Happy Return of the Living Dead Day! Let’s jump right into it with today’s movie of the day, which should come as a surprise to no one.
Movie of the Day
The Return of the Living Dead begins on July 3, 1984, so it’s no surprise that it’s today’s movie of the day. It’s also the film’s 40th anniversary this year, having been released in August of 1985. So this really is a special day. But it’s not like I need to wait for a special day to re-watch The Return of the Living Dead. I’ve seen it more times than I can remember, and I adore it every time.
I’ve written about The Return of the Living Dead before, but mostly in relation to the legal battles it has faced over the past year. It’s been quiet on the legal front lately, and it looks like both sides are continuing with their plans for new RotLD movies. That’s fine, but nothing is going to beat the original.
In my opinion, RotLD is one of the top three zombie movies ever made (I’ll leave the other two as a mystery for now). The zombies all look awesome, the story is funny without being a parody, and the pacing is about as perfect as a movie can get. It was also the movie that really shook up the idea that zombies had to be slow-moving and brainless. And the cast? Everyone is brilliant. I’m a huge fan of Clu Gulager who plays Burt, but the interactions between James Karen (Frank) and Thom Mathews (Freddy) might be my favorite acting moments in the entire movie.
I don’t know if I really need to recommend this movie, since I bet most of you reading this have already seen it. But I will recommend that you watch it again today since this year is a special anniversary, and since it’s the day the movie takes place. You can stream it for free on Tubi.
A Related Recommendation
For these daily digests I thought I’d start recommending additional movies that are somehow related to the main movie I’m recommending every day. For The Return of the Living Dead I’m going with something easy: Return of the Living Dead 3. The first is best, but three is great in a different way. It’s a tragic romance with zombies. If you’ve never given it a chance, you need to change that today. It’s also available on Tubi. Watch it!
Birthdays
Patrick Wilson starts off birthdays for us today! Patrick was born on July 3rd, 1973, and his work in horror movies is mostly contained within two huge modern franchises. He plays Josh Lambert in the Insidious movies, and he is Ed Warren in the Conjuring Universe. He also stepped behind the camera to direct the fifth Insidious movie, Insidious: The Red Door (2023).
Also celebrating a birthday today is Shawnee Smith, born July 3rd, 1969. Shawnee is best known to modern horror fans as the victim-turned-villain Amanda in the Saw franchise. Her horror credentials span more than just multiple Saw movies though. Shawnee’s first big horror movie was 1988’s The Blob, and her latest is The Other, which was just recently released.
Also born today, in 1957, is Michele Soavi. He is a personal favorite filmmaker of mine, having directed Stage Fright (1987), The Church (1989), and one of the best zombie movies ever, Cemetery Man (1994). Michele started his career in film as an actor, making appearances in movies including City of the Living Dead (1980), Absurd (1981), and notably in Demons (1985) as the chrome-masked stranger, and as a character in the movie within the movie.
And finally, Kinji Fukasaku, the director of Battle Royale (2000), The Green Slime (1968), and many other films across many genres, was born on July 3rd, 1930.
Events on This Day
Midsommar was released in US theaters on this day in 2019. It’s long been a favorite here at Creepy Catalog, and it really is a perfect movie for summer.
Also released on July 3rd, on Netflix in 2020, was the TV series Ju-On Origins. Personally, I think it’s a superb series. It’s creepy and weird, and if you know me, you know I like creepy and weird things. I’ve watched it a few times all the way through, and it’s probably about time for another re-watch.
Speaking of Japan, the movie Concrete was released in Japan on July 3rd, 2004. This is a tough one to recommend. It’s based on the true story of the murder of Junko Furuta whose body was discovered encased in concrete inside a steel drum. For a true-crime movie, its focus and tone are weirdly sympathetic towards the perpetrators of the atrocious crimes depicted (and the even worse crimes that happened in real life). One interesting note, however, is that Junko Furuta’s story is briefly referenced in Ju-On Origins.
Also, today is the 40th anniversary of the limited-theatrical release of Day of the Dead. As I noted a few days ago, June 30th was the film’s premiere at a single theater in New York, but July 3rd is when it landed in more theaters across the United States.
In the News
Just a couple of small news bits to catch up on today. First isn’t news as such, but comments from Jason Blum about M3GAN 2.0 underperforming at the box office. Blum said, “We all thought M3GAN was like Superman—we could do anything to her. We could change genres, we could put her in the summer, we could make her look different, we could turn her from a bad guy into a good guy.”
To me, it feels like Blumhouse just misunderstood how flimsy the hype around M3GAN was. Viral popularity because of a dance in a trailer might translate to short-term success, but it makes no guarantees of long-term loyalty.
In TV news, Neil Druckmann is stepping away from any creative role in The Last of Us season three. His statement about the change, per Deadline, doesn’t indicate any creative differences that led to his decision. Instead, he says he’s transitioning back to focusing on video games at Naughty Dog. We’ll have to wait and see how this affects the next season of the show.
That’ll do it for today. I’m not sure what movie I’ll watch for the 4th of July. Maybe Uncle Sam? That’s always fun. Whatever I decide, I’ll reminisce about it tomorrow. See you then!
