La rebelión de las muertas

Horror legend Paul Naschy stars as the Eastern mystic, Krisna. He's a laidback guru dude with a mellow groov-itude. Unfortunately, Krisna's eeevil twin brother (Naschy) isn't so meek. He's out to destroy those whom he believes have ruined his life. In this effort, he raises nubile women from the dead, outfitting them in sheer, black, granny nightgowns.

VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES is a rib-tickler from start to finish.

BEST SCENE: Naschy as Satan, complete with awesome antlers!

Another win for Mr. Naschy...

And the winner for best "Death by small can" scene in a horror movie goes to "Vengeance of the Zombies." Not that there was a whole lot of competition outside of "Undead."

Anyways, there have been many a times in which horror movies seem to forgo anything resembling logic in their quest to scare or entertain. Sometimes this works (The films of Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci for example), sometimes it doesn't (the films of Dante Tomaselli), and then there are goes films that aren't good and make little sense, but you find yourself enjoying them anyway. Leon Klimovsky achieved this in 1973 with the Paul Naschy vehicle "Vengeance of the Zombies."

Indian Mystic Krisna (Naschy) has things going his way. He's pretty popular, the ladies love him (Yep, this is a Paul Naschy film alright!) and nothing bad seems to be happening. That is, until his girlfriend Elvire (Romy) starts having nightmares involving Satanic rites (with Naschy playing Satan), a masked killer being on the loose, and a group of vengeful female zombies roaming around. Oh, and Krisna's deformed brother (Naschy again.)

There are numerous flaws to be found here (plot holes, a completely inappropriate lounge score, mediocre direction and acting), but "Vengeance of the Zombies" manages to be pretty fun for what it is: dumb exploitation made for undemanding viewers. In a way, the ultimately silly nature of the whole thing works more than it doesn't. There's just something nice about a movie that has such a "let's put on a show" attitude, and the added nudity and gore (including a nifty decapitation) adds to the experience.

Another reason the thing works better than it should is because it basically throws in everything but the kitchen sink to entertain viewers. Satanic rituals? Check. Sexploitation? Check. Voodoo spells? Check. Zombies? Check. Black gloved killer? You get the point. It's like watching a smörgåsbord/greatest hits collection of Euro exploitation from the period, and it's hard not to smile at most of it. Plus, how many times to you see someone get killed with a small can in horror movies?

"Vengeance of the Zombies" is anything but a good movie, and more serious minded genre aficionados will probably cringe through most of it. Those who love dumb exploitation and "so-bad-it's-good" movies will be more forgiving, and probably enjoy the stupid enterprise on display.

Spanish horror legend Paul Naschy wrote this minor zombie film, and stars in it, in no less than three roles: the Hindi mystic Krisna, the scar-faced antagonist, and Satan himself. It takes place in London, where Krisna offers comfort to a distraught young woman named Elvire (Romy), who's suffered the loss of a family member. More people are due to die thanks to the machinations of the power-mad villain, who indulges in elaborate voodoo rituals.

Naschy certainly did better than this during the 1970s (for example, this viewer holds "Horror Rises from the Tomb" and "Inquisition" in higher regard), yet "Vengeance of the Zombies" IS a fun flick. It's far more cheesy than scary, with an unfortunate lack of true atmosphere, a comparatively lightweight plot, and a music score that just doesn't work most of the time. It's much too jaunty and jazzy to fit this material.

Euro-horror aficionados will still enjoy the sex & violent quotient, and the cast is enjoyable. Romy is a rather stiff but not entirely unsympathetic lead, Victor Barrera is okay as her good friend, Mirta Miller and Maria Kosty are devilish fun, Luis Ciges is a hoot as a character named "MacMurdo", and Antonio Pica has a solid presence as a Scotland Yard superintendent named Hawkins. Naschy, of course, is great value as always: likeable as Krisna, nasty as the villain, and a typically grandiose Satan. The ladies playing the zombies do appear to be having a good time; they don't stalk around looking for human flesh to munch on, basically just doing our villains' bidding.

Overall, a diverting but largely forgettable feature.

Seven out of 10.

