Return of the Living Dead III (1993)

Director:

Brian Yuzna

Writer (WGA):

John Penney (written by)

Release Date:

10 August 1994 (France)

Genre:

Horror | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

She's To Die For.

Plot:

Colonel Reynolds and his group of government scientists continue their work on re-animating the dead for military use...

Plot Keywords:

Gang | Zombie | Doomed Love Affair | Lasersight | Brain Eating

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Kent McCord	...	Col. John Reynolds
James T. Callahan	...	Col. Peck
Sarah Douglas	...	Lt. Col. Sinclair
Melinda Clarke	...	Julie Walker (as Mindy Clarke)
Abigail Lenz	...	Mindy
J. Trevor Edmond	...	Curt Reynolds
Jill Andre	...	Dr. Beers (Chief Scientist)
Michael Decker	...	Science technician
Billy Kane	...	Waters (Sentry)
Mike Moroff	...	Santos
Julian Scott Urena	...	Mogo (as Fabio Urena)
Pía Reyes	...	Alicia
Sal Lopez	...	Felipe
Dana Lee	...	Store owner
Michael Deak	...	Cop #1

Also Known As:

Return of the Living Dead 3 (USA) (DVD box title)
Return of the Living Dead Part III

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence and gore, and for language and sexuality.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Germany:18 (heavily cut) | Germany:Not Rated | New Zealand:R18 | Denmark:16 | USA:R (edited version) | USA:Unrated (uncut version) | Australia:MA | UK:18 | Mexico:C | Spain:18 | Finland:K-18

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Bandai Visual Company

Trivia:

Director Brian Yuzna on the DVD commentary regrets not coming up with a more proper name for the film as "Return of the Living Dead III" is too long. He suggests the title "Kurt and Julie" and admits that the title "Mortal Zombie" (which it was called in some places in Europe) is a nice name.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: This is just after Curt reanimates Julie with the 2-4-5-trioxin about 30 minutes in. When Curt is trying to seal the airlock to escape a zombie, he clearly turns the airlock seal in the "unlock" direction instead of "lock".

Quotes:

Julie: The pain... The pain keeps the hunger away...

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Durch die Nacht mit...: Pierre Woodman und Brian Yuzna" (2007)

A great gory twist to romance!

The third part in a series of movies usually is nowhere near the original; however, Brian Yuzna's take on the "Return of the Living Dead" makes the third installment in the famous comedy/horror series, a very different and special movie. Getting away from the slapstick comedy aspect of the previous films, director Yuzna & writer John Penney unfold a tale of doomed love and gory violence spiced up with very dark humor. Quite a change from part 2; in fact, the only thing this movie has in common with the previous chapters is the inclusion of the re-animating gas.

Penney's script is like a bizarre twist on "Romeo & Juliet": Curt Reynolds (J. Trevor Edmond) is an angsty teenager in love with rebel Julie Walker (Melinda Clarke). While sneaking in the military base where Curt's father (Kent McCord) works, they discover that the project his father has been working involves re-animating corpses. After a tragic accident where Julie dies, Curt decides to bring back Julie using his father's experiments with the infamous chemical: 245 Trioxin.

Right after Julie is revived, the action starts and never stops, with the couple running away from both the army and a gang that wants them dead. To make things worse, Julie's increasing urge to eat human flesh and Curt's own anxiety and family troubles collide and make the trip harder for the lovers.

Brian Yuzna really created something special with this movie, the characters are very rich and are the backbone of the movie. The acting is top notch, something quite different from the typical b-movie. In fact, the movie is so well done in those aspects that its flaws in SFx and overall production are easily forgiven.

The movie has a lot of heart and the credit for that must go to Yuzna's direction and Penney's script. The couple of lovers must really grow to face the situation and to face each other's troubles. The acting is very good for the most part, but is Clarke who gives the performance as Julie.

The transformation from self confident daredevil to fearful victim of the circumstances, and then to ruthless killing machine is very believable and one cannot avoid to feel sympathy for her character. A really remarkable job.

Sadly, the movie is not perfect, the low budget hurts the production a lot and the sets look a bit fake, However, it's worth to point out that the make-up effects in the zombies and the gore are quite good for the budget.

By far the best movie in the series, and among the best and most creative horror movies ever done. Director Brian Yuzna has not been able yet to come up close to this achievement, but he earned his place in history with this movie. 8/10. A modern classic.