City of the Living Dead, (1980)

  Whilst in a seance, a young woman sees a priest hang himself in a church graveyard. This apparently, opens up The Gates of Hell, allowing the dead to walk again.

Soon, the young psychic, with help from a New York journalist, (Christopher George,) set out to find the town of Dunwich, where said suicide took place - ROAD TRIP!!!

The pair have only 48 hours, or until All Saint’s Day, to get to Dunwich, (the site of the ‘original Salem - city of witches and evil!’) to destroy the dead priest's body and close the gates of hell.

It is important to note that this film is NOT a sequel to Lucio Fulci’s 1979 masterpiece, Zombi, (or 'Zombie 2,' depending on where you are in the world,) or connected to it at all. City of the Living Dead, it seems, is the first in The Gates Of Hell trilogy by Fulci, to be followed by ‘The Beyond,’ and ‘House By the Cemetery.’

All of the classic Fulci elements are here, though, plenty of guts and gore, close-up eye zooms, writhing worms, and a chugging, dramatic score.

And unlike Zombi, this is not your typical undead apocalypse film, and as such, does not necessarily adhere to those conventions. I mean, yes, the titular ‘Living Dead’ are the recently deceased and do move slowly and silently, but also seem to, um, ‘teleport’  at will - much more like a ghost or spirit, - appearing and disappearing with ease.

As for the other ‘Rules of Romero,’ the eating of flesh is present, but inconsistent - and not necessarily a given. Also, zombism did not appear to be transferred through bites, but in fairness, no one was just bitten. And lastly, the undead can be killed with more than just a head shot. In fact, one Z is dispatched fairly quickly with a stomach stabbing!

So, again, this is not a straightforward walking undead movie. Despite its title, City of the Living Dead is more of a story-driven Italian horror movie with some zombie-like elements. A departure from the mainstream, yes, but it has some decent scares, decent gore, an interesting plot, and some engaging characters. 

Suffice to say, I dug it! But, as is typically the case, I needed the objective grading tool known as the Zombi Movie Rubric for a fair and unbiased evaluation.

    With its originality, great characters, decent acting a good film quality picking up where the pacing, and actual zombies let it down, City of the Living Dead earned itself a respectable 3.0 out of a possible 4.0! This equates to a pretty good recommendation with that one caveat - this is not your regular Zombie Outbreak movie. Go into it forearmed and you’ll enjoy it all the more.

P.S. 1970’s American TV staple, Christopher George, fresh off of The Love Boat and Fantasy Island, steals every scene he’s in!!!

Here is a nice High Def trailer from YouTube - CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD

Anger of the Dead, (2015)

    We open with a young mom, Alice, getting a little-too-late phone call warning her of the dangers outside, and not to leave the house. As she is struggling to understand him, her 4 year-old-daughter opens the front door and well… yeah.

    Flash forward 4 months and we find Alice and some other on-the-roaders struggling to get to a ferry heading to an island with no zombies, without getting bitten.

    Meanwhile, we are also treated to a parallel storyline of a woman, held prisoner, being ‘human-guidea-pig-style’ tested on, and, just to prove she is an innocent victim, also kept in chains, beaten, and raped.

    Flashbacks between the two storylines are quick and disjointed, often switching to storylines within the storylines, causing a kinda confusing first quarter of the film. Once things start to become familiar, one can settle in and follow the plots more easily.

    Of these plots, one is a very straight forward, “Get to de choppa” story arc. A small group, on the road to a final destination with rapidly impending deadline, battling the hurdles of running out of fuel and food, despair, and of course, zombies.

    The second storyline is not so clear. A woman being held captive for reasons unknown, helped to escape, and hunted by an unrelenting and cruel military captain who makes zombies seem a bit less threatening.

One story seems to have nothing to do with the other, and remains that way for most of the film.

    Fortunately, the acting was fairly decent. Some subtle accents implied that English was not the actors' first language, but they all pulled it off convincingly, and often, unnoticeably. 

    Unfortunately, the characters portrayed were mostly devoid of any backstory, history, or personal motivation. Aside from the over-the-top performance of the sadistic Captain Rooker, most of the characters were fairly interchangeable.

    Of zombies, we were given the fast, growling, howling, animalistic sort, (ugh.) They showed signs of anger and frustration, as well as letting out roars of rage. (See Zombie Classification Chart.)

    As to the OTHER ‘Rules of Romero,’  zombism was transmitted through bites and dying, and the dead did feast on the living, but it was not made clear if headshots were the only means of killing them, as these dead, athletic as they were, seemed to be killed fairly easily.

