Return of the Living Dead 3

Plot

Five years after the events of the previous film, Curt Reynolds steals his father's security key card and explores a military base with his girlfriend Julie Walker. They witness an experiment where a corpse is exposed to 2-4-5 Trioxin gas, reanimating it into a zombie. The military hopes to use zombies in combat but finds them uncontrollable due to their hunger for human brains. When tested, the effect wears off quickly; the zombie breaks free, kills a scientist, and the infected scientist reanimates and attacks another technician.

Both zombies are shot, and survivors are quarantined. Reynolds is reassigned to Oklahoma City, and Sinclair takes over the project. Curt refuses to move and rides off with Julie. Julie playfully grabs Curt's crotch, causing a crash that kills her.

Curt brings her corpse to the base and uses Trioxin gas to reanimate her. They escape on his bike. Julie feels intense hunger, so they go to a store. Curt clashes with a gang, and the shopkeeper is shot.

Julie bites the shooter's arm. They flee in a van with the wounded shopkeeper, but when police accidentally shoot the shopkeeper in the head, Julie feasts on his brains.

Themes and style

Retrospective assessments note that Return of the Living Dead 3 differs tonally from the 1985 first film, adopting an angsty 1990s tone. The effects of Trioxin on Julie lead her to self-harm and body piercing to suppress her hunger for brains. The film updates the punk aesthetic of the original with moody alt-rockers.

Production notes

Trimark Pictures acquired the rights to The Return of the Living Dead after the critical and commercial underperformance of Return of the Living Dead Part II curtailed producer Tom Fox's sequel plans. Brian Yuzna was assigned to produce and direct, with Fox as executive producer. Trimark mandated only that Trioxin Gas be included to justify the Living Dead name. John Penney, who had edited the first film, wrote the screenplay.

Yuzna and Penney wanted to avoid rehashing prior plots and focus on a main character who is a zombie. The film was shot over 24 days at Santa Clarita Studios from October through November 1992, using two camera crews. Yuzna, disappointed with the limited screen time of his female monster in Bride of Re-Animator, ensured Julie had a larger presence. Brian Peck, who played Scuzz in the first film and various zombies in the second, appears as a government agent, the only actor in all three films.

Julie's full zombie look required 100 pieces, with an application process that took six hours after being reduced from nine. Five FX companies, including Steve Johnson's XFX, worked on the film due to the tight schedule. Anthony Hickox, director of Hellraiser III and Waxwork, plays a scientist killed early. The exoskeleton worn by Riverman weighed 75 pounds and was designed by Tim Ralston.

The film was released unrated on VHS and in an R-rated theatrical cut, with Yuzna trimming between 50 and 60 seconds for the R rating.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 58% approval rating based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10. Metacritic gives a score of 47 out of 100 from five critics, indicating mixed or average reviews. Entertainment Weekly's Benjamin Svetkey gave it a B+, praising its brain-munching zombies, campy dialogue, and gross effects, and noting the romantic touch. Brian J. Dillard of AllMovie wrote that the film lacks the goofy entertainment value of its predecessors despite similar punk fashion and plot elements.

Arnold T. Blumberg, author of Zombiemania: 80 Movies to Die For, stated that Clarke tries to make the most of her after-death angst but called the film a catalogue of fetishistic imagery for horror fans wanting an attractive female zombie. James Lowder, reviewing in White Wolf Inphobia #55, rated it 2 out of 5, citing weak internal story logic and bargain-basement dialogue, and an overlong, uninspired ending with sequel hooks. In 2017, the film was re-released at the London FrightFest Film Festival.