Raiders of Living Dead (2pc)

Description

In an abandoned prison, a doctor has revived executed convicts as the living dead. Teenager Scott Schwartz (A Christmas Story) creates a weapon from a videodisc player's laser and pursues the walking dead, aided by his girlfriend and grandfather (western star Bob Allen). A reporter (Robert Deveau) on the trail of the story is helped by the town librarian, played in her final film role by Zita Johann (Boris Karloff's "The Mummy," "The Sin of Nora Moran"). On the prison island, the zombies attack a security guard and tear him apart as the reporter and teenager venture into the prison caverns for a final showdown.

Customer Reviews:

Zombies? There's less life in an old folks home..........2004-07-13

Raiders of the Living Dead had accumulated a lengthy stay on my dust-ridden shelves before I finally got around to cracking open the cheap plastic casing and popping the disk into my DVD drive. I wasn't really expecting much from the beginning as it had only cost me a mere five pounds but I was prepared to sit back and watch anyway.

The movie itself stands merely as a simple time waster offering very little new, nor exciting. Its setbacks are the shoddy and over-the-top acting mainly originating from the younger actors, the cheesy special effects, and the downright lack of zombies. These 'Smurf-grey' coloured zombies do make an appearance, don't get me wrong, but they don't really seem to make much of an impact until later, an impact that wasn't going to be shaking anyone's world anyway. Sadly, my zombie taste buds were only ticked.

Raiders of the Living Dead seems more focused on the young lad's ridiculous laser gun, formed from parts of a VHS player. If a VHS player can make a laser gun like that, it stands no chance against today's DVD players. Come on, how often does opening part of a VHS player send a laser ray out that sizzles your hamster?

It also appears the directors were seriously trying to make up some extra time in this 86 minute movie. How necessary are extended scenes of a guy walking past a metal fence, and uneventfully boring nightmares.

Raiders of the Living Dead hasn't aged well either. Only made in 1986, it already looks far more outdated compared to other movies of it's time.

Sadly, Raiders of the Living Dead offers little new and is probably as far away as you can possibly go from receiving an Oscar nomination. For me, the movie simply made it's marks as a mere time-waster. And for five pounds, what do you expect? If you catch it cheap like I did, maybe consider purchasing. But any higher than bargain bin prices then I seriously recommend staying away.

Okay, I guess........2004-07-02

Raiders is a cheesy, hoaky, run of the mill forgotten horror film. Funny at moments with one head exploding scene (the most gore you'll get with this film), Raiders is descent, but not great by any means.

A good thing to have in my collection, but would I watch it again...may be awhile--if never.

...The other DVD's are screwed up versions of the first film, not worth viewing really. Brett Piper's version is incomplete and crap, don't buy it for his version.

You've been warned, bad movie, good collector's item.

KNOW YOUR HISTORY.......2003-04-02

While RAIDERS OF THE LIVING DEAD will never win any awards, and it will attract only a few hardcore fans who will go away sorely disappointed since so little of the film has anything to do with the living dead (much less raiders of them), this two disc special edition is still a must for fans of the genre and those interested in making movies. Presented here are three wildy different versions of the same movie. DYING DAY, a very low budget (yet well put together film) by Brett Piper. DARK NIGHT, the workprint remake of the same film with newly added material and storyline from Sam Sherman and INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL PICTURES, and the end result of the two: RAIDERS OF THE LIVING DEAD, that takes both films, both stories and then crams them together to try and come up with a totally new story. The end result with RAIDERS is a choppy and confusing mess of images, plots, poor shots and hollow acting. Easily dismissed and largely ignored by the zombie fans. But, with the inclusion here of DYING DAY and DARK NIGHT (plus a snappy little commentary by Sam Sherman) you are really treated to an inside look of how "one thing lead to another". DYING DAY actually is not a bad film (if you ignore its Prologue, which was shot soley to get the film to a "feature length running time"), and of all three versions of the movie, has the best story. DARK NIGHT tries to ramp up the action by adding a mad doctor plot and turns our hero from DYING DAY from a doomed man, to a doomed reporter. RAIDERS sticks with the doomed reporter, and drops out the orignal mad doctor from DARK NIGHT, and instead makes him a happy-go-lucky and plucky Grandpa with a brilliant Grandson (who makes a laser out of very ancient LaserDisc player). There still is a mad doctor, and you can see him as a good guy in DYING DAY, but cut from DARK NIGHT, and finally added back into RAIDERS who now commands a horde of the undead (which for this film is stretching the budget at around five undead). It's also interesting to note what finally becomes of DYING DAY's original villain in RAIDERS. Overall this DVD release of these three films gives insight on not only filmaking, but taking what you've got and going with it (no matter what kind of budget you've got). It's about making a movie NO MATTER WHAT. Determination, grit, gusto and lot of spit and scotch tape went into making RAIDERS OF THE LIVING DEAD. And while you'll not love the film any more by the end, you will respect it a little more than you did going in to it. Cheap, fast and tacky (check out the review of the film from a JESTER-27 on the back of the box, and then look closely from where it came from... too funny), this release of RAIDERS OF THE LIVING DEAD is a great buy (the DVD is put together very well) and solid lesson in never giving up on anything... no matter how bad it turns out.

Learn From My Mistakes.......2003-03-20

So bad. So So So bad. I can only think of one or two scenes in this movie that were ok, but one or two scenes does not a movie make. Terrible acting, bad makeup, terrible acting, stupid story, terrible acting, cheesy effects, and terrible acting. Oh, and the acting was terrible. A waste of time, money and resources. Watching paint dry is more entertaining then this.

90 minute snooze-a-thon. You'll sleep like the dead........2002-09-28

Dull, bloodless direct-to-video dreck. The shortsighted should be forewarned in case they think they are purchasing an unlikely double feature of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. It takes an hour for any zombies to emerge and even then nothing happens. The final minute of the movie is so dark you can't even see what is going on. However it may interest horror fans to know that the movie features Zita Johann, who was the co-star of the old Karloff classic THE MUMMY. The only good bits of this garbage are a couple of brief 3 Stooges clips. Do yourself a favor and watch George Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD or Peter Jackson's BRAINDEAD (DEAD ALIVE) instead. You can't go wrong with those two.

Average customer rating:

Zombies? There's less life in an old folks home...
Okay, I guess.
KNOW YOUR HISTORY
Learn From My Mistakes
90 minute snooze-a-thon. You'll sleep like the dead.

Raiders of the Living Dead [Region 2]
Starring: Robert Deveau , Scott Schwartz , Donna Asali , Zita Johann , and Barbara Patterson
Director: Samuel M. Sherman
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00009PBYA