    And, for some reason, once dead and infected, the zombies' faces develop thick and malformed brows and cheekbones, but the rest of their bodies remain unchanged. 

    The hand-held camera effects were numerous and, although I know they were meant to convey what the characters were experiencing, very distracting for me. The shakiness during action scenes, the wobbliness when a person was drugged and unsteady, and that weird, partially obstructed viewpoint, from behind a pillar or doorframe, kind’ve made me feel like I was spying on people.

    For all my griping, this was not the worst zombie flick I’ve ever seen. So, to to be fair, I held it up to that most impartial of tools, The Zombie Movie Rubric. Based on its nine objective criteria, Anger of the Dead, buoyed by its SPFX and decent acting, yet dragged down by a deadly-slow crawl, earned itself a surprising 2.11 out of 4.0. 

    This rating translates to a nice, middle-of-the-road zombie film entry. Something to watch if you’re jonesing for some undead, but, ultimately forgettable.

    YouTube has a coupla’ trailers for you to decide if you’re interested or not. ANGER OF THE DEAD Enjoy!

Sorry about all that camera action - grab your aspirin!

 

Zombi 4: After Death (1989)

    Our story opens on a non-specified jungle island where armed scientists are confronting a voodoo witch doctor who blames them for the death of his daughter at their hospital. In retaliation, he opens the doors to hell and the dead rise.

Jumping straight outta Hell comes the witch doctor's wife.

    Flash forward 20 years and we find a group of fun-loving mercenaries on vacation with a couple of chicks. As they go boating past the island, which now lay abandoned and in ruins.  their engine inexplicably dies on them and they must make for shore...

    Simultaneously, on the other side of the island, some explorers find a “Book of the Death” and, of course, decide to read it aloud. Well, bad turns to worse, as bad tends to do, and soon, we have these survivors attempting to fortify the abandoned hospital from a siege of the undead, while also trying to close the doors to hell.

    Like its predecessor, ‘Zombi 4’ provides its own backstory with no relation to previous films. As such, it is not really a sequel than a new standalone zombie flick.

    Speaking of the zombies, the ones here are a cross between Romeros and Russos, (see 'Zombie Classification Chart HERE!) They are undead, attack and eat the living, zombism is transmitted through bites, and can only killed with headshots. However, these guys are NOT the shambling, foot-dragging kind! These guys show some extreme agility and stealth - running, jumping, and diving in for the attack and retreating when needing to. Combined with the dark rags and hoods that they wear, and they seem more like cannibalistic ninjas than the living dead.

    They also possess the amazing ability to jump in from just outside of the camera frame!

The minimalistic zombie make-up works fairly well here.

 

   This aside, the oozing, and festering, and drooling of all matter of materials, they do make an effectively scary bunch! Especially in the perpetually foggy jungle. 

    As I mentioned, lots of jump scares from the dead, but creepiness as well - The grave emerging  scene in the rotted, old cemetery looks pretty neat-o in the thickly fogged night, despite the ‘graves’ being no deeper than your average flower bed.

    Oh, and fear not, gore fans, eye-gouging and flesh-tearing are a-plentiful!

    The musical score, while sounding like an imported release of Miami Vice soundtrack b-sides, actually works to convey the action and drama, if now dated. It's worth checking it out if only for some decent images of the film. SOUNDTRACK 

    According to the ZMR, ‘Zombi 4: After Death’ got itself a 2.2 out of 4 points. For a change, I would agree with this rating. I enjoyed the movie despite its flaws, and would even recommend it… If only to die-hard fans of 80s, Italian zombie movies! 

    By no means a great movie, but a heckuva lot stronger film than it’s predecessor,

    Of course there’s a trailer on YouTube!!! ZOMBI 4:AFTER DEATH

Zombi 3 (1988)

    Shortly after an experimental reanimation drug is created, a group of terrorists steal it and one becomes infected. The government agency responsible decides on a ‘sweep and clear’ of the area while 3 small groups of tourists converge only to be caught between the military action, and the now-widespread walking dead.

    First of all, it must be said - Zombi 3 does not hide its influences! The ‘shoot ‘em up’-style of action is very reminiscent of Romero’s ‘Dawn of the Dead,’ while the scientists versus military dynamic harkens to 1985’s ‘Day of the Dead.’ Even the method of mass transmission, (the airborne ashes of a cremated zombie,) is taken from ‘Return of the Living Dead,’ also released just three years prior! 

