''Return of the Living Dead 3'' is a 1993
horror comedy
Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and spo ...
film
[ and the second sequel in the ''Return of the Living Dead'' film series, though it went in a different direction than the previous films.
]
Plot
Five years after the events of the previous film, Curt Reynolds steals his father's security key card
A lock is a mechanical or electronic fastening device that is released by a physical object (such as a key, keycard, fingerprint, RFID card, security token or coin), by supplying secret information (such as a number or letter permutation or pas ...
, and he and his girlfriend, Julie Walker, explore the military base where his father works. They observe Curt's father, Colonel John Reynolds, Col. Peck and Lt. Col. Sinclair overseeing an experiment with a deceased body.
The corpse is exposed to 2-4-5 Trioxin gas, which re-animates the corpse into a zombie
A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...
. The military hopes to use zombies in combat. However, they are impossible to control as their hunger for human brains causes them to constantly attack.
To deter the zombies' vicious nature, Sinclair suggests permanently attaching the zombies to exoskeletons
An exoskeleton (from Greek ''éxō'' "outer" and ''skeletós'' "skeleton") is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to an internal skeleton (endoskeleton) in for example, a human. In usage, some of the ...
that will immobilize them when they are not in battle. Reynolds prefers a method referred to as "paretic infusion", which involves firing a chemical projectile into the forehead of the zombie. This causes an endothermic
In thermochemistry, an endothermic process () is any thermodynamic process with an increase in the enthalpy (or internal energy ) of the system.Oxtoby, D. W; Gillis, H.P., Butler, L. J. (2015).''Principle of Modern Chemistry'', Brooks Cole. p. ...
reaction, freezing the zombie's brain and temporarily immobilizing it.
When the paretic infusion method is tested on the zombie in the lab, it is only successful for a few moments, wearing off much faster than expected; the zombie breaks free and attacks a scientist, biting his fingers off before bashing his head against a wall, killing him. Infected by the zombie's bite, the scientist re-animates and attacks another technician. The initial zombie and the reanimated scientist are paralyzed with bullets and the survivors in the room are quarantined. Reynolds is removed from the project and reassigned to Oklahoma City, while Sinclair is promoted to head of the project.
Reynolds informs Curt that they will be moving, something they have done multiple times, but Curt refuses. He rides off on his motorcycle with Julie. While they are speeding down the road, Julie playfully grabs Curt's crotch, causing him to lose control of the motorcycle. Julie is thrown from the bike into a telephone pole; the impact kills her.
Curt brings Julie's corpse to the military base. Using his father's key card, he accesses the Trioxin gas to reanimate her. This leads to Julie and Curt dealing with the effects of Julie being dead - not feeling pain and having no desire to eat normal food - and what they are to do about her condition.
Julie becomes hungry and Curt drives them to a store. A gang talk about her as she is eating snacks on the floor. Curt becomes angry and accidentally hits one of them. During the ensuing brawl one of the gang shoots the shopkeeper. Julie bites the shooter. The alarm goes off and the gang flees. While Curt and Julie are in a van with the wounded shopkeeper, Julie is overcome by her hunger for brains and attacks him, eating some of his brains before Curt stops her.
The gang chases Julie and Curt through the city, not realizing what is happening to their infected friend. Julie and Curt hide from the gang in the sewers, where they encounter Riverman, a vagrant who shelters them. Julie discovers that extreme pain seems to temporarily make the cravings to feed on humans go away. She mutilates her flesh with various items of junk found around Riverman's lair, until she is adorned with spikes, nails, and shards of glass sticking out of her flesh.
The gang tracks Julie and Curt down. Julie seduces the gang leader, then kills him and uses her new decorations to kill the rest of the gang. Julie's body becomes accustomed to the pain, and she turns on Riverman, infecting and killing him. The gang re-animates before the military arrive and neutralizes all of the zombies.
When the zombies are captured, Curt realizes Julie is going to be used as a weapon and goes into a rage, freeing the zombies which then kill the soldiers. In the commotion the base is set on fire and Curt is bitten. Curt's father tries to get Curt to leave but he realizes that he would be abandoning Julie, and also knows he is infected. Curt brings Julie to the furnace; when she asks where they are, Curt says "where we belong", and they kiss one last time before dying by immolation.
Cast
* Kent McCord
Kent Franklin McWhirter (born September 26, 1942), known by his stage name Kent McCord, is a retired American actor, best known for his role as Officer Jim Reed on the television series ''Adam-12.''
