Comments on: Traumafessions :: Reader Chuckles on Return of the Living Dead

By: Serval87

Serval87 — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:23:42 +0000

This is one of my absolute favorite movies and it does make me laugh. I have been watching it since I was younger, and for a little while it didn’t really unsettle me. Then I took a break and watched it when I was around 10 or 11, and the part where Tina is trapped by the tarman scared the crap out of me! I could only imagine being in her shoes in that moment, and when she’s running up the stairs and stumbles. Then I would lay in bed at night, feeling scared, and expecting to see the tarman coming through my shadowy doorway. ::shivers:: I still love this movie, though. It’s one of my favorites.

By: lalilulelo

lalilulelo — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 22:24:58 +0000

I lived next to a graveyard growing up. My sisters encouraged me to watch it with them, reassuring me it would be funny. It sure was comical but totally scared the shit out of me when i was a kid.

When the tarman takes out the alpha of the group the despair set in quick. Theres even a slight heroic score right after they hear Tina screaming for help in the basement, and they go to help.

The soundtrack is also tight. Roky Ericson, The Cramps, TSOL. Great stuff.

<3

By: JennyM

JennyM — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:02:38 +0000

I remember when this movie came out in the theater. I was going to the movies with my brother and dad and begged him to take us to see this. Instead he took us to European Vacation. I was so mad. He did make it up to me by renting it as soon as it came out. I agree with VicarofVHS about the dwarf zombie. He still scares me.

By: smidget28

smidget28 — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:19:23 +0000

Ok, if I saw this as a kid, Tarman, I would have NEVER recovered. However, I never saw this movie until I was an adult…and I just find him hilarious and funny. But I can totally see how he traumatized you and I may have become a vegetable if it were not for my protective parents.

By: gcap2719

gcap2719 — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 06:07:12 +0000

Love the Tarman poster. Really changes the whole view on Carpenter’s classic.
ROLTD is one of my favorite films, but I admit that it scared the hell out of me when I was a kid. First you are set up with all of these jokes and then the zombies cause havoc, totally changing the tone of the film.
When I was younger, I was freaked out for many of the same reasons that bothered the OP. Freddy, who I liked as Tommy Jarvis in Friday the 13th Part 6 – which I saw around the same time as this, turned into a crazy zombie after being the nice guy of the bunch. The zombies were also acting human like and were indestructible, unlike the zombies I was used to.
But as I got older, I appreciated this movie more and more. Today I own every DVD edition made and am eager for the Blu-ray whenever that gets released.

By: Apocalypsejunkie

Apocalypsejunkie — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:33:12 +0000

A pre-dug hole?!? So you had this whole operation planned out. Talk about taking your trauma by the horns…..I salute you

By: FatherOfTears

FatherOfTears — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:37:22 +0000

Yep, Freddy's transformation was scary as the film suddenly slowed down when he went to attack his girlfriend! Then we see the closeup of him drooling! In another scene what was left of a zombie was strapped to a table and when "she" was asked questions about why they eat brains, the zombie's exposed spinal column was slithering around on the table like a snake when she answered the questions! Oh, my creepy album cover as a child was Billy Joel's "Piano Man" and the paperback cover of the "Sybil" book freaked me out as well. http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp132/FatherOfTears/sybil-big.jpg

By: Mariam67

Mariam67 — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:32:40 +0000

I love zombie movies, and I can sincerely say that tarman is the only zombie to give me a nightmare. He totally freaked me out, and I had bad dreams that night.

By: Chuckles72

Chuckles72 — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:09:43 +0000

@Apocalypsejunkie - Nope – I just snatched the thing and droppd it into a pre-dug hole in my back yard. It was daylight, so I figured that I was fairly safe. Funny thing is that it was just my cousin’s description of Phantasm that freaked me out so much – I can’t imagine what would have went down if I actually saw it.

By: Eibmoz

Eibmoz — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:27:14 +0000

I had such a bad zombie phobia that at times when I heard sirens and dogs barking in the distance, I expected to hear screams as well. Terrible nightmares.