    These make it even more surprising that the movie seems to completely ignore its own predecessor, Fulci’s amazing ‘Zombi.’ 

    Providing its own cause for the outbreak, and the subsequent spread of the infection, ‘Zombi 3’ seems more like a standalone reboot than it does a sequel.

    The acting is not good, get that straight. I know that an Italian film that is dubbed into English, often times the dialog is altered somewhat to fit the actors’ mouth movements. I am typically as forgiving of this as I can be, but with only a few exceptions, it was clear that these “actors” were new to this. Or just blatant ‘over-actors.’ And this on the parts of both the living and the dead.

This over-the-top scientist acted like a dropout of
the William Shatner/Adam West School of Acting!!!

    There is an inconsistency between the zombies, too. At times, they are perfect Romeros, (see my Zombie Classification Chart,) other times Russos, sometimes wielding weapons, frequently jumping from above, (TOO frequently!), and don’t even get me started on the flying head! (Yes. You read that correctly!)

    On the film’s positive side, it DOES have a good and clear story arc, beginning to end: Creation of the virus, outbreak, spread, conclusion. Very linear. I like that! No meandering.

    The movie also has a couple of genuine scares, (that awesome pool rescue!), and even a zombie siege on a (poorly,) fortified stronghold. I also like the fact that even if the living characters are devoid of backstory and fairly interchangeable, it is surprising to see just how frequently and dispassionately the movie kills one off! Kind’ve refreshing that way!

    Lots of Fulci gore for the fans of that, too. True, a good deal of it comes from festering pustules and blisters that accompany the zombism this time around, but plenty of flesh tearing, too. 

    For all its faults, I didn’t dislike this film. In fact, I kinda enjoyed it. My objective grading device, the Zombie Movie Rubric, however, was not so kind. Action / Pacing, Zombies, and Budget save this from the “Total Stinker” category, tallying up a 1.33 out of 4 for a score. 

    It is really hard to believe this is the sequel of Fulci’s masterpiece, Zombi. (Or Zombi 2, depending on your source.)

    So, I wouldn’t say avoid this one, it has its moments, but I can’t recommend it, unless you are desperate for an cheesy, 80’s, Italian zombie flick, and you keep your entertainment standards humble.

    YouTube seems to have the movie in its entirety for viewing, too! If you still haven't decided to watch this, here is a (long,) trailer to help make up your mind! ZOMBI 3 

    Also, I can’t help thinking this movie had hopes of being shown in 3D. There is a disproportionate amount of second-person 3D zooming! 

Zombie (1979)

Also known as Zombie Flesh Eaters. What a great name!

   Many people have trashed this movie calling it garbage, or mindless gore. Me? I call it brilliant! (But I have such a weakness for the Italian zombie features!)

  

   Lucio Fulci released this movie originally as Zombie 2, because Dawn of the Dead was released in Italy as Zombi and he wanted to make it an unofficial sequel. As such, it really scratches the itch of the whole Romero-style zombie-films. It sticks to the canon of the Romero 'Dead' movies, but with one notable variation: Fulci's zombies are not limited to the recently dead. He sees no conflict with reanimating conquistador corpses. 

   The movie starts with a great opening scene of an abandoned yacht drifting into New York Harbor and a huge zombie attacks the investigating police officers. The owner of the boat missing, his daughter launches a search to his last known whereabouts, a tropical Caribbean island called Matul. And there is the set-up. Obviously, the island is overrun.

    Fulci has also perfected the much-copied emerging from the grave scene, with particular emphasis of the writhing worms. Man, he loved them writhing worms. Yes, this is a flat-out gore movie, with one of the most cringe-inducing eye-gouge scenes ever filmed. 

    Also, it has the so-awesome-it-has-never-been-done-before-or-since zombie vs. shark scene. So suck it, critics!

   It is important to note that this is NOT the action-zombie, shoot 'em up of the Ving Rhames/Danny Trejo variety. It is a horror movie more in line with Night of the Living Dead than of Dawn of the Dead.

The ol' ZMR gives it a respectable score of 3.125, (out of 4.0,) but only because it doesn't have a heart. 

Me? I would go a bit higher. 

This, to me, could be filed under 'essential viewing.'

 Convinced yet? Okay, here is a YouTube trailer to sell you!
 ZOMBIE

 Ah, heck, have another!
 ZOMBIE

(And, you didn't hear it from me, but I believe the film in its entirety can be found somewhere on YouTube, as well!)