Vengeance of the Zombies (1973)

** (out of 4)

Bizarre but mildly entertaining Spanish horror film has Paul Naschy playing a mystic who uses his powers to have women return from the dead and kill his enemies for him.

Sometimes a second viewing can make you see a film in a completely different light. The first time I watched Leon Klimovsky's VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES it was from a public domain disc and the colors were drained. I gave the film a BOMB rating because I just found the entire thing to be deadly dull, poorly made and at times laughable. What changed on this second viewing? Well, being able to see a fully restored print certainly helped but I also managed to enjoy the film a lot more because I knew what I was getting into.

If you're expecting George A. Romero type of zombies then you're getting into the wrong movie. The zombies here basically just have some face paint on them but I found them to be mildly effective and especially with the light blue tint and how well it looked on the restored print. Another plus were the slow-motion scenes of the zombies approaching their victims. I usually can't stand when slow-motion is used but here it's actually quite effective. The gore isn't all that high but there are a couple gory scenes including a bizarre one where a can is used as a murder weapon!

Fans of Naschy will be happy to see him playing three different roles here. The scene with him wearing horns as a Satanic leader is certainly an eye-opener and for the most part he's good. The supporting women are all beautiful as you'd expect in a Naschy film. There are certainly some flaws here including the pacing of the picture as well as the rather bizarre soundtrack. I'm not sure if this soundtrack was used to make the film appear hip but it's quite distracting to say the least.

Opinions on León Klimovsky's "La Rebelión De Las Muertas" aka. "Vengeance of the Zombies" (1973) are obviously split. While some regard the film as utter crap, many of my fellow Paul Naschy fans seem to regard it as a particularly bizarre highlight in the Spanish Horror icon's filmography. As a more and more enthusiastic of Paul Naschy, I must say that my feelings on this one are somewhat mixed. On the one hand, "Vengeance of the Zombies" is probably even THE weirdest film I've ever seen Naschy in (and weirdness is a quality his films generally have), and therefore highly recommendable to all his fans. On the other hand, it is undeniable that the film tends to get very tedious in-between, which is rare with Naschy films. While Naschy films are not usually 'good' in a traditional sense, they are almost always vastly entertaining, and have a genuine, inimitable charm. Naschy often wrote the screenplays and stories for his films himself, as he did for this one. Director León Klimovsky is doubtlessly best known for a film that is probably also Naschy's most famous one, "La Noche De Walpurgis" aka. "Werewolf vs. Vampire Women" of 1971, with Naschy in his most famous role of Werewolf Waldemar Daninsky, whom he played thirteen times.

"Vengeance of the Zombies" has an entirely nonlinear structure and mostly makes little sense, but, in many parts the film is just a delight to watch. Naschy fans will be delighted that the master plays a triple-role in this one - as an Indian Guru, a Satanic Voodoo Master, and Satan himself. The film includes countless elements that my fellow cult-cinema fans will love: resurrection of the dead, Voodoo, Zombies, Satan, black masses, and even murders that were clearly inspired by the Italian Giallo. The gore effects are pretty nasty and well-made in this one. Yet the barely existent structure of the film often makes it hard to keep watching in-between the good parts. The film is about resurrecting the dead and using them as Zombie slaves for sinister goals, but it really doesn't make a lot of sense. Watching Naschy in three roles is awesome, although an Indian Guru is probably the least credible role imaginable for him. The female cast is beautiful to look at, especially Romy as the main protagonist, and the Argentinian beauty Mirta Miller, who plays the Guru's Indian girlfriend. The funky soundtrack seems terribly out of place for an occult Horror film like this one, but, then again it underlines the amusing 'camp' factor. "Vengeance of the Zombies" is a hard movie for me to rate. On the one hand it is impossible not to love it for its awesome absurdity. Then again, this is overall the only tedious Naschy film I have seen. Overall, I recommend this film to my fellow Paul Naschy fans; yet I definitely prefer seeing him in the roles of murderous hunchbacks, deranged graveyard personnel, werewolves or satanic medieval knights. My opinion on "Vengeance of the Zombies": 5.5/10