#4 - Return of the Living Dead III (1993)


(dir. Brian Yuzna)

In a secret government lab, researchers are experimenting with a chemical that has the power to bring the dead back to life. Their intent is to weaponize the zombies, but they just can't get it right. A pair of teens, Curt and Julie, sneak into the base and accidentally witness one of these experiments, which understandably freaks them out - however, when Julie is killed in a motorcycle crash, Curt brings her back to the base to return her to life. It works, but she now has a hunger that she just can't seem to satisfy...

The Return of the Living Dead is one of the best zombie films of all time, and while this third entry in the series doesn't quite live up to that, it is still an extremely solid movie. Unlike the original, this isn't really a comedy and it has a bit of a meaner edge to it, but the tone is still very over-the-top and it clearly doesn't take itself too seriously. The makeup, creature design, and special effects are all excellent, and it gets quite gross and gory at times, so be warned if you aren't into that. Brian Yuzna is known for producing many of Stuart Gordon's films, and the tone is similar to something like Re-Animator or From Beyond. If you're into those, you'll probably like this one too.

I'd call this one of the best zombie movies of the '90s, but that's sort of meaningless because I don't think there were more than a handful of actually decent ones from that decade. Dead Alive, Dellamorte Dellamore, and... uhh... the surprisingly OK remake of Night of the Living Dead I guess?  Not a lot of competition there. Anyway, I definitely recommend this one to fans of zombie movies or anyone who likes their horror films gory and a little ridiculous.

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