Remembering Dan O’Bannon (1946–2009)

“Send…more…paramedics.”

That memorable line from Return of the Living Dead never fails to crack me up. In fact, those may be my three favorite words in any horror movie, ever. Which is why I was so saddened to learn this morning that the man behind that line, screenwriter Dan O’Bannon, passed away yesterday [Ed. note: when this was originally published in 2009] at the age of 63.

O’Bannon’s made his indelible mark on movie history as the screenwriter of Alien, arguably the best and most successful movie monster of the last fifty years, and perhaps the most influential. The template O’Bannon created for how to deliver scares in space has been copied a hundred times over by filmmakers around the world — and on an almost weekly basis in Saturday night original movies on the Syfy Channel.

As it happens, Alien itself was a more serious reworking of O’Bannon’s first film, the cult classic Dark Star, directed by a budding student filmmaker named John Carpenter. Watch Dark Star (no, seriously, go watch it; I’ll wait) with Alien in mind and it’s easy to see the resemblance; Pinback (played by O’Bannon himself) pursuing a sentient beach-ball with a broom is a comedic forefather to Alien’s Dallas (Tom Skerritt) hunting a more serious menace with a flame thrower.

But O’Bannon’s influence doesn’t end there. Return of the Living Dead left its mark on countless horror/comedy hybrids by taking the understated humor of Romero’s zombie films and bringing it front and center. The film, which O’Bannon also directed, is both genuinely scary and hysterically funny. O’Bannon’s horror legacy also includes the underappreciated Dead & Buried (another personal favorite), the sci-fi/horror hybrid Lifeforce, and the P.K. Dick adaptation Total Recall. (Which raises the question, is Kuato just a chestburster who got stuck?)

Reportedly, O’Bannon left behind more than his share of solid, unproduced scripts. While I’m sad that he was able to get so few of his projects filmed in the last two decades, it does give me hope that we haven’t seen the last of his unique brand of humor.

So, Hollywood, if you’re listening, please: send…more…Dan O’Bannon.

Originally published 12.18.09 on FEARnet’s blog.