Night of the Living Dead influenced The Return of the Living Dead

Dan O'Bannon's film grew out of John Russo's half of the Living Dead rights after he and Romero went separate ways, and it builds its premise on the original: a warehouse worker explains that Night of the Living Dead was based on a true story the army covered up, and then opens one of the canisters. It also gave the zombie its taste for brains, which Romero's never had.