IMDb RATING
5.9/10
18K
YOUR RATING
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 mot... Read allHaving 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.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.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 1 nomination total
Melinda Clarke
- Julie Walker
- (as Mindy Clarke)
Julian Scott Urena
- Mogo
- (as Fabio Urena)
Michael Deak
- Cop #1
- (as Michael S. Deak)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Summary
Reviewers say 'Return of the Living Dead III' is a divisive installment, diverging from the comedic elements of its predecessors. It is lauded for its darker tone and poignant love story, alongside impressive gore and special effects. However, it faces criticism for inconsistent zombie behavior, plot inconsistencies, and pacing problems. Despite mixed reactions, many appreciate its effort to innovate within the franchise, though it struggles to replicate the original's appeal.
Featured reviews
Teen army brat Curt (J. Trevor Edmond) is so in love with wild, sexy punkette Julie (Mindy Clarke) that he decides not to let her untimely death in a motorcylce accident keep them apart. Thankfully his father (Kent McCord) works at a top-secret military lab experimenting on bringing the dead back to life. Curt sneaks in and uses the "Trioxin" gas to revive Julie, then spends the rest of the movie watching helplessly in horror at her mental and physical deterioration and increasing hunger for human flesh!
Having very little to do with the two previous comic RETURN titles helps Part III overcome familiarity, while director Brian Yuzna delivers loads of brain-munching horror without losing sight of the compelling, tragic central romance. Excellent FX work by Steve Johnson and many others, including Julie's amazing transformation from whimpering ghoul to multi-pierced, S&M femme fatale zombie queen.
This film was released in R and unrated versions. Shoot for the latter.
Score: 7 out of 10
Having very little to do with the two previous comic RETURN titles helps Part III overcome familiarity, while director Brian Yuzna delivers loads of brain-munching horror without losing sight of the compelling, tragic central romance. Excellent FX work by Steve Johnson and many others, including Julie's amazing transformation from whimpering ghoul to multi-pierced, S&M femme fatale zombie queen.
This film was released in R and unrated versions. Shoot for the latter.
Score: 7 out of 10
The third movie in the Return of the Living Dead series marks a change in direction from horror comedy to tragic love story. The plot to this one has a teenage boy (J. Trevor Edmond) using the zombie gas from the first two films to bring his dead girlfriend (Melinda 'Mindy' Clarke) back to life, with horrifying results. This is easily the second best in the series, surpassed only by the first. The '90s wasn't a great time for horror fans. Most of what was being made was cheap straight-to-video stuff. I can count on one hand the number of decent horror movies from that time. This movie would make the cut. It has interesting direction from Brian Yuzna, a refreshing story, and a decent cast. Melinda Clarke is especially good. Definitely worth taking a look at if you want something different.
Love and gore-what more do you need? Return of the Living Dead III is an excellent gore flick with a love story at the core. It's also a horror fans dream. That dream being that a great series never ruined itself like most do in the genre. At least that's the way I feel about it. RotLD III features a great story driven by great characters and awesome special effects. And of course, brains. Brian Yuzna (Bride of Re-Animator) is the mastermind behind this end to a great trilogy. J. Trevor Edmond stars as a guy who accidentally kills his girlfriend and uses Trioxin to bring her back. Said girlfriend, played by the awesome Mindy Clarke, makes for an unbelievable appearance by the end of the movie. My only problem with the movie is that it's missing the claustrophobic elements of the first one until the very end, and what an appropriate ending it is. Gore hounds will love this one. Brainsssssssss!
Note for genre buffs: Look for director Anthony Hickox and Brian "Scuz" Peck, who is featured in the entire trilogy, in cameos.
Note for genre buffs: Look for director Anthony Hickox and Brian "Scuz" Peck, who is featured in the entire trilogy, in cameos.
Return of the Living Dead III is the type of horror film you can watch with your friends, or your girlfriend. It is a film with a romantic (yet tragic) edge to it that saves it from the muck of sequel overkill. The story follows a young man who, after seeing his girlfriend die who he loves so much, brings her back to life in a top secret facility with the gas that brings back the dead from part 1 (without them being able to get electricuted), but then strange things happen. Clever horror with a edge, with it's only problem not stopping too often and of course the sequel overkill. Still worth a look, especially for horror enthusaists who don't believe there's life after part 2. A-
Here we have the third installment in the ROTLD series. It is a Romeo and Juliet-ish tale about ill fated love. Curt is an army brat that met a girl that borders on beigg goth. Curt's father is in charge of a project that will use the trioxin to create an army of undead super soldiers. To impress his girlfriend Julie, they sneak into the army base and witness some experiments. Because these experiments end up failing epically, Curt finds out his father is being reassigned and they must move. Curt chooses Julie over his father and they flee. While on the road they are in an accident that claims Julie's life. Curt uses the trioxin to reanimate her and the zombie fun begins.
I liked this better than the first two installments. It was a different take on this subclass of zombie, and the humor was cut way down. Melinda Clark steals every scene she is in as Julie. The rest of the cast, the acting is on par with what one might expect from this kind of film.
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to Brian Yuzna's commentary, Trimark did not require the film to use the same actors or have the same comedic elements as the previous two films but they did require the zombies (including Julie) crave and eat brains.
- GoofsWhen they are first testing the Trioxin gas, one of the signs that it's working is that the corpse attains a heartbeat. Yet, in the first movie, the two characters who were first exposed to the gas *lost* their heartbeats, yet were still mobile. Therefore, heart rate should not be used as an indicator of Trioxin's effectiveness.
- Quotes
Curt Reynolds: Julie, are you eating him? You should stop it.
- Alternate versionsThe Trimark/Lionsgate DVD is the heavily censored R-rated version. The uncut, unrated version has since surfaced on the 2016 Vestron Blu-Ray.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Au coeur de la nuit: Pierre Woodman und Brian Yuzna (2007)
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $2,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $54,207
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $14,810
- Oct 31, 1993
- Gross worldwide
- $54,207
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