Welcome back to Behind The Scenes Saturday!! It’s time to party with one of the best horror comedies ever made, The Return Of The Living Dead! This film has a hell of a cast, hilariously messed up moments, and a killer soundtrack. So, stay away from the barrels, be sure to burn even the heart, and enjoy these fun pictures and bits of trivia! It’s party time!!

(Trivia provided by IMDb.com)

(Pictures provided by google.com, facebook.com, and IMDb.com)

(SPOILER ALERT!!!)

• The filmmakers needed to get permission from Lysol to use their product in a scene. They liked the idea that the spray would kill any conceivable odor. So, the spray was used by Frank (James Karen) after he and Freddy (Thom Mathews) get prayed with the tank gas.
• The film’s director, Dan O’Bannon and Jewel Shepard (Casey) met in the early ‘80s when she was a stripper and he was a member at the club she worked in. They became good friends over time and according to Shepard, O’Bannon used to buy her drugs. When he got the chance to direct this film, he actually had her in mind for the role of Trash (Linnea Quigley). However, she was tired of being naked on stage and in previous roles, so she opted to play Casey instead.
• Some of the zombie extras were given more money to eat real calf brains in the film. Dan O’Bannon wanted to prove he would never ask the actors to do something he wasn’t willing to do himself, so he ate some of the calf brains in front of them.

• There were 2 different jackets made for Freddy due to censorship. For the theatrical version, his jacket has the words, “F**k You” on display. For the TV version, the jacket has “Television Version” on it.
• In the film’s commentary, Dan O’Bannon stated that Ernie (Don Calfa) was intended to be an escaped nazi in hiding. There are many nods to this as he has a picture of Eva Braun in his morgue and he was listening to Panzer rollen in Afrika vor while he was embalming bodies.
• Miguel A. Núñez Jr. (Spider) was homeless at the time he was working on this film.

• In order to create Tarman’s (Allan Trautman) melting in the beginning of the film, a wax face was put over the skull and heated up to the melting point. The glass breaking was completely unintentional and was caused by the heat, but it worked so well for the shot, they kept it in.
• The lead pipe that Burt (Clu Gulager) used was made of rubber. Gulager had a real one, but because of his angry and sometimes violent outbursts, Dan O’Bannon was afraid of him wielding a real weapon. So, the crew snuck the real one out and replaced it with the rubber one.
• During Trash’s graveyard dance, Linnea Quigley was completely naked and had pubic hair covering her privates. When the film’s producer, Graham Henderson, visited the set and saw her, he threw a fit and cussed Dan O’Bannon out saying you can’t show pubic hair on television. O’Bannon then sent Quigley away to be completely shaved down there, which she found most embarrassing out of the whole experience. When she came back, Henderson threw another fit cause now you could see everything. To remedy this, a crotch piece was made for her, covering everything but still giving the illusion that she was completely nude. Quigley has since joked that there has never been more attention on her vagina than when they shot that scene.

• For the moving zombie parts in the various garbage bags, motorized toy monkeys with their cymbals removed were placed in the bags.
• Dan O’Bannon thought that the fanbase would be mostly horny guys, so there was quite a bit of female nudity. He was surprised to see how many women were in the initial audiences. He said if he knew how big of a female following the film would have, he would’ve given Freddy a nude scene as well.
• One of the main ingredients used for the tar on Tarman’s costume was Methocel.

• Leslie Nielson was offered the role of Burt but he wanted too much money to do the film. Robert Webber was then offered the part but he turned it down because he hated the script. Their next choice was Scott Brady, but he was much too sick to do the film. Clu Gulager signed on for the film right before the first day of shooting.
• John A. Russo and George Romero wrote Night Of The Living Dead. They parted ways after disagreeing on the sequel. While Romero worked on Dawn Of The Dead, Russo adapted from his own novel, The Return Of The Living Dead. His script was bought and given to Dan O’Bannon to create. However, O’Bannon didn’t want to create a too-serious film that invaded Romero’s turf, so he created a more humorous film with Night Of The Living Dead as a movie-within-the-movie, but “based on a true story.”
• Tina was originally supposed to wear a plastic mini-skirt. Beverly Randolph modeled a variety of different skirts, sweaters, and bows, but none of them felt right for the character. The white and blue outfit she ended up wearing was from Miguel A. Núñez Jr.’s wardrobe.

