Zombie Flesheaters (1979) a.ka. Zombi 2
Not to be confused with Bruno Mattei’s Zombie Creeping Flesh (1980) (a.k.a Virus, Hell of the Living Dead to name a few) Lucio Fulci’s Zombie Flesheaters (1979) is far superior. Repots say it was written prior to Dawn of the Dead (a.ka. Zombi) (this maybe unfounded) either way most horror fans are aware that the name Flesheaters was changed to Zombi 2 and a new ending was tagged on to cash in on Romero success. You could argue that the talked about soundtrack is as intrusive as Dawn of the Dead music themes and that the eye scene is better than Argento’s vocational displays.
Comparisons to other movies aside Zombie Flesheaters (1979) suffers from Lucio Fulci’s own trappings – including badly written dialogue, choppy editing and bad dubbing. That said, there are very few directors that capture atmosphere you can taste. Fulci’s cinematic look is heightened by Giorgio Cascio and Fabio Frizzi’s excellent eerie and foreboding score.
The cast are more than sufficient, Tisa Farrow and Ian McCulloch surpass adequate, note worthy is Richard Johnson as Dr. David Menard. Notorious for the shark/zombie scene Flesheaters is so much more, Fulci creates some unmatched ambiance, the visuals are as lingering as the dead, dusty paths, an old Spanish cemetery, darkness lit up by Molotov cocktails and so on.
Zombie Flesheaters with all its low-budget faults is a creepy, slow paced, effective zombie film.
Zombi 3 (1988) a.k.a Zombie Flesheaters 2
Not really linked to its predecessor zombi 2, a virus outbreak (similar to Return of the Living Dead) causes the dead to rise and the military must stop the contaminated. Trapped in the zone are a few soldiers and civilians that must fight to survive.
Although billed as directed by Italian directing maestro Lucio Fulci who supposedly shot approximately 70 minutes of footage, second unit director Bruno Mattei and writer Claudio Fragasso took over and only used 50 minutes of Fulci’s footage. On viewing this lovable travesty it is very debatable how much of Fulic’s footage really appears. There only appears smudgings of the Italians magic as it feels more like Mattei’s Hell of the Living Dead/Night of the Zombies/Zombie Creeping Flesh.
Like its follow up, zombi 4 there’s talking zombies, jumping undead and zombies that want to fight rather than attack and eat flesh. Also there’s two crazy standout scenes, a flying head and a baby zombie birth. It may all sound like fun but it’s zombie scenes with the civilians and regular soldiers fighting the government’s hazardous white suit army that stand out, sadly not the wacky ones.
The zombie gore, blood, make-up and effects are inconsistent, sometimes effective and at other time revealing poor. There’s overuse of a fog machine, laughable dialogue especially from the scientists and military personnel. The synthesised soundtrack is great but like the broadcasting DJ ill-fitting at times. As a sequel to Zombie Flesheaters it’s below average, meandering from one silly setup to the next but it’s still plenty of fun.
Zombi 3/Zombie Flesheaters 2 at times is more a virus flick, reminiscent of The Crazies or Nightmare City than Fulics cult film Zombi 2. Overall, with its gooey opening restored despite it’s short falls Zombie 3 remains none the less entertaining.
Zombi 4 : After Death (1989) a.k.a Zombie Flesheaters 3
A woman inadvertently goes back to a zombie infested island where her parents were killed.
Writer /director Claudio Fragasso wild abysmal sequel has very little link to Fulci’s Zombi. Fragasso’s film seems predominantly like Mattei’s Virus/ Hell of the living Dead / Night of the Zombies (1980). Like Night of the Zombies was a Dawn of the Dead wannabe, this is another bad cheese festival of zombie nonsense.
While the phrase so bad it’s good can be be applied to Night of the Zombies, Zombi 4 is plain borderline with a few redeeming features. Mainly some make up effects and lead cast. There’s awfully executed effects, shoddy lighting, sub-par directing, illogical storytelling and coupled with daft exposition dialogue in every scene at times its simply cheap but not cheerful. While fun, talking zombies, guns, candles falling over, jumping undead add up to very little.
The 80’s rock soundtrack of is probably its best redeeming feature. As another cash-in follow up to Zombie Flesheaters it’s slightly disappointing.
Ossorio’s Blind Dead Horror Series a Novel Idea
Posted: May 31, 2011 in FILM REVIEWS/COMMENTSTags: Amando De Ossorio, film review, Horror, Knights Templar, Night of the Seagulls, Return of the Blind Dead, Return of the Evil Dead, the blind dead, The Ghost Galleon, Tombs of the blind dead, Zombies
Ossorio insists that the Templars are not zombies as they resemble mummies and that, unlike zombies, his Blind Dead are not mindless corpses. Still they share many of the same elements.
The Tombs of the Blind Dead is notably slow paced with a creepy atmosphere that set the foundation for the interesting sequels, forging their place in horror history.
The characters and story of El ataque de los muertos sin ojos are developed arguably further than it’s predecessor and while the pace is faster it’s still very slow. Your patience is rewarded with creepy visuals, killer blade welding zombie knights, fitting music, all with the backdrop of an eerie small town.
Visually it’s the darkest (due to poor lighting), most mystical entry, on a positive note it arguably played a part in influencing John Carpenter’s The Fog. Nevertheless, poor production design, a jarring flashback, slow deaths, less blood, Scooby Doo-like investigations and the confinement of the Galleon stilts this instalment. Despite Ossorio’s usual faults the middle section is entertaining enough mainly due to the return of the dead. However, while the finale works conceptually, it is poorly realised with a model that lacks scale and a tame beach confrontation that lacks tension.
Given the strong predecessor and the refreshing direction with a new setting it’s sadly a missed opportunity.
Night of the Seagulls, La noche de las gaviotas (1975)
Although it takes about 20 minutes for the Knights to rise from their graves in the seaside town, Night of the Seagulls is the faster paced of the bunch. This borrows from H. P Lovecraft, clearly Dagon is has influenced this instalment.
There’s more fog, more eerie music and the dreamlike visuals come thick and fast, odd townsfolk, zombie knights on horseback and screaming seagulls. There are fewer leads, the couple and the village girl are adequate enough and there are plenty of worn and old faces on display, Amando De Ossorio throws in the obligatory slow ‘village idiot’ in that is hounded by the community.
Debatably I maybe being to critical here but as a standalone film it works better if you haven’t seen the other Blind Dead films, but for those familiar with them it’s old trodden ground, a remake of a remake, that’s it hard to enjoy fully without fresh eyes.
Dubbing and seventies jumpers aside this last Blind Dead retains it’s creepy atmospheric factor and trades the better sets for some character development. Technically it’s put together well but the closing act with a siege on the a house has been done and despite some good makeup effects is somewhat anti-climatic. That said, it redeems itself with the church showdown and conclusion.
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