Zombi 3

Zombi 3 is a sequel in name only to Fulci's classic Zombie. In Italy, Zombie was billed as a unofficial sequel to Dawn Of The Dead and was called Zombi 2 in that territory. Zombie has nothing to do with Dawn Of The Dead and was approached completely differently, but is also a classic. Zombi 3 has little in common with it's predecessor and has a different story that rips off Dawn Of The Dead and Return Of The Living Dead. Zombi 3 is not Lucio Fulci's best work, far from it and the production had a lot of problems. Fulci himself disowned the film and left the production in the middle of it due to health problems and disagreements with the producers. With the combination of a extremely low budget and it's creators not really agreeing on which direction to take the project, what is left is the result. The tone of the film does not feel like a Fulci film and falls flat on terror and atmosphere. The character development is weak and the movie as a whole looks and feels cheap. However, this is far from unwatchable and moves along at a quick pace with a good amount of action and gore. I can't regard Zombi 3 as a good film, it's crap But if ultra cheapie schlocky horror is your bag, you might find some enjoyment out of Zombi 3.

Zombi 3 has an interesting history in it's making. Firstly, it is a sequel to Fulci's hit Zombi 2, with Zombi 2 itself being of course a marketing ploy to trick people into thinking it was a sequel to George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead aka Zombi. Confusing enough? Basically, none of the films have anything to do with one another, but who cares when they make money. I guess Fulci himself starting to not care about the production about half way through Zombi 3 when he decided to walk out. Bruno Mattei was brought on board to help pad the film with additional scenes to lengthen the running time.

Zombi 3's plot is your typical zombie fare. Scientists develop a serum on an island in the Philippines, terrorists steal it unleashing a plague, and zombie run amok. The scientists want to create an antidote, while the military is set on mowing down everyone without prejudice. There are also brief inserts of a Radio DJ preaching about how we treat the planet.

Overall, I actually liked this film. I heard horrible things, but I find the goofy dialogue quite enjoyable. The film seems to be an attempt at raising awareness about pollution, corrupted military, Man playing God, etc. I get the feeling this was at one point a serious film, but it veered off in a weird direction, presumably when Mattei came on board.

Besides ripping off other zombie flicks, this was very reminiscent of Romero's The Crazies. You hear the Radio DJ breaking the good news with, "When you see the men in white suits & gas masks, Run to them for Help." This is of course played to the images of the men in white gunning down zombies. Later, they straight up steal a scene from Crazies in which one of the regular, uncontaminated people is killed by mistake.

The gore factor is pretty good in this one with zombie hordes around every corner. How is it cool? Let me count the ways…1. Zombie Birth 2. Flying Zombie Head 3. Zombie Birds. 4. Zombie with no legs swimming in a pool. My favorite zombie was the machete-wielding maniac at the gas station. He was bad ass and nearly tore down the entire building trying to kill a girl.

Favorite Quote – When a sergeant insists on cremating a zombie, the scientists asks, "Don't you think that once the ash is in the air, it will fall to the ground, and contaminate everything?" To which the Sargeant boldly replies, "Now you're talking science fiction." He also continues to mention the "Science Fiction" told by the scientists even at the end when everyone dies.

Extras: Gallery, Trailers, and Interviews, most notably the one with Mattei where he insists he directed 40% of the scenes, yet cannot recall which ones or any other significant details.

Bottom Line: A must see for zombie and Fulci fans.

Rating: 7/10

Molly Celaschi www.HorrorYearbook.com MySpace.com/HorrorYearbook

Fulci's horror film about infected people on bersek and causing wreak havoc on a island in the Phillippines . A group of scientists at a top secret research center are experimenting with a chemical compound called 'Death One' and attempting to to obtain an antidote. When a terrorist's body , infected with a robbed chemical , is recovered by the US military, and being cremated , a virus/bacteria is unintentionally released into the atmosphere over the small island. Then the commander-in-chief (Mike Monty) orders to kill all people around. Along the way, three U. S. Army soldiers on holiday from their base , are driving around in their jeep. They are Kenny (Deran Sarafian), Roger (Ottaviano Dell'Acqua as Richard Raymond), and Bo (Massimo Vanni as Alex McBride). The three soldiers meet a group of three young tourists . Soon after , they board themselves up in an abandoned hotel as they attempt to fend off the nimble and aggressive living dead . But they are extremely afflicted by the stalking , vicious and agile flesh-eating stiffs relieved .