• The producers wanted George Romero to produce this film, but he never contacted them back with an answer.
• The film’s German title translates to Damnit, The Zombies Are Coming, and the Danish title is The Dead Don’t Care. The Greek title is Zombies Aren’t Vegetarians.
• Dan O’Bannon was planning on playing the part of Frank himself. He even wrote the character for himself. However, when James Karen came in and auditioned for another role, O’Bannon was blown away by his performance and hired him on the spot.

• Not only was this the first film to bring us zombies that only ate brains and moaned the word “braaaaaiiiiiins”, it was the first film that gave us running zombies.
• Brian Peck played 2 parts in this film: Scuz and a zombie who is clawing his way out of a grave.
• The shot of the skeleton rising out of the grave and opening its jaw was a big disappointment to the film’s production designer, William Stout. Stout thought that it was a work in progress and not the final effect. It ended up becoming one of the key elements in the film’s marketing.

• When Trash does her dance, the gravestone next to her has the name Archibald Leach on it. Archibald Leach was Cary Grant’s real name.
• The film was originally going to be in 3D and directed by Tobe Hooper.
• The scene where Tina falls through the stairs was accomplished without Beverly Randolph’s knowledge. When she was at lunch, Dan O’Bannon had a false step put in then had her do a test run up the stairs. She ended up banged and bruised and that’s why she had trouble running after falling through the stairs.

• Clu Gulager was very proud of his work on this film. He considered it one of the 5 genuine works of art he’s ever been a part of.
• Since the character Freddy required an earring, Thom Mathews pierced his ear for the role. He didn’t find out until later that he could’ve worn a fake earring for the film.
• Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, created 2 taglines for this film: 1. They’re hungry and they’re not vegetarians. 2. First, they want to meet you, then they want to eat you.

• Some people believed the characters Burt and Ernie were named after the beloved Sesame Street characters. In reality, it was purely coincidental.
• During Trash’s dance scene, Brian Peck burned his hand on one of the road flairs he was holding.
• Because she had no idea what the phrase meant, it took Jewel Shepard 45 takes to correctly tell Chuck (John Philbin) to “go choke a chicken.”

• Trash’s name was originally Legs.
• Don Calfa, Brian Peck, and Mark Venturini (Suicide) all went to the same hairdresser to get their characters’ iconic hair colors and styles.
• Thom Mathews roommate at the time of filming was George Clooney. Clooney even visited the set during filming.

• Dan O’Bannon wanted yellow smoke for the film and the only way the crew could do it was by using sulfur. O’Bannon instantly regretted using sulfur.
• Linnea Quigley admitted that filming nude in the rain and other harsh working conditions prompted her to take valium while shooting. Not to mention she developed skin and eye problems due to the prosthetic makeup appliances she had to wear.
• Jewel Shepard was the one who suggested Linnea Quigley for the role of Trash.

• Linnea Quigley wore a wig for the film.
• Even on his days off, James Karen would show up on set to pump up the spirits of the rest of the cast.
• In an early version of the script, Burt was supposed to get bit on the leg by the freezer cadaver.

• Kimmy Robertson was considered for the role of Tina.
• Frank’s death scene was created by James Karen himself. Originally, after Frank turned into a zombie, he was going to just join the zombie mob like Trash did. At the time, the weather was cold and rainy, and Karen didn’t want to film in those conditions. So, he came up with the idea of  incinerating himself before he was completely gone, and Dan O’Bannon agreed to use it.
• It was also James Karen’s idea for his character to remove his wedding ring and pray for forgiveness before killing himself.
• The voice actor who was supposed to voice the helicopter officer never showed up, so Dan O’Bannon stepped up and did the dialogue himself.