Celebrating ‘Return of the Living Dead 3’
Drew Tinnin
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For good reason, the punk rock zombie classic Return of the Living Dead tends to garner the most love and acclaim from horror fans. On July 3rd, the day the horror comedy takes place on, it’s practically become an annual tradition to watch Dan O’Bannon’s (Alien) directorial debut with a few friends as part of Fourth of July weekend.
Then there’s the sequel. Return of the Living Dead Part II largely recreated the events of Return of the Living Dead with a new batch of kids featuring Suzanne Snyder (Killer Klowns from Outer Space), Dana Ashbrook (Waxwork, Twin Peaks) with James Karen and Thom Matthews returning after appearing as two entirely different characters in the original. Performer Allan Trautman is also back as Tarman.
After the split between George Romero and John Russo over the naming rights to Night of the Living Dead, Russo crafted a story that eventually became the first Return of the Living Dead. Part II functions as a sequel to a sequel putting it in very strange company. The 1988 zom-com is still a late-night staple, but it failed to have the same long-term cultural impact and box office success as its predecessor. Still, seeing a zombified Thriller era Michael Jackson getting electrocuted never gets old.
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When Return of the Living Dead III hit theaters 30 years ago this October, it landed with a quiet thud at the box office. Subsequently, it finally found new life on an unrated VHS. Since then, Part III has slowly but surely become more appreciated for its darker take on a military-run zombie outbreak. Three decades on, it’s time to give it some overdue respect.
From the start, Return of the Living Dead III takes itself very seriously. The demented experiments conducted on Bub (Howard Sherman) in Day of the Dead are seen on a much grander scale. The military is using the same Trioxin gas and the barrels of the undead from the original to create unstoppable bio-weapons. (Delivering that crucial bit of exposition is actor Sarah Douglas who played the seductive Kryptonian Ursa in Superman II.) Meanwhile, two doomed lovers, Curt and Julie (J. Trevor Edmond, Melinda Clarke), sneak into the military base and discover the top-secret operation. When Julie tragically slams into a phone pole and dies during a motorcycle accident, Curt does what any leather-clad boyfriend in a horror movie would do and brings her back from the dead.
Normally, that would be a big mistake. The undead Julie is a revelation, however, thanks to a standout performance from Clarke. Director Brian Yuzna (Society) had just made Bride of Reanimator a few years prior and must have still had some residual ideas rolling around in his head. Julie’s resurrection is directly inspired by the Creature in Frankenstein, without a doubt. Her slow descent into becoming a full-fledged flesh-eater as Part III progresses updates the zombie mythos for the next generation.
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The ongoing transformation leads her to start committing self-harm to try and stay human as long as possible. Scenes of her sticking needles and metal springs in her hands don’t just work as impressive close-up practical effects work. The sequences also provide a small window into the sometimes fragile mental state of teenage outcasts looking for a way to feel something. “The pain makes the hunger go away,” she says as Curt looks on, worried and horrified.
Of course, the more Julie tries to fight the inevitable, the more she starts to show clear signs of turning, providing some of Part III‘s most memorable moments. Julie utters the famous line “Braaiiins” as she licks up the grey chunks of matter after killing a convenience store employee in a fun call back to “Send more cops” from Return of the Living Dead. Amidst the mayhem, she also attacks some dude named Mogo (Julian Scott Urena), causing the gang he’s a part of to chase Curt and Julie through the town sewers.
The gang is led by Santos (Mike Moroff), who winds up getting his head and vertebrae ripped out of his body after an ill-fated attempt to take advantage of Julie. When Santos comes back as a zombie, the effect of seeing his floating head snaking around is one of the standout effects sequences leading up to the finale of Return of the Living Dead III.
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Roaming around the city’s underbelly, Curt and Julie are befriended by a heroic bum known as the Riverman (Basil Wallace) who suffers an even worse fate than Julie by the end of the film. Riverman has no direct connection to Tarman, although he does become a part of the military’s ungodly experimentation. Designed by FX artist Tim Ralston, the Riverman becomes a cybertronic zombie soldier with a metal exoskeleton fused to his body. It’s a nightmarish fate for Riverman who goes out with a bang looking like a makeshift version of Jason X.
Once Julie’s transformation is complete, she becomes an instant zombie icon for the nineties. With glass spikes protruding out of her shoulders and spiked nails, she breaks out of her cell for her close-up, delivering the one-liner “So you want to join the party?” There’s a reason why this image is on the VHS cover and is still so instantly recognizable today.
So, why is Return of the Living Dead III the better sequel? Yuzna’s sure-handed direction mixed with the best special effects of the entire series makes it a clear victor, for one. There’s also a real reverence for Romero’s work that came before as well as some fresh ideas that add to the zombie rulebook. Julie becomes a prototype for the military that proves the living dead aren’t just animated flesh. They have an inner life and Julie’s love for Curt inadvertently turns her into the first successful zombie-human bio-weapon hybrid. Isn’t that romantic?
Categorized:Editorials