Hell of the Living Dead, (1980)

Also known as 'Visus,' 'Night of the Zombies,' 'Zombie Creeping Flesh,' and 'Zombie Inferno.'

A tissue-thin plot about a chemical plant leak in Papua New Guinea, a squad of very unprofessional Special Ops, and a couple of reporters ties together this early Italian zombie gore-fest.

The acting is poor, get that straight. Much too much time staring in horror as attacks occur, (so as to allow the maximum amount of biting, blood and guts, no doubt,) and screaming but not trying to escape when being attacked. Also, the insertion of a metric ton of stock jungle footage is distracting, (especially the inclusion of African Elephants!)

Those are the cons. As for the pros, well, this movie adheres quite strictly to the laws of Romero. 1) They are reanimated dead, and move and act accordingly, (or as Sheriff McCelland in ‘Night of the Living Dead’ said, “Yeah. They’re dead. They’re all messed up.”) 

2) They attack and consume the flesh of the living. 

3) The virus is transferred through bites and fluids.

And 4) They can only be stopped by a shot to the head.

Well, alright! A little respect for canon.

Also, mood is created in part by the music of the band Goblin, the same progressive rock band that created the soundtrack for Dawn of the Dead, which is why the score sounds so familiar. And good.

Sure, the inclusion of cannibals was a bit gratuitous, so was the naked anthropologist, but this is just nit-picking. 

So, in summation, a very enjoyable, early entry to the zombie genre. Oh, sure. There are many WTF!?! moments here, but some good scares, and good zombie moments.

On my Zombie Movie Rubric it scored a generous 1.77 out of a possible 4.0 - dragged down by terrible acting and weak story, but buoyed by good scary bits, nice zombie action/gore and being a true horror film in the classic sense. 

Really LONG Youtube trailer here: HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD 

Cool cover art, too!

Burial Ground, (1980)

AKA ‘The Night of Terrors,’ ‘Le Notti del Terrore.’

     So, a professor, researching some old magical rite of immortality, inadvertently reanimates a massive cemetery full of ancient Etruscans. Who promptly eat him.

   
     How’s that for gratitude!?!

    
     Shortly thereafter, a group of people arrive at a gorgeous and sprawling Italian villa to meet up with said professor and enjoy some time in the country air, blissfully unaware, (if only briefly,) of the crumbling and lumbering corpses meandering about the estate. The expected ensues.

     Ah, but these zombies are great! Oh, sure, not the make-up, (or in many cases, ‘masks’) that’s really not convincing at all. But the way they move: So painfully slowly. Extremely creepy, especially seeing such a hoard of dusty, bedraggled undead attacking in the bright mid-day sunlight early in the film.

Nice 'rising from the grave' scenes in this, too!

Ancient, crumbling and laden with writhing worms, (like Fulci’s ‘Zombi,’) but purposeful, silent, and unrelenting, (like Ossorio’s ‘Blind Dead’,) these Zs are mostly 'Romeros' in nature, (shambolic and shuffling, ‘kill the head to kill the dead,’ and zombism transmitted through bites,) but does add an element of some simple tool use, albeit very slowly!

   The living characters are nice enough, but without much, or any character development, and are as forgettable as the teenagers in contemporary U.S. slasher films. And like those unfortunate teens, the living here are dispatched in brutal and gruesome ways. Oh, yeah, and eaten, with plenty of slurping and gory gusto.

A little late-night snack.

   The fact that there is hardly any backstory or explanation for these people seems completely unimportant, because movie really has no time for it. The undead are up and attacking in the opening scene and lurking about, occasionally tearing someone into many pieces during every minute of this movie. In fact, the non-stop action of the movie very nicely balanced and enhanced the slow movements of the zombies.

   I held it up to my Zombie Movie Rubric for an objective rating and found that Burial Ground earned a solid 3.0 out of 4 points, with the pacing and the zombies doing most of the heavy lifting.

   A highly recommended entry in the 80s Italian, (English-dubbed) Zombie catalog!

   YouTube has a trailer of the originally titled ‘The Nights of Terror,’ in the Italian language. CLICK HERE! And honestly, the language barrier makes little difference. But English-dubbed copies of this baby are easy to find.

One of the many different DVD cases in which this can be found!

   I enjoyed this one a lot. One just needs to get over the zombies’ faces... And the weird-looking kid!

It is good they didn't make a real child do what this actor did... AWKWARD!!!