Return of the Living Dead III (1993)

Having recently witnessed the horrific results of a top secret project to bring the dead back to life, a distraught youth performs the operation on his girlfriend after she's killed in a motorcycle accident.

Director:

Brian Yuzna

Writer:

John Penney

Stars:

Kent McCord, James T. Callahan, Sarah Douglas

3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kent McCord	...	Colonel John Reynolds
James T. Callahan	...	Colonel Peck
Sarah Douglas	...	Colonel Sinclair
Melinda Clarke	...	Julie Walker (as Mindy Clarke)
Abigail Lenz	...	Mindy
J. Trevor Edmond	...	Curt Reynolds
Jill Andre	...	Chief Scientist
Michael Decker	...	Science Technician
Billy Kane	...	Sentry
Mike Moroff	...	Santos
Julian Scott Urena	...	Mogo (as Fabio Urena)
Pía Reyes	...	Alicia (as Pia Reyes)
Sal Lopez	...	Felipe
Dana Lee	...	Store Owner
Michael Deak	...	Cop #1 (as Michael S. Deak)

Storyline

Colonel Reynolds and his group of government scientists continue their work on re-animating the dead for military use. His son Curt and his girlfriend Julie use Dad's security pass to sneak in and watch the proceedings. Later when father and son have a disagreement, Curt and Julie take off on a motorcycle and Julie is killed in an accident. Grief-stricken, Curt takes her body to the lab and brings her back to life. Curt must help Julie deal with her new existence as military agents and local gang members try to find them.

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Plot Keywords:

zombie | female nudity | sequel | living dead | self mutilation | 

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Taglines:

Back from the dead and hungry for more.

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace

Country:

USA Japan

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

25 February 1994 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

Return of the Living Dead 3

Filming Locations:

7th street bridge, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,810, 31 October 1993, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$54,207, 31 October 1993

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bandai Visual Company,Ozla Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

(at around 50 mins) Immediately upon the Riverman opening the door to his underground lair, a hand is visible along the left edge of the door jamb, and it quickly jerks away.

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Quotes

Curt Reynolds: Julie, are you eating him? You should stop it.

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Connections

Featured in The Resurrected Dead (2016)

User Reviews

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.