User Reviews

This Italian, tropical ripoff of "Return of the Living Dead" by Lucio Fulci and Bruno Mattei was an awful, awful movie, but the story of its troubled production is much more interesting than the film itself.

Back in the 80s, some Italian filmmakers figured out that you could hang out in the Philippines to make movies incredibly cheap, all while blissfully ignoring every OSHA rule in the book. None were more successful at this than the studio employing director Bruno Mattei and writers Claudio Fragasso and Rosella Druidi. They made "Terminator 2" (no connection to Terminator), "Cruel Jaws" (no connection to Jaws), and countless other crazy, ballsy knock-offs of Hollywood hits. But their producer suddenly had a bout of ambition and wanted to produce a sequel to Lucio Fulci's legendary "Zombi 2" (which itself had no connection to Zombi, Italy's rename for Romero's "Dawn of the Dead"). So he dispatched Fragrasso and Druidi to Italy to write a script for "Zombi 3" and convince Fulci to direct it. Amazingly, they succeeded on both counts.

However, the problems began as soon as Fulci arrived in the Philippines. First, he was handed a budget many times smaller than he had been promised -- too small to complete the script as he, Fragrasso, and Druidi had envisioned it. Preparation was all over the place. He also had terminal liver cancer and other health problems, and the tropical heat and humidity was almost more than his failing body could handle. There was even an armed revolution going on in the country during the shoot, though not near the places where they were filming. In the end, the movie Fulci shot was still only about 70 minutes long (too short for the 90-minute minimum), so in a moment of legendary pettiness, he apparently filmed 20 minutes of footage of characters rowing canoes around and hopped back on a plane to Italy with two middle fingers proverbially in the air at the Filipino/Italian producers.

The producers were horrified at the extended canoe footage, which they knew was unusably boring, so they asked their mainstays Mattei, Fragrasso, and Druidi to do their magic and somehow redo enough of the movie to finish it. This required Fragrasso and Druidi to add scenes that fit with what Fulci shot -- but not the expensive scenes that they originally envisioned that had to be cut. They had to come up with something new on the spot to fit the bastardized end product. Somehow, they succeeded. Meanwhile, Mattei had an even bigger problem -- of the entire cast of the original movie, he was only able to convince 2 or 3 actors to return to the Philippines to do the reshoot. Amazingly, like an absolute madman, he managed to successfully add 20-30 minutes to the movie using only those three actors, an extended prologue, and many scenes with masked military personnel. Against incredible odds, the movie was successfully finished and released.

To be clear, it's a TERRIBLE movie, and not especially enjoyable even in the "so bad it's good" kind of way. "Zombi 3" has excellent makeup and special effects and a killer soundtrack, but those aren't enough to counteract its negatives. There is zero internal consistency with what the zombies can do or how they behave, disbelief gets snapped so often that it sounds like a bowl of wet Rice Crispies, and many scenes with the masked military personnel have them lining up like they're almost too tired to walk before lining up to shoot down zombies. (In that heat, wearing overalls, it was entirely possible the exhaustion was real.) In the commentaries I watched after the film, everyone gives Fulci credit for the heart and soul of the film... which, if I were them, I wouldn't want to claim it, either. It should not be possible for a movie with this many explosions and death to be tedious, but somehow it manages it for long stretches. Yet, at the end of the day, it's a *finished* film, and I believe one that made a decent profit.

In my book, this movie is a true credit to Mattei, Fragrasso, and Druidi, and a black mark against Fulci. I am far less impressed by the lackluster film he mostly put together and left to rot than by their herculean rescue of a seemingly-doomed project. Sometimes the ones who get a production over the finish line are not the sensitive artists, but the commercial workmen with a gift at getting things done on time and under budget... no matter how many zombies, actors, and vital plot points they have to blow up to do it. If you see this film, I highly recommend the outstanding release by Severin Films that contains extensive behind-the-scenes commentaries that tell the tale I mentioned above, plus more besides.

