Is there anything that appears more inseparable than the love of Childhood sweethearts? Yes, we know with hindsight that the odds are rarely in their favour (although if your forever partner is by your side, more power to you.) Still, you feel that nothing can stop you, not even death. In 1993, the tale of two lovers who deaths couldn’t even break their bond was told in Return of the Living Dead III.

When a rebellious teen couple, Julie and Curt sneak into the secret lab where Curt’s dad does super secret research. They observe Curt’s father work on reanimating the dead, and the army treating their new biological weapons as general ordnance, and not reanimated people. A freak traffic accident kills Julie, and the experiment in the lab is just what Curt thinks will get his departed paramour back. The hunch pays off, Julie is back, and life appears sweet until the waking nightmare of her borrowed existence begins to dawn on the couple, with an insatiable appetite and a killer outfit, Julie and Curt take “till death do us part” to the limit.

The change in tone is more than just noticeable, gone is the ironic/goofy humour of the first film, replaced by a more earnest tone. Leather-clad teens on bikes contrast, with oh-so-90s-looking laboratory sets. It gives the result more of a B-Movie vibe, one from the 50s mixed with the nihilistic moods of the Grunge era. Living Dead III also has some uncomfortable body horror moments, like Hellraiser III but for a more teen-oriented market. You can feel this targeting in the protagonists. Curt and Julie’s folks don’t understand them, and it’s easy for a more youthful audience to relate to that, the kind that would appreciate shock-horror body modification and the mutilation of dangerous gangs. The film opts for an ending that would try to rival Romeo and Juliet’s. Suffice it to say, it is certainly one of the most memorable entries of the franchise so far.

For fans of the Living Dead film, there is still a lot on offer despite the dramatic change in tone. With III offers a lot of compelling evidence that a human side remains in these walking abominations. We get some insight into what the army does plan to deal with these chemicals, and the (for lack of a better term) inhuman treatment of the test subjects offers echoes from The Day of the Dead film. The plight of Julie as her transformation beckons also evokes the talking undead scenes from Return of The Living Dead, except in a more tragic fashion.

When you think the franchise is going to zig, it zags. Thankfully so, as this almost Heather-esque befits strongly from the change of tone. Its earnest depiction of its melodrama may feel like a far cry from the goofiness that defined the Return films. It shows the potential for something more, something, beyond, something that Curt and Julie saw in each other. Death cannot keep a good thing down, and Return of the Living Dead III is proof of that.

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