evilzombie20
06-06-2006, 11:58 PM
Ok, so as some of you may know I'm a pretty big fan of the original "The Return of the Living Dead" and when I was offered the chance to get the super rare workprint version of the movie I couldn't resist. Previous to this I had a VHS that had the workprint footage edited into the actual movie footage, so it was the actual movie with the deleted scenes edited in so the quality would jump from near watchable to unwatchable. I don't know if anyone knows about how a workprint works but it's basically a rough cut of the movie to show to the producers of the film just to give them an idea of what they spent their money on, and workprints are never usually officially released. It's actually very hard to obtain a workprint of any movie let alone one that's over 20 years old. But somehow this one surfaced.
The workprint contains over 20 minutes of never before seen footage and some effects aren't finished, there are also no titles or end credits. As I said, a rough cut of the movie. So what's different about it? There have been many rumors about what exactly is different about this version compared to the version released. Well this is where I come in, I'm going to list EXACTLY what's in this version that is not in the official version. This is going to be a rather long and somewhat detailed post but I think it's worth knowing.
The scene where Frank shows Freddy aroud the warehouse is longer, Frank shows Freddy some helium tanks and asks him if he smokes and he says no. Then he replies with cigarettes, Frank laughs and brings Freddy over to the cooler where they keep the cadavers. This scene has a different line, instead of Frank just saying, "I'll tell you what I'll do kid, I'll teach you how to fill out these shipping forms" he says; "Tell you what I'll do kid, let's get a soda pop and I'll teach you how to fill out these shipping forms". Frank and Freddy leave the cooler and Frank explains to Freddy that the door sticks and he needs to make sure it's closed tightly or it may open. Freddy asks Frank what time they are going to be out and Frank becomes concerned he's a clockwatcher but Freddy reassures him by pointing out that he doesn't even have a watch but he does have a date at 10, with a girl, and Frank assures him they'll be out by then. Frank and Freddy proceed to buy a soda then we go to the punks walking down the street. This scene is also longer, the punks talk about how they're going to get around for the day when Trash suggests Suicide and the group kind of groans and decides to go bug their good ol' friend Suicide for a ride around.
The scene between Frank and Freddy where Frank discusses the story behind the tanks is also a bit longer. I'm not too sure of the exact dialogue but I know they discuss "Night of the Living Dead" a bit more. The scene inside Col. Glover's house is also longer, it shows him pouring himself a scotch. There's one more shot of Suicide in the car after the group decides to party in the cemetery where Sucide says, "Let's play our f**king respects". The next changed scene is where Trash strips on the tombstone, there's a different song called "Nasty Girl" playing instead of the SSQ song, "Tonight (We'll Make Love Until We Die)". The scene is also a few seconds longer.
The next altered scene is after Frank, Burt and Freddy decide to chop up the yellow corpse. We see Scuz, Spider and Casey exploring the graveyard and finding a tomb litered with beer cans. Spider remarks he never wants to be buried in this place and Scuz proceeds to scare Caasey by putting his coat over his head and raising his arms. Casey screams and slaps him exclaiming, "Scuz you're such a dork!" and Scuz replies with a simple yet hilarious "Ow!". This was one of my favorite scenes taken out of the movie, this one should've stayed in.
The next altered scene is very slight, when Chuck and Casey are sitting by the tomb and Casey sees Suicide she says, "Oh great here's your friend and mine", instead of him saying "Hey f**k you ballbuster" he says, "He f**k you chocolate face". We go back to the mortuary where Burt and Ernie are ready to burn the yellow corpse, when Frank remarks; "Some big favor, I could operate that goddamn thing", and Freddy responds with, "But who would want to?".
After this scene the next alteration comes when Tina discovers that Freddy is nowhere to be found in the warehouse. Some shots are different and there are no close-ups of the Tarman. Instead of the scene being somewhat chopped up between the punks in the car it plays as a whole scene. So instead of Tina falling through the third step and cutting to the punks, the scene plays out till the Tina locks herself in the small room with the Tarman outside trying to get in. This scene's a bit longer and more effective in my opinion. The Tarman struggles with Tina with the door a bit longer, almost getting it open but gives up after a minute or so of struggling. He then turns and sees the wench and then begins to pull the door off the hinges. Then we cut to the punks in the car and this scene plays as a whole also, so it doesn't cut from the punks running through the rain back to Tina in the warehouse. It also shows all the punks leaving the car and running for the warehouse. We cut back to Tina crouched down on the ground, sobbing. The punks enter and run downstairs where Suicide meets his grizzly fate. The scene where the punks run up the stairs is a different angle and shows all of them running from the Tarman.
