The Curse of the Screaming Dead

This film was originally released as Curse of the Screaming Dead then Troma picked it up and rebadged it Curse of the Cannibal Confederates. I bought both videos. Both are bad.

What is interesting is how a company like Troma repackages the film. They re-edit the film placing zombie footage from later in the film in place of the original front titles, and anywhere else the film seems a little slow. Unfortunately the zombie footage isn't good.

It also appears that they play entire reels in a different order. A recipe for disaster in most films but in this one you really can't tell.

Both films are bad and no amount of re-editing could save it.

I don't recommend watching these films back to back or at all, but if you must, do what I did, watch them simultaneously and marvel at the futility of it all.

I think the only positive thing about this film is it was made by a group of people who weren't filmmakers (it appears) but just a bunch of friends, more power to you.

In "The Curse of the Screaming Dead" three irritating friends and their equally annoying girlfriends venture into the woods on a hunting expedition. They eventually find the ruins of a church and an abandoned cemetery filled with the graves of tortured Confederate soldiers. After the most annoying member of hunting party steals the diary of the Confederate commander, the Confederates rise from the grave and take their revenge.

I hate to kick a little film when its down, but the audience would have definitely been better served if real zombies had eaten the film makers before they completed this little monstrosity. Like "The Blair Witch Project," this movie was filmed in the woods of Maryland. However, any similarity ends there. Blair Witch exhibited wit and imagination, both of which are absent from this movie. That isn't to say that the story itself wasn't workable. It was. We've all seen many variations on this tale. (Think "Night of the Living Dead" with a little "2000 Maniacs" thrown in for good measure.) It doesn't take much technical prowess to make a story this simple work, but the film makers fall short. Way short. The ineptness of this film is almost beyond description, but let me try....

The acting is terrible, or, as a previous reviewer properly noted, nonexistent. I say this knowing that even Laurence Olivier would have problems delivering some of these lines. Overall, the zombie fare better than the living. All the zombies have to do is moan painfully -- like the audience. Thematically, the film is a mess too. The dead rise because one of the living has "stolen their pain." As one goofy character helpfully explains, the dead know their physical possessions rightfully belong to the living but they jealously hold onto their pain. Hmmm. Okay. Then why do they rise when the diary is stolen? Wouldn't that count as a physical possession rightfully belonging to the living? And why do the dead want to jealously hold onto their pain? You'd think they seek peace in death. Oh well. I guess I'm asking too much from a film where characters step out of a frame with a dead, leafless winter forest behind them into a frame with a lush, green summer forest behind them.

As one scans the reviews on the internet movie database, one frequently sees the words "Worst Film Ever Made." That title has been unjustly applied to many films. However, I believe this film rivals the famous "Manos: The Hands of Fate" as the worst film ever made. If the film makers were clever, they would have submitted the film to Mystery Science Theater 3000. Had MST3K devoted an episode to this movie, it would now be a true cult classic and they would be making more money.

Then again, maybe the film makers thought they made a good film.

Nah. No one's that crazy - except maybe the characters in this film.

Can't wait to see "Night of Horror."

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.

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.

As a big fan of B-movies, I've felt I've always that I have a cast-iron constitution when it comes to watching cinematic crap. That is until the day a friend happened to find a copy of Curse of the Screaming Dead in the bargain bin (big surprise) at our local video store. Wow! This truly has to be one of the most technically incompetent movies ever released to video. Terrible lighting, bizarre sound mixing, non-existent acting, half-assed editing, plus a plethora of other ineptitudes add up to make this movie as laughable as it is forgettable. A dismal, black-hole of a film.