The Curse of the Screaming Dead

THE CURSE OF THE SCREAMING DEAD has a group of campers / deer hunters being led into the deep woods by a Cat Stevens clone and his Greg Allman lookalike, friend. They happen upon an old cemetery, where untold horror abounds. Well, not really.

Not-at-all unexpectedly, ghouls arise from their graves, resulting in what can best be described as Michael Jackson's Thriller video, without the dancing. Actually, those zombies were far more frightening than this pathetic lot!

Sparing every expense, these "undead" are pretty non-threatening. With some in makeup, while others wear Halloween masks from the dollar store, all are sporting the latest in garage sale fashions.

This movie's highest crime is its boredom factor. Though it is fun to see "Cat Stevens" and "Greg Allman" waving guns around, that's just not enough.

Awfully, horridly, insanely bad...

saw this movie when i was about ten years old. it was terrible. a blind girl shooting cannibals? i don't think so. this movie is worth watching just for the comedy factor. it contains all the awful stereotypes unique to bad horror.

its hard not to appreciate the visual effects. such as the same 'exploding' paper mache cannibal head on a broom handle every time a cannibal confederate zombie is shot. if you're having a 'bad' movie night - this movie is a must have.

the whole premise of the movie is not overly stupid compared with the subject matter of some other horror movies. it is the execution that is appalling. the budget must have been the change from the purchase of a hot dog.

i saw this movie again June 2006 - as i thought my previous comments may have been a little harsh. - They were not. This movie really is that bad.

The Curse of the Screaming Dead (1982)

* (out of 4)

A group of six Southern friends head into the woods for some good deer hunting when they stumble upon a cemetery. Soon a Conferate solider returns from the grave and brings along some others as the zombies attack our deer hunters.

Director Tony Malanowski made NIGHT OF HORROR in 1981. That film was about a group of friends who were attacked by Confederate soldiers. That movie was downright awful on pretty much all levels and THE CURSE OF THE SCREAMING DEAD is a remake of that. Malanowski said he saw the various errors in the original film so when he got a higher budget he wanted to set out and make something better.

THE CURSE OF THE SCREAMING DEAD, released by Troma as CURSE OF THE CANNIBAL CONFEDERATES, is a pretty bad movie in its own right but at the same time there's no question that it's a major improvement on the original. If the director's main goal was to make a better movie this second time around then he succeeded as this one looks a lot better and I'd argue that it also felt like an actual horror film since we are given some gore and zombies.

The film still suffers from its low-budget nature and there's no question that the film is a bit too slow for its own good. I'd also argue that the characters themselves aren't all that interesting. As I said, the one bonus here over the original is that we are given some added gore scenes and for the most part they are actually very good. The gore is realistic and looks effective enough, although I must admit that the munching sound effects made me giggle at times.

Six bad actors...Er, friends (including a character named "Blind Kiyomi") are out in the rural South on a deer hunt, only to find an old diary of sorts. Well, one of them takes it, and the next thing you know, a horde of Undead Confederate Soldiers come for revenge.

In my many years of watching horror, I can think of many that were bad. Some (Such as House of the Dead, Feardotcom, Captivity, and The Crater Lake Monster) are so bad, they actually made me feel physical pain. "Curse of the Screaming Dead" (aka. "Curse of the Confederate Cannibals"-oh Troma) is one of those movies.

The acting isn't just bad, it's amateur local commercial bad. The zombies are among the most unconvincing I've ever seen. The score is atrocious. The gore is cheap beyond words. We are treated to zombies consuming flesh-in a scene that drags on for far too long. The list goes on.

It may sound like a "so bad it's good" affair, but it's not.

A shame in a way, as the idea of Confederate Soldier Zombies is actually pretty cool. Unfortunately, this movie doesn't work in the end, and it's torture to sit through. Avoid.

Update: Actually, now that I think about it, the score isn't too bad. The movie itself...still crap.

I don't know whats wrong with you people. "Curse of the Screaming Dead" has got to be one of the best zombie flicks out there. It's got great gore effects and the acting is pretty good. Well I can't say uch for the makeup because it's just white face paint with black eye shadow. But there are a few badly rotted zombies that look really nice. The lighting unfortuanately is really bad, so you can't see much but at least you can see the picture. I own his movie and other great movies. If anyne has an extra copy they can spare though i'll buy it from them for 9.99. I never know when I may need an extra copy. And as for the guy who wrote the review titled "Confederate Zombies" I just want to ask. Would you like to watch a movie with a bunc of naked male zombies walking around? I know I wouldn't. I give this movie a whopping 10!