The next altered scene is where the punks are finished boarding up the basement door in the warehouse, this scene is a bit longer with more dialogue. The group runs to the cemetery and we hear a shrill moan discovering that the corpses in the graveyard are up and about and are in no mood to party. This scene is altered only slightly, featuring no close up shots of the zombies but focusing on that one wideshot in the begining of the scene. The corpses spurt up from the ground and crawl towards the punks. This scene should've had this shot intact in it's original release. The corpses are literally shoulder to shoulder on the ground and it really shows just how f**ked everyone really is. The next alteration is instead of Trash dying right away in the cemetery we cut to her tunning claiming she has no shoes then to the paramedics examing Frank and Freddy. After they are told there seem to be dead and the paramedics decide to get their stretchers, Frank looks over at Freddy slowly and says; "Sorry son...", we then cut to the punks banging on the door.
When Chuck and Casey run into the warehouse, they realise Trash is not with them, this is where she dies. The scene is a few seconds longer and has a few different angles. The next alteration is Ernie comes back into the embalming room to get Burt to let him know of their little problem. The other alteration comes when the group is boarding up the windows and there's a few shots in the chapel of the zombies outside the window where we can see that there are steel bars over the windows which would explain why the corpses couldn't get in so easily. This is another thing I think should've been in the movie, it certainly made it more believeable that four men could board up the entire mortuary without the zombies getting in.
After the group is done boarding up the windows, the dialogue between the punks and Burt is a bit longer and I must say a bit cheesy. Burt explains to them that the chemical brings the dead back to life and Scuz replies with "Christ!" and although that doesn't sound too cheesy, it's the delivery of the line that makes it kind of laughable. The next altered scene is where the half corpse kills Scuz, it's a bit longer and we see a corpse trying to jump through the window but Ernie shows how unwelcome he is by smacking him in the head with his hammer. The scene where the examine the half corpse features some different dialogue and is not as effective as the official version was.
While Casey and Chuck sit waiting for help, the dialogue is slightly different. Instead of Casey claiming she never did like him she says, "Chuck, I never did like your face. But under the circumstances, hold me tight", again another scene that turned out better in the final version.
The next scene that was changed was when Freddy finally succums to the chemical and turns into a zombie. He chases Tina around the chapel more and Frank jumps up to try to grab her. When Burt, Ernie and Spider come running into the room Frank runs out and we see him running down the hall. After the struggle with Freddy, the group gets ready to leave but Freddy isn't ready to let them go without a fight. We hear Burt yell, "Blind him!" as in the final version, the music is far to loud to hear anything. When we go back into the embalming room there's a nice bit of dialogue between Ernie and Tina, but it's a bit too preachy in a way so I can see why it was taken out.
After the group decides to make a run for the cars. There's a bit more dialogue between all of them, one line that I think should've remained in the final film was when Burt asks Spider what his name is as they never introduced themselves nor did you hear Spider's name ever mentioned at all in the mortuary. Although not a huge deal it should've remained in the movie.
When Burt and Spider finally get to the warehouse there's a slight change in dialogue, instead of Spider saying "He owns this place" after Chuck asks who he is, Spider says; "Don't worry he's cool". The next scene that is slightly altered is when Ernie and Tina escape to the attic, Ernie struggles with a few things to try and secure the door and finally finds a loose board and places secures it to keep the hatch closed. The scene plays out for a bit longer when Ernie looks up and says, "Listen!". We cut to the police driving down the driveway and we see them get attacked by the undead. There are a few more shots from different angles when we cut back and forth between the group in the warehouse and Ernie and Tina at the mortuary. The next big change is when Burt calls the police, there's a bit more dialogue between Burt and the cop. Then the zombies attack the police, we see more shots of the undead struggling with the police.
The last and final alteration is the ending. Instead of Col. Glover talking on the phone, we hear a voice over explaining that the whole thing was covered up as a nuclear power plant explosion and that the contaminated soil from the area is sitting on three railroad cars in South Dakota.
And that's about it. All of this stuff adds up to be about 20 minutes clocking the workprint's running time at 108 minutes. I got my copy from Fleshwoundvideo.com (http://www.fleshwoundvideo.com/R.html) for a nice price of $14.99, and although it's not the best quality, it's watchable. But anyone expecting good quality from a version of a movie never officially released that has been floating around for years on old VHS tapes is out of their mind. Also, there is no music and some of the sound effects are not finished. The only scene that plays with music is the scene where Trash strips on the tombstone and that's playing on the radio so you can barely hear it. There's also a lot of close-up shots missing, but other than that everything remains intact. Well I hope this helps people understand a bit more about the workprint version of our favorite brain-eating zombie flick, "The Return of the Living Dead".