This medium-budget terror motion picture deals with a group of soldiers and other unfortunate people who run into a pack of infected populace coming back to life by mutating into flesh-hungry zombies , an astonishing epidemic that reanimates them and while terrorizing an unnamed Philippines island . Gory , eerie , pretty repellent , and ghastly cannibal feast in which violent flesh-eating stiffs , zombies-lookalike cause massacre , destruction , slaughter and gory attacks . This creepy horror movie dealing with an ever-dwindling group including an unrelenting shock-feast laced with an army of Zombies appearance roaming here and there , throughout the countryside , villa, military installations and some people besieged inside a hotel delivering the goods , enough to be interesting . Lucio Fulci's success is regularly directed with startling visual content and atmospheric production design ; furthermore special mention for excellent make-up . This frightening movie is plenty of thrills , chills , high body-count executed by the eerie Zombies and photographed in pallid color with lurid images and scary results . This is a so-so excruciatingly Zombie film where the intrigue, tension , suspense appear threatening and lurking in the sunny outdoors , dark nights and every room , and corridors from a gas station , a house , a van , research facility , power plant , jungle and many other places . At the time considered the plus ultra of thoroughly disturbing movie is less stomach-churning for nowadays's standards , yet its fundamental power to thrill remains undiminished . Watch for the great highlights as skull which flies out of the freezer , the infected birds attacking the passengers on the van and other Fulci's marks who repeats ad nauseum . There're some familar faces of the Italian-B series ,such as : Ottaviano Dell'Acqua , Massimo Vanni , Luciano Pigozzi or Alan Collins nicknamed the Italian Peter Lorre , Robert Marius, Mike Monty , and writer Claudio Fragasso and assistant director Bruno Mattei have brief cameos as soldiers in the crematorium scene . Like many Italian movies filmed at the time and release anyway , most of the actors provided their lines in English language and were then re-dubbed for the international markets .

This genuinely frightening story with correct utilization of images-shock in which the camera stalks in sinister style , being adequately photographed by Ricardo Grasseti on location in CBK Power Company Plant, San Juan, and Pagsanjan, Philippines . Creepie and frightening musical score by Stefano Mainetti , in Goblin style , composed by means of synthesizer . The motion picture was middlingly directed by Lucio Fulci , but he had to leave the shooting , that's why he suffered a heart stroke . Producer Franco Gaudenzi asked second unit director Bruno Mattei and writer Claudio Fragasso to take over the director's chair , both of them stayed in the Philippine Islands at the time filming : Strike Command I and its sequel Strke Command II . Lucio Fulci did not love the storyline for Zombi 3 (1988) which he considered to be "terrible", as he wanted to change it but the producers refused. Italian Lucio Fulci made other good terror films as ¨ From beyond¨ , ¨House by the cemetery¨ and ¨New York ripper ¨ deserving cult status. Critics are divided over both the moral and talents of Fulci (1927-1996), who sometimes directed under the alias Louis Fuller. For some reviewers many of his flicks are extremely cruel and savage , yet their gory surface often concealing social, religious , or provoking commentaries or other thoughful , intelligent issues . Nevertheless , most of them considering his works have undeniably provided a considerable influence on the terror genre , creating decent efforts on low budget flicks . Standing out his ¨Don't Torture a Duckling¨ deemed to be one of his best pictures . In 1979, Fulci's film making career successfully another high point with him, breaking into the international market with ¨Zombi 2¨ (1979), an in-name-only sequel to George A. Romero's Zombi: Night of the Living Dead (1978), which had been released in Italy as 'Zombi'. And his big hit ¨New York Ripper¨ , at the time rated as a video nasty , due to it and why the excessive extra violence was heavily cut or prohibited in a large number of countries . With this film established Fulci as a gore director par excellence . Over the next three years, Fulci plied his trade with finesse and flair-play , rivaling even the popularity of his "opponent" the great Dario Argento, with such sanguine classics as ¨City of the Living Dead¨ (1980) and ¨Beyond¨ (1981). These films, as well as the reviled "New York Ripper" (1982) are actually intelligently crafted, with sound commentaries on everything from American life to religion. In Zombi 3 (1988) he creates a rare Zombie thriller that manages to be both scary and skilfully made , but average . Rating : 4.5/10 : very mediocre , it's just one long unrelenting cannibal feast and average budget horror movie that still packs a punch for those who like to be terrorized out their wits.

