarifies that the reanimated corpses can sense themselves rotting, and eating the brains of the living helps lessen the pain of being dead.

With Frank and Freddy showing signs of becoming zombies themselves, Burt has them locked in the chapel, chaperoned by Tina when she refuses to leave Freddy. Freddy soon attempts to eat Tina, prompting Burt, Ernie, and Spider to rescue her by reopening the chapel and dazing Freddy with a strong acid. Frank manages to escape during the chaos and, still having control over his mind, commits suicide by going up into the cremator. Burt and Spider escape the mortuary in a police car, but a large number of zombie forces, now led by Trash, force Burt to leave Ernie and Tina behind. Ernie and Tina hide in the mortuary's attic, while a blinded Freddy attempts to interfere.

Burt and Spider manage to get back inside the warehouse where they find Casey and Chuck. After hindering the basement zombie, whom Spider names "Tarman," Burt tries to contact the police but discovers they are massacred by the zombies after being overrun, then he decides to call the number on the military drums, which reaches military officer Colonel Glover. Notified that the zombies have claimed the area, Glover has the town destroyed by nuclear artillery on the morning of July 4, effectively killing Burt and the other survivors.

In the wake of the nuclear strike on Louisville, Colonel Glover is heard telling his commanding officer that everything went as intended and that the results could not be more favorable. Only a small area was destroyed, he says, and casualties are restricted. As he speaks, the toxic rain falls once more, and zombies are heard screaming in their graves, implying that the invasion is about to begin again.

Deaths[]

Counted Deaths[]

  • Yellow Cadaver - Dismembered, incinerated - 37 mins in
  • Suicide - Brains eaten by Tar Man - 46 mins in
  • Trash - Swarmed by zombies - 50 mins in
  • 2 Paramedics - Eaten by zombies - 52 mins in
  • 2 More Paramedics - Tackled by zombies - 1 hr in
  • Scuz - Head bitten by zombie - 1 hr 1 min in
  • Guy in Street - Trashed by Trash - 1 hr 5 mins in
  • 2 Cops - Swarmed by zombies - 1 hr 8 mins in
  • Freddy - Died from Trioxin 245, re-animated into zombie - 1 hr 10 mins in
  • Frank - Died from Trioxin 245 - 1 hr 16 mins in (Seen as zombie)
  • Zombie Frank - Incinerated in crematorium - 1 hr 17 mins in
  • 10 Police Officers - Ambushed by zombies - 1 hr 17 mins in
  • Police Captain - Overwhelmed by zombies - 1 hr 21 mins in
  • 14 Officers - Overwhelmed by zombies - 1 hr 21 mins in
  • (Maybe) 3999 Humans & Zombies (Including Burt Wilson, Ernie Kaltenbrunner, Tina, Spider, Chuck, Casey, Zombie Freddy, Zombie Trash, Tarman, and Torso Zombie) - Incinerated by artillery strike - 1 hr 26 mins in

Non-counted Deaths[]

  • Bastard Skelly - Died in various ways
  • Split Dog - Incinerated by artillery strike
  • Morgue Bodies - Died before the film
  • Living Split Dogs - Incinerated by artillery strike
  • Pinned Butterflies - Incinerated by artillery strike

Trivia[]

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