The workprint contains over 20 minutes of never before seen footage and some effects aren't finished, there are also no titles or end credits. As I said, a rough cut of the movie. So what's different about it? There have been many rumors about what exactly is different about this version compared to the version released. Well this is where I come in, I'm going to list EXACTLY what's in this version that is not in the official version. This is going to be a rather long and somewhat detailed post but I think it's worth knowing.
The scene where Frank shows Freddy aroud the warehouse is longer, Frank shows Freddy some helium tanks and asks him if he smokes and he says no. Then he replies with cigarettes, Frank laughs and brings Freddy over to the cooler where they keep the cadavers. This scene has a different line, instead of Frank just saying, "I'll tell you what I'll do kid, I'll teach you how to fill out these shipping forms" he says; "Tell you what I'll do kid, let's get a soda pop and I'll teach you how to fill out these shipping forms". Frank and Freddy leave the cooler and Frank explains to Freddy that the door sticks and he needs to make sure it's closed tightly or it may open. Freddy asks Frank what time they are going to be out and Frank becomes concerned he's a clockwatcher but Freddy reassures him by pointing out that he doesn't even have a watch but he does have a date at 10, with a girl, and Frank assures him they'll be out by then. Frank and Freddy proceed to buy a soda then we go to the punks walking down the street. This scene is also longer, the punks talk about how they're going to get around for the day when Trash suggests Suicide and the group kind of groans and decides to go bug their good ol' friend Suicide for a ride around.
The scene between Frank and Freddy where Frank discusses the story behind the tanks is also a bit longer. I'm not too sure of the exact dialogue but I know they discuss "Night of the Living Dead" a bit more. The scene inside Col. Glover's house is also longer, it shows him pouring himself a scotch. There's one more shot of Suicide in the car after the group decides to party in the cemetery where Sucide says, "Let's play our f**king respects". The next changed scene is where Trash strips on the tombstone, there's a different song called "Nasty Girl" playing instead of the SSQ song, "Tonight (We'll Make Love Until We Die)". The scene is also a few seconds longer.
The next altered scene is after Frank, Burt and Freddy decide to chop up the yellow corpse. We see Scuz, Spider and Casey exploring the graveyard and finding a tomb litered with beer cans. Spider remarks he never wants to be buried in this place and Scuz proceeds to scare Caasey by putting his coat over his head and raising his arms. Casey screams and slaps him exclaiming, "Scuz you're such a dork!" and Scuz replies with a simple yet hilarious "Ow!". This was one of my favorite scenes taken out of the movie, this one should've stayed in.
The next altered scene is very slight, when Chuck and Casey are sitting by the tomb and Casey sees Suicide she says, "Oh great here's your friend and mine", instead of him saying "Hey f**k you ballbuster" he says, "He f**k you chocolate face". We go back to the mortuary where Burt and Ernie are ready to burn the yellow corpse, when Frank remarks; "Some big favor, I could operate that goddamn thing", and Freddy responds with, "But who would want to?".
After this scene the next alteration comes when Tina discovers that Freddy is nowhere to be found in the warehouse. Some shots are different and there are no close-ups of the Tarman. Instead of the scene being somewhat chopped up between the punks in the car it plays as a whole scene. So instead of Tina falling through the third step and cutting to the punks, the scene plays out till the Tina locks herself in the small room with the Tarman outside trying to get in. This scene's a bit longer and more effective in my opinion. The Tarman struggles with Tina with the door a bit longer, almost getting it open but gives up after a minute or so of struggling. He then turns and sees the wench and then begins to pull the door off the hinges. Then we cut to the punks in the car and this scene plays as a whole also, so it doesn't cut from the punks running through the rain back to Tina in the warehouse. It also shows all the punks leaving the car and running for the warehouse. We cut back to Tina crouched down on the ground, sobbing. The punks enter and run downstairs where Suicide meets his grizzly fate. The scene where the punks run up the stairs is a different angle and shows all of them running from the Tarman.
