Chad

Spiderbite

I watched this soon after watching Killer Tongue since I wanted to see more of Mindy Clarke and because I own the DVD. I love this movie and feel it is one of the best horror movie sequels ever. It's a stand alone sequel so you don't have to see any of the movies before it.

It has some of the best practical effects for a movie of its budget as well as a honest to goodness almost heart-tugging story surrounded by gore. The only drawback is some of the acting is suspect but is still passable. It also has one of the best depressing but realistic endings since the original Night Of The Living Dead.

Mindy Clarke gives a terrific performance that is both scary but heartbreaking. The make-up job done on her is excellent and at the same time cringed inducing. After the awful ROTLD 2, I doubt anyone thought part 3 would turn out so well.

Highly recommended. I wish they would release this on BD. Scream Factory, where are you?

My rating: ****1/2 out of *****

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

If you can track down the unrated version, it's noticeably gorier.

I remember when this first came out on VHS and loving it a lot. Also waiting for a blu-ray release.

DaveyJoe

I saw it years ago and remember loving the first half of it, but the second half was kind of draining because it was so unrelentingly dark. It introduced us to likeable characters that were doomed to spend the rest of the movie in unending agony, and the constant screaming, the screaming. While I thought it was well done, I just felt depressed after watching it.

After ROTLD2 was a plodding retread of the first movie, I really appreciate that this movie went in an entirely different direction. However, I struggled with the fact that it was so damn grim, when the original had such brilliant comedic touches. Now that I know what to expect, perhaps I'll enjoy it more when I rewatch it for the theme night.

SterlingBen

I still own my VHS tape for just this reason. And as I recall on the audio commentary the guy speaking gets pissed that he is recording for the R version instead of the Unrated version and actually leaves the track for awhile (I think that was for this movie).

Mondo Kane

I remember seeing the poster in a video store and saying to myself "Oh, zombies are supposed to be demons now?" (Because I thought the chick on the cover had naturally-grown horns and claws. Oops!)

The movie ended up being a big surprise on one of my previous challenges (A 1st-time viewing) and I've been wanting to see it again. Went ahead and bought the zombie/living dead dvd-pack (That it appears on) over the weekend. It should arrive just in time for the subset-day. Can't wait to see it again!

Trevor

I hate watching things out of order. Searching for 2 now....

Spiderbite

Skip part 2. It is just a terrible re-hash of Part 1 and is not worth watching. III really stands on its own so you don't have to see the first 2 anyway. The first one is a classic though and is not to be missed if you have never seen it before.

Remember, I warned you about ROTLD II. It is particularly bad if you watch it right after watching Part 1.

Trevor

I love the first one, and am surprised that I don't own all the sequels. Well, I might own them, just can't find any them right now. Luckily for me apparently, I can't find 2 streaming anywhere for free. I'm very much enjoying 3 on Crackle right now.

indiephantom

I also checked out the uncut, so I still haven't opened the region 1 DVD I have of this...just couldn't do it knowing this version existed and I haven't seen this since it was first on VHS (I'll assume that the uncut also). This is a bit tame for our erotic selection, but I'm certainly not complaining about Mindy Clarke. Although, I will say her look is pretty influential even if jeans were worn too high on the waist during this period.

Brian Yuzna is also a genre favorite of mine and I also re-watched Society for this challenge. This guy is underrated because most of his work is sequels and DTV in the decade that horror forgot (or people forgot about horror).

J. Farley

I still have my VHS of this and never got the cut DVD. My second favorite film from Brian Yuzna, his best being Society, which doubles as one of my top 10 favorite horror films. This is a terrific sequel with a tragic love story that actually works. It also has some of the best looking zombie designs in horror, and I like the self mutilation aspect as a tool to curb hunger. A huge improvement over the bad joke of a movie known as ROTLD II.

rbrown498

...And once again, I'll be the lone wolf dissenter. I didn't like this film when it first came out, but I figured that with nearly 20 years between viewings, I could properly reassess it. Well, I still don't like it, but it's not quite as awful as I remembered it as being. The pertinent facts in the case: a) I hate ANY film with sympathetic zombies or vampires, and I blame Romero and Bub for that hatred; and b) I've never seen a Brian Yuzna-directed movie that I really liked, although Society was interesting.

My least favorite aspects this go-round were the characters of Riverman and the Hispanic gang--the actor who played Riverman overacted his ass off, and the Hispanic gang were so cliche as to be offensive, ese.

And what was erotic and/or sexy about this film? I think that I missed that aspect of it entirely, unless I'm supposed to get aroused by girls with glass shards embedded into their faces...which I don't. I also don't find Mindy Clarke particularly attractive, so there was nothing sexy going on for me.

Still, the film is watchable, so it's not a total wash. It's just one that'll probably take me at least 20+ more years to get around to revisiting.

Chad

This holds up really well after revisiting it years later. For some reason I remembered the ending being much less tragic and left to the imagination with them riding off into the sunset after Curt was bitten, but depressing is better.

cproaps

Having never seen it before either, although I love the first one, I thought the same thing about the cover art and the demonic connection. Probably why I never watched it.

With all the comedy stripped out of the third film, it plays more into the Romero series than the the first two Return movies.

Trevor

It certainly did turn dark in the last two thirds or so, bleak. But well done overall.

I know to avoid part two, but how are all the other sequels?

Chad

They're shot back-to-back and were made for the Sci-Fi (now SyFy) Channel. That should tell you all you need to know.

Trevor

Say no more.

But then, I think I have one of them in one of my dozens of multipacks, so I'll probably need to complete the series at some point. Curse this addiction.

ntnon

Yes, I mostly enjoyed this, but didn't find it terribly special.* However, if I'd picked it myself wouldn't have felt entirely confident it counted for the theme day..!



*Barely seen any of the other related films, though, so it might be one that's better when placed in comparison...?