Customer Reviews

Return of the Living Dead 3 (Unrated) [VHS]

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

It's a shame I have to drag out my old unrated VHS tape of this to catch all the gore. I waited a long time for this to come out on DVD and we get the cut "R" version. It's still gory as all get out but is missing a few scenes that I need to be happy. Whoever released the "R" version on DVD dropped the ball.

Return of the Living Dead 3 is a large departure from the other two films in the series. Where as those two films combined dark humor and zombie horror, director Brian Yuzna (Bride of Re-Animator) goes all out with some of the goriest zombie action to see release in this country. When a young girl (Melinda Clarke) is killed in a motorcycle accident, her boyfriend uses the experimental facility where his father works which re-animates corpses to bring her back to life. However, when she comes back, she's got a hunger she's never had before, and it's like the old saying goes; a girl's gotta eat. The acting is surprisingly solid, with Clarke being almost perfect as the zombified girl who still loves her boyfriend. The gore is extremely realistic and there is loads of it, so be warned; gorehounds will find plenty to love here. All in all, this is one low budget horror film that is definitely worth checking out.

In 1993 horror fans were greeted with the release of Return of the Living Dead III. This third film in the Return of the Living Dead series produced by John Russo ends up being a very good zombie movie and actually has genuine horror that the second film lacked. What ROTLDIII, its writers and directors seem to have left behind was the comedy side of the series which made them cult-classics to begin with.

Taking up directing duty this time around was genre-veteran Brian Yuzna (Beyond Re-Animator) who films this third film purely on a horror standpoint. This film is serious horror from start to finish. This time around the military is still trying to find a way to use 2-4-5 Trioxin as a way to create zombie soldiers, but ones that could be easily controlled by them. To say that this project hasn't met with success was an understatement. But it's the story of the son of the military project director and his girlfriend who dominate the film's plot. As portrayed by James T. Callahan and Melinda Clarke, these two star-crossed lovers find themselves enmeshed with the dark secret of the project being held in secret. Son soon uses the Trioxin gas to try and ressurect his girlfriend who gets killed early on during an accident. What he gets instead is an undead girlfriend whose hunger for live brains (for some reason the zombies in this ROTLD sequel also feed on other bodily parts) can only be controlled when she causes herself bodily pain through extreme forms of piercing. The rest of the film deals with the father trying to save his son not just from himself and his undead girlfriend but from the hordes of escaped zombies in the facility.

The horror in the film was actually pretty good and this was helped alot by the gore effects work which surpasses anything the first two films in the series had. The acting was decent enough with Melinda Clarke as the zombiefied girlfriend putting on a sexy, albeit creepy performance. If it wasn't for the brain and flesh-eating she sure would've made for quite a poster girl for teenage boys.

In the end, Return of the Living Dead III continues the ROTLD series admirably. Despite not having much humor and comedy in the film, this third film in the series more than makes up for it with high levels of gore and a definite sense of horror the first two didn't much have.

This unique sequel finds two teenage-lovers Curt and Julie looking for a thrill, and they find it in a secret Government research lab where Curt's Dad works. There, they learn the chilling factor that the dead can remain living with the help of a chemical called '2-4-5 Trioxin.' Curt horrified, Julie amazed, both flee to Curts house to chill out. When Curts' father returns home they both get in an argument that causes Curt and Julie to escape on Curts' motorcycle. Unfortunately for Julie, there is a motorcycle accident and Julie is killed. Curt, afraid to live without her, revives her with the chemical Trioxin. But Julie isn't the same as she use to be, she feels different and very, very hungry. In a murderous accident Julie soon learns that only the taste of brains will norish her. Curt disgusted at what he sees begins to regret his actions. But then Julie learns that the pain helps, pain makes the hunger go away. With a Mexican gang on thier tails, the teenagers escape and find a new friend called 'River-Man.' As Julies' urges for brains grow stronger, she goes to drastic measures and does some serious decorating on her own body using metal, glass, chains and more to create enough pain to sustain her.
With her urges growing stronger to attack Curt, Julie must under-go a painful transformation, if she ever hopes to leave Curts' brains in his head where they belong.

