Ho, Ho, Ho, Return of the Living Dead Rises Again!

We’ve had quite a few zombie franchises in the last decade, but one that hasn’t been seen in a while is the Return of the Living Dead films. The last movie dropped all the way back in 2005, but it seemed things were set to change when a new movie was announced in 2023. Fortunately for fans, the series is officlally returning next year, just in time for the first film’s 40th anniversary.

After a handful of teaser images on Friday, the studio released a teaser for the next film, also titled Return of the Living Dead. Instead of being a reboot as initially believed, it’s actually a continuation of the original movie: set almost two years later in winter 1985, the Tarman zombie’s back in action and looking to make some chaos in an unnamed Pennsylvania town where the new film’s set. Living Dead said not to expect any returning character from the first movie, given their “terrible fates,” but teased audiences will be “welcomed back into the dark humored, sexy, edgy, Trioxin fueled world horror fans first encountered.”

The first Return of the Living Dead focused on a town infected by zombies that suddenly rose up after a toxic gas accidentally reanimated all of its corpses. In a press release, director/writer Steve Wolsh built up the teaser by revealing it was made entirely with practifcal effects and on-location, and the cemetery Tarman walks through was built to replicate the first film’s Resurrection Cemetery. “Utilizing our widescreen anamorphic lenses, we captured the practical snow effects swirling against the night sky that gives it an amazing look and texture,” he said. “It’s going to blow people away seeing an entire film made like this.”

Return of the Living Dead shambles to theaters in Christmas 2025.

[via BloodyDisgusting]

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