I can't even began to write a review on this movie as my i.q. has dropped so sharply after watching it. Everything about it, from the atrocious acting to the recycled theme played throughout spoke of utter garbage. It's a miracle we made it all the way through the movie. Weapons are randomly placed throughout the town such as a crate of machine guns in the basement of a motel or a grenade under a jeep that had the blast radius of an atomic bomb. Don't even get me started on the dialog. It was garbage, garbage, garbage!!! For some reason the characters felt they had to spell out everything for us. Like when their car would break down they would say "Looks like our car broke down. I'm going to go to that abandoned gas station right over there and see if i can find some water" - this brings me to my next point - the director's obsession with water. At least three times the characters would wander off alone in search of water as if it was a miracle cure for the zombie disease. It's killing me to write this so i have to stop now. A warning for all those planning to see this movie: don't. You will walk away a mindless, babbling zombie yourself.

From the word go, Zombie Flesheaters 2 (AKA Zombi 3) makes very little sense, but thankfully it's one of those trashy 80s Euro horrors that is so shoddy in virtually every department that one cannot fail to have some fun with it.

Just one look at the film's pedigree is enough to give a pretty good idea of how crap (and therefore how enjoyable) this film actually is: Lucio Fulci, fast approaching his end-of-career worst, directed some of the action before a stroke forced him to hand over the reins to Bruno 'Hell of the Living Dead' Mattei; actor turned TV director Deran Sarafian leads the incredible no-star cast; and Claudio Fragasso, the man responsible for Troll 2 (considered by many to be the worst horror film ever made), provided the derivative, nonsensical plot that gleefully rips off a variety of zombie/infection classics, including Romero's The Crazies and Dan O' Bannon's Return Of The Living Dead.

The cause of the zombie plague in Zombi Flesheaters 2 is a top secret genetically engineered virus called Death One, which is accidentally introduced into the atmosphere after a victim is cremated (on the orders of a contemptuous general, who ignores warnings from concerned army boffins, accusing them of "talking science fiction!"). Pretty soon, the area is not only crawling with flesh hungry reanimated corpses, but also squads of haz-mat suited soldiers who have orders to contain the virus by any means necessary—which isn't exactly great news for the small group of survivors trapped inside the contaminated zone (which, within a single day, has become inexplicably derelict and overgrown with vines!).

Lacking any sense of logic, the film stumbles awkwardly from one daft scene to another in a shambolic manner that makes its mouldy walking corpses seem positively well coordinated in comparison. For connoisseurs of extremely trashy horror, this can only be good news, with the complete absence of rationale resulting in some mind-bogglingly bonkers moments: zombie birds attack a bus full of babes; a severed zombie head, shrouded in an eerie green light and smoke, flies from inside a fridge to chow down on a man's throat; a survivor discovers a box full of weapons in an abandoned building ("I found a crate full of guns downstairs," he casually declares); a lady is attacked by an unborn zombie baby that tears its way from its mother's womb; and a hand grenade, conveniently found under a truck, not only knocks down several of the undead but also destroys an entire building!

Factor in some truly awful acting, unconvincing gore, dreadful direction, zombies that can talk, jump, fight, and use weapons, and a jive-talking radio DJ who joins the ranks of the living dead, but still carries on hosting his show, and what you have is one hell of a mess—but one that really needs to be seen to be believed.

It doesn't really deserve it, but I'll give Zombie Flesheaters 2 a rating of 5/10 just for being a genuine one-of-a-kind experience.