After Death (Oltre la morte)

I will admit. Although Zombi 2 was my gateway into the world of Lucio Fulci several decades ago, the zombie genre never was my cup of tea. Few movies in this genre ever impressed me, the two most important would be Return of the living dead and Zombi 2, followed by Dawn of the dead and then (sorry Umberto, I know you hate it being called a zombie movie) Nightmare City. However, among the Italian spoofs that came after these mentioned films I find some of them theoretically brilliant but horribly executed. Take the two shockingly overrated Fulci films Beyond and City of the living dead. They somewhat have story, potential, budget (from what it looks like) that could have been so promising but it's all very poorly put together with cheap zoom ins despite great cinematographer, sloppy takes with goofs, bad special fx, cheesy music repeated over and over - and in all that some terrific and brilliant atmosphere and a few brilliant scenes. This is why I have learned to appreciate the really low budget versions better, because they are more honest in what they are and what you get. Andrea Bianchi's Burial Ground was utter trash first time I saw it, but almost 30 years later I love it and keep it closer than most films of this decade. Then there are the real lows, like Bruno Mattei's "Hell of the living dead" or the Fulci/Mattei/Fragasso "Zombi 3" but it's almost even worse although Fulci directed like 65 minutes of it - but the guy was not well, we must not forget. Fragasso however still was young and capable of working in the jungles of asia to do this little action packed movie, which unlike the earlier films from the most recent years, sports a really cool soundtrack by Al Festa. I particularly like the instrumental cues. It really gives the movie a lift, similar to how Simonetti took on Cut and run. For being a low budget italian movie, I think it has quite decent acting and pace if you approach it with b-movie expectations. So far, this is by far the best Fragasso film I have seen, but with that said you should still expect something in the schlocky realm. The 2K scanned Bluray from 88 films is a very welcome release. These movies deserve this kind of love!

A boatload of people run into `technical difficulties' and are forced to dock on a strange island where the dead are heard screaming. They join up with some survivors running from the zombie hordes infesting the island. It seems that some odd years ago the island was a research center where the world's top scientists gathered to defeat man's worst enemy…death. But during the experiments it seems that the scientists tried to cure a young girls' disease and end up killing her instead. Unfortunately for them her big bad voodoo daddy takes it personally and opens the third doorway to hell. One girl survived the zombie onslaught and now as a woman must unlock the secret that will close the gate to hell.

The script in the end is way too disjointed. It seems that whenever the scriptwriter came up with something he would just half hazardly throw it in and hope for the best. The action/ adventure element was a nice touch and kept the pace flowing nicely. As what seems to be a common factor in Italian zombie movies we get a soft-focus look that to me is quite annoying at times. Add to the mix a rather lush jungle, at times a choking (and blinding) fog and a synth score that owes a great deal to John Carpenter and you get a above-average but rather plain (and sometimes funny) zombie flick. The makeup effects aren't anything to write home about but the zombies are relatively intelligent (they even shoot and talk) and chew the scenery with mucho gusto.

'Zombie 4' AKA 'After Death' AKA 'Zombie Flesh Eaters 3' is your typical sleazy 80's Italian zombie b-movie that features lots of gore, terrible dubbing, cheesy dialogue, and plenty of outrageous moments combined with a jumbled mess of a plot. The 3rd (or 4th) flick in the 'Zombie' series is not a good movie by any means, but it does have some atmosphere and enough disturbing and disgusting enough to satisfy gore fans, other than that there's not much else.

The plot = Jenny (Candice Daly) goes back to the island where her parents were killed many years ago where they had been working on a cure for cancer and accidently raised the dead by angering a Voodoo priest. Along with Jenny is a group of mercenaries and researchers who again raises the dead and all hell breaks loose.

Despite a promising highly stylized opening featuring some cool action and gruesome kills, it's a shame that the rest of the film doesn't maintain the same energy and flair, thankfully the movie moves at a breakneck pace that bombards you with constant action and mayhem, but its devoid of any intelligence or thrills. The zombies themselves looks very cheap and uninspired; they just look like a bunch of extras with white makeup caked onto their faces. The gore effects are pretty good for such a low budget production. The direction by Claudio Fragasso is fine and the movie is shot quite well, but the plot is just pure nonsensical, and the dialogue is stupid and horrendous. This entry is definitely lacking when compared to the other 2 movies in the 'Zombie' series.

