Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave
Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave is a 2005 zombie horror television film directed by Ellory Elkayem, starring Jenny Mollen, Cory Hardrict, John Keefe, Aimee-Lynn Chadwick, and Peter Coyote.
Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave | |
---|---|
Written by |
|
Directed by | Ellory Elkayem |
Starring |
|
Music by |
|
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
Production | |
Producer(s) |
|
Cinematography | Thomas L. Callaway |
Editor(s) | James Coblentz |
Running time | 94 minutes |
Production company(s) |
|
Distributor | Denholm Trading Inc. |
Release | |
Original network | Sci-Fi Channel |
Original release | October 15, 2005 |
Chronology | |
Preceded by | Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis |
The film is a direct sequel to Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis and the fifth and final installment of the Return of the Living Dead film series.
Plot
The film opens a year after the previous film with Charles Garrison arriving at a mortuary with one of the canisters of Trioxin that he salvaged. He is greeted by a team of Russian government officials whose goal is to destroy the last of the canisters to avoid another incident. Nevertheless, one of them sprays three corpses with the gas, and revives them. Charles is killed during the incident, along with the mortuary owner and one of the government officials.
Jenny, Julian, Cody and Becky, the last four survivors of the previous film, are now in college and they receive notice of the "murder" of Charles. Julian and Jenny go to search for and possibly sell what belonged to Charles, and they find the last two barrels of Trioxin. One of them is taken to Cody, who tests the chemical inside it. Jeremy, Jenny’s brother, tastes the chemical when he thinks that it is a drug similar to Ecstasy, but he goes into a spasm, in which he foams at the mouth, and later describes what it was like. The chemical is named "Z" for its "zombie-like" effect on the living.
Cody, Jeremy and Shelby extract the chemical from the canister and they put the liquid extract into pills which they sell to Skeet, so he can sell the drug around the school. While Skeet informs everyone to only take one pill at a time for health reasons, most take more than one pill at a time (which speeds up the process that causes humans to reanimate as zombies).
Gino and Aldo Serra, the only survivors from the beginning of the movie, recognize what is going on when they are shown the severed head of one of the zombies, and they go to question Julian, knowing that he is familiar with Trioxin, but he doesn’t tell them anything of the canisters that he and Jenny discovered. Sometime later, people are turning into zombies, and the drug is being passed around a rave, and getting out of control. Seeing no other option, Aldo calls in military assistance, but he is told that an American bomber plane is already on the way to the rave location.
Cast
- Cory Hardrict as Cody Cavanaugh
- John Keefe as Julian Garrison
- Jenny Mollen as Jenny
- Peter Coyote as Uncle Charles
- Claudiu Bleonț as Aldo Serra
- Sorin Cocis as Gino
- Cain Mihnea Manoliu as Jeremy
- George Dumitrescu as Artie
- Maria Dinulescu as Shelby
- Catalin Paraschiv as Skeet
- Aimee-Lynn Chadwick as Becky Carlton
- Radu Romaniuc as Brett
- Sebastian Marina as Dartagnan
- Violeta Aldea as Rainbow
- Ricky Dandel as Coach Savini
- Allan Trautman as Tarman
Production
The film was shot immediately after Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis using the same locations in Romania and Ukraine. Multiple scenes were filmed in the suburbs of Bucharest.[1] Peter Coyote, Aimee-Lynn Chadwick, Cory Hardrict, and John Keefe returned from the previous installment.
Release and reception
An edited version of the film aired along with Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis on the Sci-Fi Channel on October 15, 2005. The R-rated version of the film was released on DVD on March 20, 2007 by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.[2][3]
The film has received generally negative reception. Film critic Felix Vasquez, Jr. gave the film a negative review, though writing that "this kind of bad film gives you perfect opportunity to improvise mocking".[4]
References
- Jones, Alan (October 2005). "Return and Return Again". Fangoria (247): 50–55, 98 – via Internet Archive.
- Barton, Steve (March 28, 2007). "Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave (DVD)". Dread Central. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
- "Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave (2005)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
- Vasquez, Felix (October 16, 2005). "Return of the Living Dead 5: Rave to the Grave (2005)". Cinema Crazed. Retrieved December 12, 2016.