Two ‘Return of the Living Dead’ Movies are Being Made in 2025…
…but only one of those movies stars, and is endorsed by, the original 1985 cast.
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If you follow horror news, you’ve probably seen a teaser for a new Return of the Living Dead movie promised for “Christmas 2025.” Many of the major horror-film web sites ran articles about the teaser which was released on December 13th, 2024. What wasn’t included in many of those articles is that there is another movie related to The Return of the Living Dead which is also set to go into production next year. That movie is Trash’s Revenge, and it is set to star many of the cast members of the original 1985 film. How did it come to be that two completely unrelated Return of the Living Dead film projects are being produced at the same time? It’s a long story.
Creepy Catalog has been following this long story for a while now. This article won’t rehash everything we’ve already covered regarding the ongoing legal struggles between the two parties involved in Return of the Living Dead (2025) and Trash’s Revenge. Instead, the article you’re reading right now is just going to describe what these two movies are. If you want to know more (and you definitely do want to know more if you’re a fan of RotLD), then you can read the full rundown of the messy situation in our article titled: The Return of the Living Dead in Legal Battle Ahead of Its 40th Anniversary: An Explainer
Return of the Living Dead (2025)
Return of the Living Dead (2025) comes to us from WithAnO Productions, the studio behind movies including Kill Her Goats (2023), Fog City (2023), and Muck (2015). Steve Wolsh is the writer, director, and producer of all of WithAnO Productions’ films. Wolsh is also the CEO of Living Dead Media, the company that claims—in court documents filed on behalf of Living Dead Media in 2024—to own “the copyright in and to the original screenplay and the underlying script” as well as “other trademarks” related to The Return of the Living Dead (1985).
Living Dead Media describes (via The Hollywood Reporter) Return of the Living Dead (2025) as a new installment in the franchise, and an “extension of the franchise’s legacy.” Looking at information posted on ReturnoftheLivingDead.com, the film will be set 18 months after the original movie. A leak of Trioxin during a blizzard will force a small Pennsylvania town to try to survive freezing temperatures while avoiding having their brains eaten by zombies. The film is scheduled for release around Christmastime in 2025.
Like Wolsh’s previous films, Return of the Living Dead boasts that it will use all practical effects without the aid of CGI. Helping to bring the practical effects to life is Tony Gardner. Gardner is a highly-respected special effects artist whose list of credits is extensive, and includes Darkman (1990), Army of Darkness (1992), and every project in the Chucky franchise since Seed of Chucky (2004). Tony Gardner also worked on The Return of the Living Dead (1985) where he created the Half Corpse. In an unlisted video on the WithAnO Productions’ YouTube channel, Tony Gardner talks about how excited he is to create the new Tarman for the new Return of the Living Dead.
Trash’s Revenge
Trash’s Revenge is from DRagonSTUDIOS, a micro-budget film production and distribution company based in England. In an article posted on October 6th, 2024, DRagonSTUDIOS claims that they have owned the rights to Return of the Living Dead “for the past twelve years.” DRagonSTUDIOS was created by filmmaker Richard Driscoll, a writer, director, producer, and actor since the 1980s. Driscoll will write and direct Trash’s Revenge, with Linnea Quigley (who played Trash in RotLD) and Beverly Randolph (Tina in RotLD) serving as producers.
In various interviews (including one from GBHBL and one from Frumess) Linnea Quigley says that Trash’s Revenge is not a sequel to the original film. It’s more of a spiritual successor to the original. Linnea Quigley will play a starlet obsessed with fame and Hollywood, but she becomes a zombie thanks to the canisters of a certain substance stashed in her basement. So, she’ll be like a zombified version of Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard (1950). There will also be singing and dancing, which will make it “a musical to some degree” as Beverly Randolph describes it. The film is further described on its current crowdfunding platform, and that description sounds like Linnea Quigley will be playing a fictionalized version of herself.
Set to appear in Trash’s Revenge along with Linnea Quigley and Beverly Randolph are cast members from the 1985 film including Thom Mathews (Freddy), John Philbin (Chuck), Miguel Núñez Jr. (Spider), and Drew Deighan (one of the main paramedics). Beverly Randolph has also teased that James Karen and Don Calfa will appear in the film, though she didn’t say how their appearances would be handled since both actors have sadly passed away. The original announcement for Trash’s Revenge also revealed the involvement of Francis Haines, one of the composers on The Return of the Living Dead (1985) and the writer of “The Trioxin Theme”. Also of note is that Tony Gardner has been announced as working on the film, meaning he will be involved in both Trash’s Revenge and Return of the Living Dead (2025).
Trash’s Revenge has had difficulty launching a crowdfunding campaign (read all about it in our article covering the legal disputes), but a campaign is currently scheduled to launch on January 20th, 2025 on the new crowdfunding platform CineBacker. The campaign page makes it clear that Trash’s Revenge is endorsed by ROTLD Originals LLC, the company formed by Beverly Randolph and her fellow RotLD castmates.
How Will This All Turn Out?
There are still legal hurdles behind the scenes that might continue to delay one or both of these films. At this point, there are a lot of unknowns, but it does look like both projects plan to move forward into production. Which movie should you support? One, both, neither? We’re not going to tell you what to do. You should read up on both of them, and the teams behind them, and then decide for yourself. Here are some links to get you started.