Life and career
McCord was born Kent Franklin ...
as Colonel John Reynolds
* Melinda Clarke
Melinda Patrice "Mindy" Clarke (born April 24, 1969) is an American actress. Clarke is known for portraying Faith Taylor on the soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'' (1989–1990), Julie Cooper on Fox's teen drama series ''The O.C.'' (2003–2007), ...
as Julie Walker (as Mindy Clarke)
* J. Trevor Edmond as Curt Reynolds
* James T. Callahan James Callahan may refer to:
Sports
* James Callahan (ice hockey), founder of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1925
*Nixey Callahan (1874–1934), also known as Jimmy Callahan, baseball pitcher and manager
* Jim Callahan (baseball) (1881–1968), basebal ...
as Colonel Peck
* Sarah Douglas as Lieutenant Colonel Sinclair
* Abigail Lenz as Mindy
* Basil Wallace
Basil Wallace (born January 15, 1951) is a Jamaica-born American actor. He was born in Kingston and immigrated to the United States as a child. His family first settled in Brooklyn, New York City. He, his parents, and his siblings then moved t ...
as "Riverman"
* Jill Andre as Dr. Beers
* Billy Kane as Waters
* Mike Moroff as Santos Morales
* Fabio Urena as Mogo Entvaz
* Pia Reyes
Pia Reyes is a Filipino American model (person), model and actress. She was the November 1988 ''Playboy'' Playboy Playmate, Playmate of the Month, and appeared in the 1993 cult horror film ''Return of the Living Dead 3'' and Steven Seagal's ''On ...
as Alicia Kitsing
* Sal Lopez as Felipe Hernandez
* Dana Lee as Ping, The Store Owner
* Anthony Hickox
Anthony Hickox (born 30th January 1959) is an English film director, producer, actor and screenwriter.
He is best known for his work in the horror genre, with films like '' Waxwork'' and its sequel, '' Waxwork II: Lost in Time'', '' Sundown: T ...
as Dr. Hickox
Reception
On review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 55% based on 11 reviews and an average rating
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...
of 4.8/10. On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, ''Return of the Living Dead III'' scored 47 out of a 100 based on five critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' gave it a B+ and said "it's chock-full of brain-munching zombies, campy dialogue, and gross anatomical effects–but it's that touch of amore that makes this one so special". AllMovie
AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne.
History
AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...
wrote, "Although it features the same vaguely punk-derived fashion sense and many of the same plot elements as its predecessors, the third effort in the ''Return of the Living Dead'' series lacks much of the goofy entertainment value of the previous installments". ''Zombiemania: 80 Movies to Die For'' author Arnold T. Blumberg wrote that "Clarke tries to make the most of her after-death angst", but the film was "little more than a twisted catalogue of fetishistic imagery for horror movie aficionados keen to have a female zombie they can actually find attractive."
In 2017, ''Return of the Living Dead III'' premiered at the London FrightFest Film Festival
FrightFest, also known as Arrow Video FrightFest is an annual film festival held in London and Glasgow. The festival holds three major events each year: a festival running five days over the UK late August Bank Holiday weekend, a Halloween event ...
.
Production notes
The following production notes were noted in the October 1993 issue of ''Fangoria
''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr.
The magazine was originally released i ...
'' magazine (#127):
*The film had a 24-day shooting schedule using two camera crews (one for principal photography, one for extensive 2nd-unit FX) at Santa Clarita Studios in Los Angeles, with ''Melrose Place
''Melrose Place'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992, to May 24, 1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex on Melrose Place, in ...
'' filming next door.
*Director/producer Brian Yuzna was disappointed with the lack of screen time for his previous female monster creation in '' Bride of Re-Animator'' and wanted "Julie" to have a far bigger presence.
*Yuzna had been aiming to do a ''ROTLD'' sequel for years and was Trimark's first choice to direct.
*Brian Peck ("Scuzz" in ''ROTLD'' and various zombies in ''ROTLD Part II'') returns to play a government agent in this film. He is the only actor to appear in all three films.
*Julie's full zombie look required 100 different pieces, an application process that originally took nine hours but was eventually cut down to six, not including glamour make-up.
*Five different FX companies (including Steve Johnson's XFX) were used during the shoot due to the tight schedule and number of effects in the film.
*'' Hellraiser III'' and '' Waxwork'' director Anthony Hickox
Anthony Hickox (born 30th January 1959) is an English film director, producer, actor and screenwriter.
He is best known for his work in the horror genre, with films like '' Waxwork'' and its sequel, '' Waxwork II: Lost in Time'', '' Sundown: T ...
plays one of the government scientists who is killed early in the film by a test zombie.
*The welded-metal exoskeleton worn by Riverman weighed 75 pounds and was designed by Tim Ralston.
*The film was released unrated on VHS in addition to the R-rated theatrical cut. Yuzna trimmed "between 50 and 60" minutes to get the R rating.
References
External links
*
*
{{Brian Yuzna
1993 horror films
1993 fantasy films
1990s comedy horror films
1990s science fiction horror films
American body horror films
American romantic fantasy films
American science fiction horror films
American sequel films
Films directed by Brian Yuzna
Films set in 1993
Films shot in Los Angeles
Return of the Living Dead (film series)
Romantic horror films
Trimark Pictures films
Films scored by Barry Goldberg
1990s English-language films
1990s American films