RV!: Lifeforce (1985) and RV!: Return of the Living Dead (1985)

RV!: Lifeforce (1985) Dir: Tobe Hooper Date Released: June 1985 Date Seen: June 10, 2010 Rating: 0.75/5 

RV!: Return of the Living Dead (1985) Dir: Dan O'Bannon Date Released: August 1985 Date Seen: June 11, 2010 Rating: 4.25/5

Recoil in terror as I talk about the summer of 1985, also known as the successive fall and rise of Dan O'Bannon's ego. See my piece for The House Next Door.

200) Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988)

200) Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988) Dir: Ken Wiederhorn Date Released: January 1988 Date Seen: June 27th, 2009 Rating: 3.75/5

Writer/director Ken Wiederhorn's entry in the Return of the Living Dead franchise is happily self-aware about its nature as a B-movie sequel that essentially rehashes the superior first film's plot. A couple of the original film's cast members return here and one of them even winks at the audience by saying that he has an eerie feeling of deja vu. Wiederhorn knows well enough how to manipulate the staid formula he's working in, milking generic cliches for all their worth and pulls off quite a number of very good parodic jokes, including a jab at Michael Jackson's "Thriller," and fun make-up effects. A worthy sequel.