Return of the Living Dead (1984)

Artwork by Tongdee

Anyone familiar with Thai movie posters, particularly the Thai renditions of Western movies, will know this legendary work. RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD is an 80′s zombie classic, and Tongdee represents it better than anybody for the Thai market poster.  

There are a number of lurid if grim details in this poster. The central figure is the character “Trash,” emerging from the muddy graveyard after her undead transformation. Three iterations of Trash can be found in this poster. That’s her in the pink stockings sitting against the tomb stone on the right and again in the background during her strip dance scene in the graveyard. Repetition of characters from different scenes is a common feature of Thai poster art. 

Also of note is the memorable legless zombie woman, lying on the ground on the left, who famously let the entire world know just why it is that zombies like to eat brains.

From the spray-painted title, echoing graphics on the original American poster, to the skulls in the background sky, Tongdee created an enduring horror classic so good that it has been re-adapted for use in more recent English language promotional materials for the film.

The popularity of this film and it’s Thai poster has made it into a real commodity. Remaining copies of it are a fixture on Ebay, commanding prices upwards of $150. 

English translation of the Thai name = Ghosts Forget their Graves