Return of the Living Dead III (1993)
★ — Return of the Living Dead III (1993)
The Return of the Living Dead franchise has always sat at the scrappier, more comedic end of the zombie genre, a series built on noise, chaos, and a cheerful disregard for dignity. The original 1985 film, directed by Dan O'Bannon, gave us the phrase "send more paramedics" and cemented the idea of zombies specifically craving brains. The 1988 sequel kept a similar tone, broad and knowingly silly. By the time the third instalment arrived in 1993, however, the series took a sharp left turn, ditching the black comedy almost entirely in favour of something stranger and more earnest: a teenage love story wrapped in body horror. The result was a film that left many fans of the earlier entries genuinely puzzled, a sort of horror romance that sits awkwardly alongside its predecessors without quite fitting the mould of either genre. It is worth noting that the production was a joint American and Japanese venture, backed by Bandai Visual alongside Ozla Productions, giving it an unusual international character for a direct-to-video horror sequel of this period. For a flavour of what else was coming out of Japan around this era and beyond, it is worth checking out the site's coverage of films like The Snow Woman (1968) and Yi Yi (2000), both of which demonstrate rather more assured filmmaking from that part of the world.
At the helm is Brian Yuzna, a producer and director whose name is closely associated with body horror and cult genre fare. He had produced Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator and From Beyond, and directed Society, a film that pushed grotesque transformation further than most of its contemporaries. On paper, Yuzna seemed a reasonable fit for material that wanted to blend the visceral with the emotional. The principal cast here is led by Melinda Clarke and J. Trevor Edmond as the doomed couple at the centre of the story. Clarke, who would go on to a busy television career, is the more memorable screen presence of the two, given the unenviable task of conveying pathos through increasingly elaborate practical make-up work as her character deteriorates. Edmond, meanwhile, carries the bulk of the dramatic weight as the lovestruck teenager who sets the whole grim chain of events in motion. Kent McCord and Sarah Douglas appear in supporting roles on the military side of things, lending a degree of professional polish to a production that is, frankly, otherwise rough around the edges. The film runs to 97 minutes, which is perhaps fifteen more than it can comfortably sustain. For those curious how horror films of this period handled genre expectations, the site's review of American Pie (1999) offers an interesting, if very different, point of comparison from the same decade.
This movie is not good. In fact, it’s barely a zombie movie. What we have here is a bizarre, poorly-acted, deeply uncomfortable attempt at a tragic undead love story, if the undead lover had spikes coming out of her head and screamed like a stabbed pig at irregular intervals. The plot is a guy brings his girlfriend back to life, she becomes a clawed, spike-covered nightmare, and instead of leaning into the chaos… the movie tries to make us care about their doomed romance. It’s like Romeo & Juliet meets Zombies, and neither side asked for this. There’s no fun, no gore, no real horror, and definitely no charm. Just awkward dialogue, weird body horror for no reason, and a finale that’s more laughable than tragic. An ass movie. A true waste-of-time sequel.
And honestly, that about covers it. The tragedy angle might have worked had the film committed to either its horror instincts or its romantic ones, but it keeps hedging, and you end up with something that satisfies neither crowd. I have a reasonable tolerance for low-budget genre films when they have at least a pulse of genuine energy or affection for what they are doing, something like Moshari (2022) or Tiger Stripes (2023) proves you can do a great deal with limited means if you actually have something to say. This one, though, feels like a film that lost confidence in itself somewhere between the script and the shoot and never quite found it again. Give it a miss. Life, unlike Julie in this film, is too short.
Rating: ★ | Year: 1993 | Watched: 2025-07-20
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Return of the Living Dead III (1993) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Lionsgate+ Amazon Channels
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Buy: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video · Sky Store
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
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Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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More from Japan: Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025) · Blue (1993) · The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959)
More from the 1990s: Lessons of Darkness (1992) · Shinjuku Boys (1995) · Blue (1993) · Cemetery Man (1994)
More horror: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Viy (1967) · Nightmare City (1980) · Angst (1983)
More romance: The Eagle (1925) · The Last Picture Show (1971) · The General (1926) · The Docks of New York (1928)
