In case you haven’t had your fill of zombies yet in 2025, FANGORIA and Living Dead Media are excited to present just the thing for you: an exclusive look at the upcoming Return of the Living Dead, a brand-new film honoring the legacy of the now forty-year-old horror comedy beloved by so many the world over.
In much the same vein as the first teaser trailer for the film, this new clip presents us with Tarman in a snow-covered graveyard, dragging a still-lit Christmas tree behind him. What his goal is, no one knows, but he stares at the camera menacingly, promising that there’ll be hell to pay for anyone who gets in his way — and we know we sure wouldn’t, given the dead-eyed, unsettling expression on his face.
The new Return of the Living Dead apes the original’s title exactly, and is set in a small Pennsylvania town in 1985, eighteen months after the events of the original film. While we don’t know who will appear on-screen to battle the Tarman, we do know that it won’t be a reboot or remake — there are plenty of those around already.
Tarman himself was brought to life by industry legend Tony Gardner, who’s worked on some of your favorite monsters, from Billy Butcher to the villainous Chucky and beyond. “[To be able to] up the horror, but be true to its roots,” Gardner said of the new and scarier Tarman, “I feel like I'm the perfect person for the job… and I'm really excited.”
The original Return of the Living Dead celebrates its fortieth anniversary this year, having hit theaters in 1985, almost twenty years after John Russo co-wrote the iconic Night of the Living Dead, which created the zombie as we know it today. Separate from director George A. Romero’s own follow-ups to the film, Return of the Living Dead was directed by Dan O’Bannon, and was popular enough to spawn four sequels (including two direct-to-TV features) and create a legacy of its own in not only the zombie genre, but horror as a whole.
The new Return of the Living Dead hits theaters this Christmas. Check out the brand-new teaser below:
