Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993)

Directed by Brian Yuzna

Movie Review by Al Fleshrot

Summary
While the first two movies in this series were based on the trioxin gas accidents, this third one shows us what's really going on in secret government facilities. Teenage lovers Curt and Julie sneak into the military facility overseen by Curt's father, Colonel John Reynolds, and witness a corpse being brought back to life. Later that night Julie is killed when she is thrown off the back of Curt's motorcycle. Curt rushes her back to the lab and exposes her to the trioxin gas and she miraculously comes back to life. They flee the lab, but things aren't quite right with Julie. They stop at a convenience store (in South Central!) because she's craving food and piss off some local thugs. The store owner tries to mediate, but gets shot for his trouble. The thugs escape, but not before Julie takes a bite out of one of them. Curt and Julie escape the store in a van just as the cops arrive, and the wounded store manager climbs in the back in hopes of a ride to the hospital. He gets shot in head by the pursuing cops and Julie goes back to check, and her zombie instinct takes over. Curt pulls over in an alley and is horrified to see that Julie has eaten half of the dead guy's brain! They flee in a sewer before the cops catch up, but they are now being hunted by both the military (to contain the outbreak) and the thugs from the convenience store. They are aided by "Riverman", a local who resides in the LA sewers, but Julie is slowing becoming more zombie than human and has trouble controlling her brain craving urges. The thugs finally catch up with them, but Julie attacks them and soon all of them are zombies too. Just when it looks like curtains for Curt, his dad shows up with some soldiers and they take all the zombies down. When everything is back under control, Curt finds Julie locked up in a cage at the military facility and learns she is the next subject for the bio-mechanical solider prototype. He tries to rescue her, and in the process sets off chaos in the lab as zombies escape their cages and attack. Curt is bitten in the arm and realizes he can't escape with his life. But he and Julie can escape the horrific experiments and together they enter the incinerator and embrace one last time.

Review
This movie takes a major departure from its predecessors and goes for less humor and more story. I was unimpressed with the 2nd ROTLD movie due to its similarity to the superior original, therefore in my opinion this movie was and upgrade to the series. The special effects, gore and zombie antics were right on par. The central plot of the story was about Julie being brought back to life, but slowly realizing she could never go back to what once was. Unlike every other zombie in the movie, she is somehow able to control her urges by inflicting pain on herself. One scientist explains that her strong attachment to Curt will keep her from attacking him. By the end she's got piercings everywhere, and looks like the ultimate S&M master. The whole thing is sort of corny and inconsistent, but it's still a fun movie to watch.

Best Zombie Kill
When the thug leader Santos finally catches up with Curt and Julie in the sewers, Julie has transformed herself with piercings all over her body. Santos, not realizing what she really is decides he wants to get a little action. He takes her into a closed room, but soon a scream is heard. Julie emerges, carrying Santos' head. It's not completely severed, but the vertebrae have been ripped half out of his neck!

Best Zombie Death
Most of the zombies aren't actually killed - Colonel Reynolds has developed a tranqulizer that knocks out the zombies so they can be revived later. In the sewers Santos, the zombie who has his head and backbone ripped half out of his body, is about to break through the flimsy wooden planks that Curt and Riverman have nailed across the doorway. But Santos sticks his neck out too far and gets his head knocked off like a tee-ball.

Memorable Scene
Near the end when Curt finds Julie caged up in the military lab, the zombie formerly known as Riverman has been fitted with the metal exoskeleton. He breaks his restraints and knocks out two of the staff with massive strikes from his mechanically enhanced arms. The scientists try to stop him with a shotgun - one shot completely blows one of the zombie's shins away and another one of his forearms. But the exoskeleton provides support and the zombie is unstoppable.

Al Fleshrot wants your brains