I really enjoyed this movie, I found it as good as the first and way better then the horrible Part 2. The plot-line had a good speed, it didn't drag nor rush into things. The acting by Curt and Julie is fantastic and 'The new Julie' looks very cool and gross. If you're a gore hound then I highly recommend this movie. If you want more gore, there is an uncut version located on the UK Amazon site, hyperlink at the bottom of the page. The uncut version is well worth buying, but I recommend you make sure your DVD player is multi-region first.

I have Return Of The Living Dead 3 uncut and unrated on VHS. Why upgrade to the cut "R" rated DVD? This disk is damaged goods in my opinion, and with all the companies striving to restore films for DVD, releasing a movie in it's cut form just shows me that the manufacturer is more interested in making a quick buck than a quality product. VHS may not have the picture quality of DVD, but at least it's complete.

Scott R

Being a horror enthusiastic,owing every horror flick you can imagine- from the classics to the watchable ones-I,perhaps I am the most qualified person to say something about this movie.Definitely it's one the best !The story was masterfully told and shown.Part one is excellent.Part two is good,but this part three is among the best in horror history!Regardless of what narrow-minded /envious critics ,fake horror fans or would-be highbrow watchers say,it's wonderful.We all fear death and this is what it is about!It's about young people (a boyfriend and a kooky pretty girlfriend)who discover that death is not the final frontier, but a kind of unconscious state,from which escape is impossible because when resurrected /brought back to life and to the real world these people gradually lose what they had and can't be human anymore.They lose their sanity and their human side and become what we fear most : becoming barbaric,wild,uncontrollable animals.After paying an illegal visit to a military facility ,a youth and his girlfriend (MINDY CLARKE)discover that the army has been doing experiments with the dead!That's how the story starts!Mindy does an excellent job(always!) as a zombie girl full of love,compassion and conscience,a girl who knows what she has become and what she'll have to do sooner or later - kill.She changes from a sweet,lovely slaphappy teen to a frightening, scaring and scared zombie with conscience!This is what the movie is about! The special effects are extraordinary,Brian Yuzna is a great director,the plot is finely written.This movie is not suitable for those who do not love horror movies because they'l never grasp the full significance of what these films really mean!THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD SERIES,especially PART 3,IS and WILL ALWAYS be a MASTERPIECE- Enough said !

As a 12 year veteran of the psychiatric profession, I invariably get stares from colleagues when we're discussing all the usual movie portrayals of psych disorders (Francis, the Bell Jar, Cuckoo's Nest) and I chime in "Yeah, but have you ever seen Return of the Living Dead Part 3? " First things first, the first one of these movies is a cult fave of mine, a textbook example of how to take old source material and refreshen it rather than rehash it (The second one is just the opposite, despite having the girl who does Bart Simpson's voice in it). But 3 turned out to up the ante of its predecessors. Melinda Clarke does an uncanny job of portraying the subtext of this movie, that zombie-ism is a metaphor for Borderline Personality Disorder (the inability to have close relationships, a perverse compulsion to self mutilate because it's the only way to FEEL anything, and a tendency towards sucking others into their angst). As the zombie-fication of Julie worsens, she stabs and mutilates herself to avoid consuming the only one who cares about her, her boyfriend. Brilliant!...also kudos for pulling Kent "OneAdam12" McCord and Sarah "Superman 2" Douglas out of obscurity.

This movie is so awesome. Some parts get a little crazy, but it is overall, a well done splatterfest. I was able to get my hands on the unrated version at Amazon U.K., but now I have to get a region free DVD player. Oh well, it's worth it. Also got the Phantasm set packaged in "The Ball" Why don't the U.S. get these kind of things????

Finally checked this puppy out and it did not disappoint.

Anyone who is familiar with Brian Yuzna's bizarre style of filmmaking should be able to appreciate this film. It has the feel that he created in the classic BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR which features a good balance of subte black comedy, outrageous gore scenes, Fangoria centerfold pinup worthy creatures and commentary.

This is my favorite of the ROTHLD series, though I have yet to see parts 4 and 5. The comedy aspect is not quite as obvious as it is in part 1, but it is there and overall this one is more original and entertaining than part 2.

I loved this movie and I thought it was a great edtion to the other movies but why did they release the DVD as R rated when they put it on Tape as unrated? Yes there is a a unrated version out there and that the one I have. I hate to up grade my copy for cut up version.