Return of the Living Dead 3
by Brian Yuzna
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Abigail Lenz, James T. Callahan, Kent McCord, Melinda Clarke, Sarah DouglasDirector: Brian Yuzna
Brand: Lions Gate
Producer: Brian Yuzna
Producer: Andrew Hersh
Producer: Gary Schmoeller
Producer: John Penney
Writer: John Penney
Producer: Lawrence Steven Meyers
Producer: Roger Burlage
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 97 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-08-28
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Return of the Living Dead 3
Movie Review: And now for something completely different!
Summary: 5 Stars
When his wild girlfriend with a taste for the macabre is killed in a motorcycle accident just after the pair declared their independence from parental authority, Army brat Curt Reynolds takes her corpse back to the military facility they were at just hours earlier. Curt and Julie had snuck into the facility before with a key card stolen from Curt's father, Col. John Reynolds, and they witnessed something there that was nearly impossible to believe. Using a gas called 2-4-5 Trioxin, the U.S. military was experimenting with bringing the dead back to life and attempting to control them for warfare purposes. Initially disgusted that his father was heading up such experiments, Curt now saw the Trioxin gas as his only hope for the future with Julie he had planned. He soon brings Julie back to life, and she is luckily still in her right mind, though many things are definitely wrong with her and she is already extremely hungry and unsure for just what. Things go downhill from there for Curt (well, I guess they went downhill from the point he wrecked his bike and killed his girlfriend), as Julie's rapidly accelerating condition results in an altercation with a local gang; and soon, the gang, the police, and the military are all chasing after them!
Brian Yuzna, the man who gave us the Re-Animator series, tries his hand at directing a Living Dead flick with "Return of the Living Dead 3", an odd but excellent addition to the zombie film genre. Many call this film the best in the series (mostly ignoring 4 and 5, which came along later and looked pretty bad), while others call the first film the best. I may be of the rare breed that enjoys part 2 the most, but no doubt, all 3 are fantastic films! Part one puts a more modern spin (well, for the '80's) on the mother of all zombie flicks, "Night of the Living Dead", with a lot of punk attitude and a touch of comedy, but still playing out as a legit horror tale. Part 2 tells a similar story (even with returning cast members, seemingly in a parallel universe), and improves upon the first in my opinion by going for a suburban setting and not keeping the characters so confined. What most folks hate about 2 is how much they went for comedy. I don't think the comedy from the living hurt the film at all, but I admit that some of the zombie comedy was a bad idea. Should have kept it to the humans. Still, setting it in the suburbs kept it a scary addition to the series for me. More horror films need to be set in the suburbs. It makes them far more scary for the many folks who live in the suburbs. Anyway, this review is for "Return of the Living Dead 3", and part 3 drops the humor angle and plays it straight. For some people, all horror films should be played straight, and those are often the folks heralding this film as one of the best horror films ever. I like both styles of horror, and I loved Return of the Living Dead 3. It is a fantastic film about a doomed romance. Doomed by stupidity all-around, one might say. Stupidity and that recurring chemical that is one of the scariest substances ever dreamed up, 2-4-5 Trioxin.
Return of the Living Dead does have some issues I don't like. For example, self-mutilation is a major theme. The reason I don't like that is because I can't stand to watch it. This won't be a problem for some. The purpose behind it is that pain helps Julie fend off her feeding frenzies, so at one point she really goes all out with it and comes out looking like a super-zombie seductress. Not for me, but I guess that turns on some people, ha. The film also doesn't have hordes of zombies running around, so it's not all that scary to me, but it still has its moments. For such a low budget film, it has great effects and tells its story more than sufficiently. It's a horrific and enjoyable ride, and certainly it's an original story for the genre. Even if it's not my fave of the big 3 Return of the Living Dead flicks, I most definitely recommend it. Unfortunately for those of us who prefer to get the most complete version of any film, only the R rated version is available on DVD. It's funny, but this is often complained about in the two DVD commentaries that are extras on the disc. The film gets a widescreen presentation and theatrical trailer, plus some other interesting horror trailers, and the commentaries are one with director Brian Yuzna and the other with star Mindy (Melinda) Clarke and Thomas Rainone, the special effects production supervisor and second unit director. The Yuzna commentary is enjoyable and informative, but the other is more lively. The pair do interrupt each other a lot though, which can be annoying for the viewer as well, ha. Incindentally, many folks love this movie largely because they have a thing for the zombie femme fatale, Melinda Clarke. That's cool, but the makeup (I'm assuming it was make-up) used on her in this film, and I mean during her pre-zombie scenes, just made her look really unappealing to me (especially during the sex scene early on), and so I have never had a thing for her myself. Though, I will say that I've seen more recent images of her online, and she looks a thousand times more attractive in them.
It's unfortunate that this DVD doesn't have the unrated version of "Return of the Living Dead 3", but as it is the only DVD available currently in the U.S., I still suggest fans of the first two films or good horror films in general pick this one up.
Summary of Return of the Living Dead 3
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