Raiders of the Living Dead

If you're looking for one of those "so bad it's good" movies, then ROTLD is the movie you want. Featuring characters with no background or motivation beyond "reporter," "Grandpa" and "child genius," scenes of complete silence and - best of all - a villain "reveal" that makes Scooby Doo's "I would have got away with it, too, if it wasn't for you pesky kids," look complex this film is, quite frankly, an absolute stinker.

Worth watching if you've a few likeminded friends and a crate of beer handy, but other than that, this film is without merit. Zombie or horror fans expecting a "proper" horror movie should avoid at all costs.

My review was written in November 1989 after watching the movie on USA Network.

"Raiders of the Living Dead" is a very minor zombie picture, reviewed here for the record after being cablecast on USA Network's "Up All Night" series.

Picture was begun in 1983 by Brett Piper (credited for "inceptive effects and direction") under the title "Graveyard" and completed two years later by Independent-International topper Samuel M. Sherman.

Hodgepodge relies heavily on library music and weakly inserted verbal exposition to spin a tale of newspaper reporter Robert Deveau, who's stumbled on the mystery of zombies. Befriended by Donna Asali, he tracks the undead down to an island prison, abandoned for 40 years, where a mad scientist is still up to no good in reanimating corpses. Two kids, Scott Schwartz and Corri Burt, come to their rescue with laser guns Schwartz designed- as well as grandpa Bob Allen, sporting a trusty bow and arrow.

Timekiller doesn't make much sense but has a couple of spooky scenes in a cemetery and the prison. Zita Johann, who co-starred with Karloff in Universal's 1932 classic "The Mummy", pops up as a librarian telling Deveau about the prison's history.

"Raiders of the Living Dead" is a low-budget zombie rip-off that is inexplicably and consistently interesting; if nothing else, it has imagination and innovation on its side. A reporter and his partner scope out an ominous locale in the dead of night and stumble upon zombies. A child genius works on his doctor grandfather's laserdisc player and winds up creating a laser. And a zombified Scott Schwartz (the kid from "A Christmas Story"?) hijacks a truck for no reason and tries to blow up a nuclear power plant, only to be claimed by the zombie menace. While slow in spots, and sporting more of a 1980s look than a Sears catalog, "Raiders" exists in some weird limbo between "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things," "Burial Ground," "Return of the Living Dead II," and even "Zeder" (the climax takes place in an abandoned prison). Is it a masterpiece of cinema? Certainly not, and perhaps my generous "5" rating is due to the fact that I watched the atrocious "Reefer Madness" earlier today. Still, it is a diverting item with OK makeup effects, a cheeky attitude, and a toe-tapping, synth-heavy theme song.

Well, maybe I wouldn't go as far as the above, but this movie is really good! As a fan of "bad" movies, I thought this movie was incredibly stupid, but it was great! Samuel M. Sherman is one of my favorite producer/directors. Right up there with Roger Corman and Stanley Kubrick! He plays the film well, using the little money that he had to produce an entertaining zombie horror. I am a fan of George A. Romero's "Dawn of the Dead", and this movie is not in any was a knock off of it! That is an acheivment in itself, as everyone knows that most films with the words "Living Dead" in the title owe a lot to Mr. Romero. So, if your a fan of "my kind of movies", "King Kong Lives" (1986), Plan 9 From Outer Space (1958) and Samuel Sherman's production of "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" (1972), then this film is AN ESSENTIAL WATCH! 8.5/10

I've seen some God awful films in my time but this must rate as one of the most dull, then again, there was 'Zombie Aftermath.'

The story as Zombie films go is not particularly offensive, we've got the typical out of town reporter investigating some strange goings on in a run down chemical plant that's become a bit of an urban myth around town. But you know you're in trouble when any 'horror' film begins with an overlong montage sequence of stills from the video cover accompanied by a cheezy eighties soft-rock theme tune. Things only deteriorate from then on. The opening sequence is immensely shaky, with lumbering actors (no, these are not the ones playing the zombies,) crusty library music, jerky camerawork, little dialogue, (though when you actually hear the 'actors,' and I use the term loosely here, it's understandable,) and along with ploddy editing, the whole thing appears clearly worse than it already is. The Direction is so poor in fact, it had me reaching for the box to read the blurb on the back to possibly find out what the hell was going on.

Soon we're 'treated' to a Swat team shoot out (I wonder where they got that idea from?) but it appears no one told any of the cast, because they look like they're rehearsing for a school play. And it's understandable going by the crappy props they're given to 'shoot' with. It's hard not to be critical when a film reeks as bad as this one. Just when things don't look like they can get any worse the story line introduces some irritating school kids who start building Laser guns (ooh how fifties,) from their broken CD players, to help in the fight against the undead. Oh and the laser effects are truly amazing, the FX crew ought to be knighted, and perhaps given crayons instead of the felt pins they obviously used for the film, just in case they injure themselves, or horror upon horror, work on another film! Obviously the creators of this thought they'd make a quick buck from a genre that doesn't necessarily need a lot of capital to produce. But here the cutting of corners and cheapness of the whole production is painfully evident.

Those hoping for a cheap but entertaining zombie outing ought to look elsewhere because 'Raiders...' provides about as much entertainment as watching paint dry. Try instead Jorge Grau's highly recommended 'Don't Open the Window' (known as 'The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue' in the U.K.) or J.W. Bookwalter's rewarding cheapo 'The Dead Next Door.'

Buyers or renters beware, IVS U.K. have put together a half decent cover with clever packaging (unlike the one pictured above) that seems very reminiscent of early 'Evil Dead' and 'Return of the Living Dead' releases that will perhaps lure a few curious but misguided horror fans, but take it from me this was one film I (and many others no doubt,) could have done without seeing.