The acting performances are really hard to judge when the movie is dubbed. Jeff Stryker gives a likeable performance as the male lead and emotes quite well. The rest of the cast range between average and over the top for this kind of film.

Overall 'Zombie 4' is a somewhat dumb yet entertaining Italian zombie flick, but there's much better out there and don't waste your time with this one.

I bought this on re-release from a video shop being a lover of zombie flicks and all. I was expecting maybe a boring low-budget but gory flick. I was absolutely shocked to find this being one of most outstanding zombie flicks that I'd seen in a long time! The start involves a man sacrificing his wife so she will live again on earth. (um...Makes sense) A group of scientists with Uzis confront him and kill him in a mad rage. The mans wife then returns as a horrifying demon who rips the faces off the scientists and goes in search of the rest. A woman scientist tells her daughter to run and leave the island while she goes back to fight an army of Phillipino ninja zombies! Yes, its true! We cut very quickly to about 15 years later and get involved with some likeable characters and the girl who are going back to the island to investigate. We have the young Tommy, a handsome former soldier. Dan, your everyday best friend. Mad, a great white hunter and soldier of fortune and Rod who is also a soldier of fortune. Along with the main girl and a chick who fancies Rod. We also have a trio of explorers on the island who are searching for the lost scientists and find a cave with dead reviving powers. In the trio we have Chuck, the other handsome but daft city boy, A girl who's name I forget and David, the smart leader played by Massimo Vanni who appeared in 'Rats:Night of terror' and 'The last Hunter'. After they revive the dead from reading a book they are attacked. David, however, looks like a nerd and the obvious first victim. Instead, he takes on about 10 zombies at the same time using a torch and various martial arts skills. He kills all of them and even snaps ones neck! David is definitely on my list of top zombie ass kickers. Uncle Les from 'Braindead(Dead Alive)' and Roger from 'Dawn of the dead' are among them. In the meantime, Chuck escapes and joins forces with the other group. They find a stash of Assault Rifles and begin to kick ass! There is a lot of gore! The movie really scores though on being an unrecognised gem. It has fog for a spooky atmosphere, Cool characters, gore, a great soundtrack, suspense, action and above average acting. It moves at a fast pace and tells the story well. There isn't any comedy though which is a downer but you won't care with as much spectacular stuff as this! A fearsome 9 out of 10!

What do you get if you mix an island of scientists, a voodoo witch doctor, zombies... and then open the third door to Hell (apparently neglecting the fact that Fulci had already opened all seven doors)? Well, you get "After Death".

The first thing you'll notice about this film is the 80s metal soundtrack thrown together by Alberto Festa (including his song, repeated throughout the film, "Living After Death"). Not unlike other 80s Italian horror films, this seems to make sense even though it really doesn't.

The second thing you'll notice is that this film features gay porn star Jeff Stryker. (Unless, of course, you don't know gay porn stars... then you won't notice at all.)

This film is greatly under-appreciated by audiences, I fear. I loved it, and it seems that the hardcore fans of Italian horror do, too, despite the general agreement that this film fails. Jim Harper says the film features "fast-paced, sharply edited action scenes that rely heavily on excessive gore", and despite the fact "the story is patently absurd" the film is "gruesome enough to please gorehounds." Likewise, Jay Slater praises the film when he says the picture is "a blast of energy, rippling with violent action and awash with gore", an "energetic splatter picture in the spirit of Herschell Gordon Lewis" This is absolutely right. While trying to pass itself off as a sequel to "Dawn of the Dead", it has much more in common with Lamberto Bava's "Demons". The splatter effects and rock music make it perfect for this series.

Director Claudio Fragasso laments that the most intense gore had been stripped by the censors. He also insists that the "special effects were all made laboriously by hand", which I think pays off -- most of the zombies are remarkable. What gore was cut is unknown to me... it's already a fairly gory picture as is... to increase it would make this one for the record books.

If you only know Fragasso from the "best worst movie" "Troll 2" or don't know his work at all, this is a fine introduction. Taking the zombie jungle island formula many others have used and mixing it with the gore and colorful blood of Lamberto Bava, "After Death" is a film worth catching, and at least for me, owning.