Zombiethon

This isn't really a flick, there is a story involved but it's more about a compilation of existing zombie flicks. Was it worth watching? Yes, because for example from "Zombie" you will see the best shots, the zombie on the yacht, some nudity and the shark fighting with the zombie. But there is worse too, the fragments from "The Invisible Dead" are so bad, the zombies aren't frightening, the mos scary part is when the girl undresses in gratuitous style and shows her body for the camera, full frontal and you see how many pubic hair there could be on a pussy. Man, that's frightening, wake up with something like that laying beside you! And the worst zombie flick is in it too, worth watching, Zombie Lake, the zombies are just face painted in green and some really bad acting but the most important part of this flick is the nudity. So this flick here, Zombiethon, isn't really bad but it is a docu on zombies, one to see with your friends and lot of beer.

This film is a horribly convoluted mish-mash of clips from various (mostly European) zombie films. That being said, if you enjoy any of the following three things, you may just love Zombiethon: 70s/80s zombie films, naked women, Family Guy style randomness.

Zombiethon combines the campiness of both the zombie films and softcore nudity of 70s and 80s cinema, and even has one segment which seems to be a horror buff's Jeffery Dahmer inspired take on Family Guy style cutaways.

Get a few friends, have some drinks and don't slack off on the smart-aleck comments, because this film is a riot!

Zombiethon (1986)

** (out of 4)

Charles Band and Wizard Video made three compilation movies beginning with THE BEST OF SEX AND VIOLENCE and followed by FILMGORE and finally this film, which takes a look at the zombie films in their library. It's easy to see why so many of these compilation videos were released during the VHS boom since it was an easy way for studios to put something out there and gain attention for movies that fans might enjoy. I mean, someone could rent this, enjoy the film clips and then want to rent or buy the movie, which just means more money into the pocket of the company. This documentary offers clips from ZOMBIE, ZOMBIE LAKE, OASIS OF THE ZOMBIES, FEAR, DR. ORLOFF'S INVISIBLE MONSTER, A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD and THE ASTRO-ZOMBIES. When viewed today, this documentary is mainly going to be for those who enjoy the throwback of watching something from the 80s. Outside of that this thing really doesn't offer too much because all of these films are now available in much better editions so if you want to see them there are better options. The quality of the clips are quite low and stuff like ZOMBIE are shown P&S, which is just a horrid way to see the clips. The funny thing is that the clips shows are all the 'big' scenes so if you hadn't seen the movie, watching the clips here would pretty much ruin the experience. It's also worth noting that Jess Franco's A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD, the best film of the group, isn't even a zombie movie but when Wizard released it they hired Jean Rollin to film new zombie scenes and add it into the film. So, needless to say, it would best to see the original version but at least the alternate scenes are here to view. ZOMBIETHON also features some new scenes of beautiful women being chased into the El Ray theater being chased by solo zombies.

A compilation of zombie clips whose only true reason for existence is showing a lot of movies that have never reached our shores here in Brazil, due to the fact we were living in a hardcore military dictatorship at the time of the depicted movies release. So, it was an undying pleasure to finally see some scenes from "Zombie" and "Fear", of Lucio Fulci, that were censored and banned in my country. The other clips are all right, but the poor production and involuntarily funny special effects shown, together with the nudity exploitation, harm a little the experience of watching them; although it is always interesting to see European horror movies because of the different atmosphere and general delirious climate of such flicks. The linking segments are OK, but nothing memorable and with a glimpse of welcome irony. I give thumbs up, but stays in the average.

How does one review "Zombiethon"? From executive producer Charles Band (of Full Moon), this is nothing but a series of clips from zombie films, mostly or completely European ones that may be hard to find (or were at the time).

I cannot say the gore is good, even though it is, because this film's creators did not make the gore, they just took clips of it. There is no plot, no acting. It is really just clip after clip of zombies attacking. If you love zombies, this might be something you want to check out... I could also see this being a good film to play in the background at a party or something.

There is a non-stop barrage of naked women frolicking (often with other naked women), which you might like, and there are some good scenes from Lucio Fulci's films -- some eye-gouging and the wonderful zombie versus shark scene. I guess since in 1986 you could not easily obtain the originals, this might have been a good idea, but now it just seems like another cheap Charlie Band maneuver (and you almost have to wonder if the people who own the rights to these films should not try to shut this picture down).

The film was once distributed by Wizard Video, though to the best of my knowledge they have been gone since the late 80s or early 90s. There is a rumor that Band has been re-issuing titles under the Wizard Video banner because of the popularity of the box art, but I know nothing about this. I saw "Zombiethon" on Netflix, and I think that may be its only existence.