After spending two Halloweens in a row covering some of the biggest franchises in horror, I knew I was going to do something different this October. Maybe something more old school like another sequel month, I could call it ‘Sequel Month 2’ or ‘Sequel Month: The Sequel.’ I’d been dwelling on this Halloween’s theme for most of the year, reading my old reviews from previous Octobers, and then I found it.

This is technically another sequel month but specifically focusing on Threequels! Third follow ups to sequels and their originals that I’ve covered in the past. I’ve got four reviews lined up for this Halloween with potential reviews of new releases, such as Pearl or the new Hellraiser, if I can find the time.

Kicking things off, we’re looking at the sequel to The Return of the Living Dead Part 2, which is the sequel to The Return of the Living Dead. Return of the Living Dead 3!

In this standalone tale, a teen called Curt runs away from his military father with his girlfriend Julie. As they’re fleeing on his motorcycle, Curt loses control of the vehicle and crashes, resulting in Julie’s death. Devastated, Curt sneaks Julie’s body into the military base his father works in and, using a strange toxic gas, resurrects her.

The Characters

Return of the Living Dead 3 is a completely different animal from the first two. There are little to no references to the previous films. While the production value gives the film an amusing shlocky vibe, the plot and characters are clearly meant to be taken seriously.

Curt and Julie are star-crossed lovers. Their story of course resembles the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet but there are enough differences to prevent it from becoming predictable. Curt and Julie are passionately in love but Curt’s father believes Julie is a bad influence and you can see that he’s not completely in the wrong.

While she makes Curt very happy, Julie indulges in a lot of hedonistic and self-destructive behaviours, including cutting herself. You can understand why Curt’s father would be worried about his only son getting involved with such a troubled individual.

For a low budget zombie flick, you get a lot more invested in the characters than you think you would. I certainly did. It’s got good drama.

The Zombies

The only elements Return of the Living Dead 3 shares with its two predecessors is the origin and nature of its zombies. 2-4-5 Trioxin is the chemical being tested at the army base. The corpses it reanimates are indestructible, can talk and of course crave brains. The army intends to turn them into supersoldiers, an objective they struggle to achieve due to the zombies’ erratic behaviour.

There are some distinctions in these zombies from their counterparts from the first two. For example their designs are less cartoony and comic book-like and more grounded and gruesome. The biggest difference however is the fact that, when reanimated, these zombies actually retain their memories and personalities.

Julie is a prime example of this. When Curtis exposes her body to the Trioxin gas, she technically comes back to life. The only difference is that she’s in constant pain, the consumption of brains being the only thing that can relieve her.

These zombies are quite reminiscent of the corpses from the Re-Animator series, which I don’t think is a huge coincidence considering the film was directed by Brian Yuzna, a producer of the Re-Animator series.

The makeup effects for the zombies are a mixed bag. Julie’s design is iconic, the contrast with her pale skin and red hair gives her an almost satanic look. The wounds from her self-harming and subsequent glass piercings look painfully authentic.

The zombie extras, while their designs are quite creative, haven’t aged well. Their animatronics produce movement that is very robotic and their skins on top look very rubbery.

Return of the Living Dead 3 is probably my second favourite of the whole series. It’s got little to nothing to do with the first one but the things it does on its own, including its surprisingly compelling love story, are quite impressive. It’s definitely better than the second film.

I give Return of the Living Dead 3 a well earned 7 out of 10.

Well, since we’re officially in the Halloween season expect the next three reviews in the next three weeks. In the meantime, browse through my reviews from previous Octobers, specifically those where I wasn’t covering franchises. You should get some clues of which threequels I’m going to review next.