The next altered scene is where the punks are finished boarding up the basement door in the warehouse, this scene is a bit longer with more dialogue. The group runs to the cemetery and we hear a shrill moan discovering that the corpses in the graveyard are up and about and are in no mood to party. This scene is altered only slightly, featuring no close up shots of the zombies but focusing on that one wideshot in the begining of the scene. The corpses spurt up from the ground and crawl towards the punks. This scene should've had this shot intact in it's original release. The corpses are literally shoulder to shoulder on the ground and it really shows just how f**ked everyone really is. The next alteration is instead of Trash dying right away in the cemetery we cut to her tunning claiming she has no shoes then to the paramedics examing Frank and Freddy. After they are told there seem to be dead and the paramedics decide to get their stretchers, Frank looks over at Freddy slowly and says; "Sorry son...", we then cut to the punks banging on the door.
When Chuck and Casey run into the warehouse, they realise Trash is not with them, this is where she dies. The scene is a few seconds longer and has a few different angles. The next alteration is Ernie comes back into the embalming room to get Burt to let him know of their little problem. The other alteration comes when the group is boarding up the windows and there's a few shots in the chapel of the zombies outside the window where we can see that there are steel bars over the windows which would explain why the corpses couldn't get in so easily. This is another thing I think should've been in the movie, it certainly made it more believeable that four men could board up the entire mortuary without the zombies getting in.
After the group is done boarding up the windows, the dialogue between the punks and Burt is a bit longer and I must say a bit cheesy. Burt explains to them that the chemical brings the dead back to life and Scuz replies with "Christ!" and although that doesn't sound too cheesy, it's the delivery of the line that makes it kind of laughable. The next altered scene is where the half corpse kills Scuz, it's a bit longer and we see a corpse trying to jump through the window but Ernie shows how unwelcome he is by smacking him in the head with his hammer. The scene where the examine the half corpse features some different dialogue and is not as effective as the official version was.
While Casey and Chuck sit waiting for help, the dialogue is slightly different. Instead of Casey claiming she never did like him she says, "Chuck, I never did like your face. But under the circumstances, hold me tight", again another scene that turned out better in the final version.
The next scene that was changed was when Freddy finally succums to the chemical and turns into a zombie. He chases Tina around the chapel more and Frank jumps up to try to grab her. When Burt, Ernie and Spider come running into the room Frank runs out and we see him running down the hall. After the struggle with Freddy, the group gets ready to leave but Freddy isn't ready to let them go without a fight. We hear Burt yell, "Blind him!" as in the final version, the music is far to loud to hear anything. When we go back into the embalming room there's a nice bit of dialogue between Ernie and Tina, but it's a bit too preachy in a way so I can see why it was taken out.
After the group decides to make a run for the cars. There's a bit more dialogue between all of them, one line that I think should've remained in the final film was when Burt asks Spider what his name is as they never introduced themselves nor did you hear Spider's name ever mentioned at all in the mortuary. Although not a huge deal it should've remained in the movie.
When Burt and Spider finally get to the warehouse there's a slight change in dialogue, instead of Spider saying "He owns this place" after Chuck asks who he is, Spider says; "Don't worry he's cool". The next scene that is slightly altered is when Ernie and Tina escape to the attic, Ernie struggles with a few things to try and secure the door and finally finds a loose board and places secures it to keep the hatch closed. The scene plays out for a bit longer when Ernie looks up and says, "Listen!". We cut to the police driving down the driveway and we see them get attacked by the undead. There are a few more shots from different angles when we cut back and forth between the group in the warehouse and Ernie and Tina at the mortuary. The next big change is when Burt calls the police, there's a bit more dialogue between Burt and the cop. Then the zombies attack the police, we see more shots of the undead struggling with the police.
The last and final alteration is the ending. Instead of Col. Glover talking on the phone, we hear a voice over explaining that the whole thing was covered up as a nuclear power plant explosion and that the contaminated soil from the area is sitting on three railroad cars in South Dakota.
And that's about it. All of this stuff adds up to be about 20 minutes clocking the workprint's running time at 108 minutes. I got my copy from Fleshwoundvideo.com (http://www.fleshwoundvideo.com/R.html) for a nice price of $14.99, and although it's not the best quality, it's watchable. But anyone expecting good quality from a version of a movie never officially released that has been floating around for years on old VHS tapes is out of their mind. Also, there is no music and some of the sound effects are not finished. The only scene that plays with music is the scene where Trash strips on the tombstone and that's playing on the radio so you can barely hear it. There's also a lot of close-up shots missing, but other than that everything remains intact. Well I hope this helps people understand a bit more about the workprint version of our favorite brain-eating zombie flick, "The Return of the Living Dead".