MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MONSTERS PART 49; RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART 3

I have loved George Romero's living dead world since catching NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD on TV one Halloween, it had quite a profound effect on me. DAWN OF THE DEAD, the first sequel, even more so. In 1985 Romero released his third dead film, but it flopped, but there was another dead film that was connected to NOTLD through a direct reference in the film and by one of the writers. John Russo had co-wrote NOTLD and co-wrote the story of 1985's DOTD competitor, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, with Rudy Ricci and Russell Streiner (who also produced NOTLD)(Dan O'Bannon, who wrote Alien, wrote the screenplay and directed after Tobe Hooper backed out to make LIFEFORCE.) Though it came out a little prior to my full immersion into horror, I remember the trailer and thought it looked awesome. I begged to see it and the answer was a flat 'no, shut up.'

By the time 1993's RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD 3; ZOMBIE PUNK appeared on the cover of Fangoria, the first two ROTLD were well loved favorites of mine. Pre-internet, most of my horror movie news came from either Fangoria or Siskel and Ebert. So finding the new issue of Fango with Julie Walker (Mindy Clarke) on the cover with the glass and spikes sticking through her skin and looking like some kind of goth punk queen made my heart go all a'flutter.

Directed by Brian Yuzna (BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR, SOCIETY, FAUST), RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD 3 continued from the first two films with the military continuing to experiment with the compound that reanimates the dead. A military kid and his girlfriend accidentally witness one of the zombies being revived. Later, after having an argument with his dad, the boy and girl take off on his motorcycle and then get into an accident. The girl gets killed and the boy sneaks her back into the military compound and bring her back to life. Wackiness ensues.

If you know Yuzna, you know he makes amazing, over the top, gory films. Unfortunately, the rated version of the film is a mess (as it often is). It appears to have been edited for content by a butcher, so it's important to get the unrated version. ROTLD3 ups the comic book zaniness over the two previous films and makes Julie an amazing living dead anti-heroine. Aesthetically, Julie is one of the most interesting zombie characters ever to grace the screen and I wish she could have been spun off into her own series of films, or comics at least.

The newly re-animated Vestron Video is re-releasing ROTLD3 and giving the Blu Ray the red carpet treatment with audio commentary from Clarke and plenty of interviews. It's one of those must owns for me.

ReANIMATOR ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK FROM WAXWORK RECORDS

This week I received my copy of Waxwork Records' release of the ReAnimator original soundtrack! I won this beauty through Basement Screams (if you're not following that site, you should really start!).

ReAnimator (starring Jeffery Combs, Barbara Crampton, Bruce Abbott, David Gale, and Robert Sampson, directed by Stuart Gordon and produced by Brian Yuzna) stands on a very high pedestal for me. Based on the novella Herbert West, ReAnimator by HP Lovecraft, it's a bit of a reworking of the Frankenstein story with some very wild ideas and experiments Dr Frankenstein never dared to imagine. The movie is even wilder with explicit gore and a black sense of humor. Great performances from the whole cast, fantastic practical effects, and lovingly adapted by the filmmakers.

When it comes to '80's horror ReAnimator defines 'high water mark'. I wrote about it in My Heroes Have Always Been Monsters Part 7.

Let's get to the soundtrack! Composed by Richard Band, the music is iconic and always gets me excited when it starts. I've seen some comments that it's just a rip off of the Psycho soundtrack, but I dismiss that notion. I guess Band has said it was an homage, and on a superficial listen of the main title you can draw some similarity, but if you live with music you'll find a brilliant slab of sound that stands perfectly well on it's own without the movie.

This is a really smart choice as a first release. Waxwork Records have done a gorgeous job, from the re-agent colored record (some glow in the dark!) to the original sleeve art by Gary Pullin (also included as a poster). The sound quality is crystal clear and warm.

Waxwork has also released the Day Of The Dead OST and coming next is Rosemary's Baby. Follow the link to their site to stay up to date on all releases so you won't have to chase them down on EBay!

Here's a little taste of the great music.