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 am an avid fan of Lucio Fulci, and yet I must say that "Zombi 3" (aka. "Zombie Flesh Eaters 2") of 1988, which he made with two other directors, Bruno Mattei and Claudi Fragasso, was quite a disappointment. Especially compared to its great predecessor, Fulci's very own Gore classic "Zombi 2" (aka. "Zombie Felsh Eaters"/"Zombie") of 1979, this is vastly disappointing. Sure, the low rating of 4.5 already suggests that it's not a good film, but, these low ratings usually come from people who are not into Italian Zombie flicks, and as enthusiastic fan of Italian Horror films and low-budget Exploitation cinema, I love many films that have only been rewarded with much lower ratings. Also, many of my fellow Italian Horror buffs seem to think of this film as underrated, which I sadly cannot agree with. Not that the film was a complete disaster. It has some redeeming qualities, above all Fulci's nauseating gore effects, that are always a pleasure to watch for an Italian Horror/Gore buff. The basic idea behind the film is also not bad (allthough far from original) and I liked the ruthless portrayal of the military. Sadly, that's about it. While the great predecessor "Zombi 2" was extremely gory, but beyond that also genuinely creepy, this is not creepy or scary for a minute, and the nauseating and often grotesque gore is the only true reason to watch "Zombi 3". The film is sometimes fun to watch, but only for the gore, and as an unintentional comedy. I guess that it was mainly the gore that came from Fulci, and the disappointing rest that came from Mattei and Fragasso, the first of which was involved in a bunch of nasty cult-flicks (such as D'Amato's "Porno Holocaust"), and the second of which is responsible for one of the worst movies ever made, the god-awful "Troll 2". Overall, this is definitely watchable for the gore, but, out of all Fulci films I've seen so far, this is definitely the worst, and I've seen the majority of this great filmmaker's repertoire. I am a Fulci fan, and I always will be, but this sure isn't his magic moment. It may be fun for the gore, but I recommend to watch any other Fulci film before this!

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

Title: Zombie 3 (1988)

Directors: Mostly Lucio Fulci, but also Claudio Fragasso and Bruno Mattei

Cast: Ottaviano DellAcqua, Massimo Vani, Beatrice Ring, Deran Serafin

Review:

To review this flick and get some good background of it, I gotta start by the beginning. And the beginning of this is really George Romeros Dawn of the Dead. When Dawn came out in 79, Lucio Fulci decided to make an indirect sequel to it and call it Zombie 2. That film is the one we know as plain ole Zombie. You know the one in which the zombie fights with the shark! OK so, after that flick (named Zombie 2 in Italy) came out and made a huge chunk of cash, the Italians decided, heck. Lets make some more zombie flicks! These things are raking in the dough! So Zombie 3 was born. Confused yet? The story on this one is really just a rehash of stories we've seen in a lot of American zombie flicks that we have seen before this one, the best comparison that comes to mind is Return of the Living Dead. Lets see...there's the government making experiments with a certain toxic gas that will turn people into zombies. Canister gets released into the general population and shebang! We get loads of zombies yearning for human flesh. A bunch of people start running away from the zombies and end up in an old abandoned hotel. They gotta fight the zombies to survive.

There was a lot of trouble during the filming of this movie. First and foremost, Lucio Fulci the beloved godfather of gore from Italy was sick. So he couldn't really finish this film the way that he wanted to. The film was then handed down to two lesser directors Bruno Mattei (Hell of the Living Dead) and Claudio Fragasso (Zombie 4). They did their best to spice up a film that was already not so good. You see Fulci himself didn't really have his heart and soul on this flick. He was disenchanted with it. He gave the flick over to the producers and basically said: "Do whatever the hell you want with it!" And god love them, they did.

And that is why ladies and gents we have such a crappy zombie flick with the great Fulci credited as its "director". The main problem in my opinion is that its just such a pointless bore! There's no substance to it whatsoever! After the first few minutes in which some terrorists steal the toxic gas and accidentally release it, the rest of the flick is just a bunch of empty soulless characters with no personality whatsoever running from the zombies. Now in some cases this can prove to be fun, if #1 the zombie make up and zombie action is actually good and fun and #2 there's a lot of gore and guts involved.

Here we get neither! Well there's some inspired moments in there, like for example when some eagles get infected by the gas and they start attacking people. That was cool. There's also a scene involving a flying zombie head (wich by the way defies all logic and explanation) and a scene with zombies coming out of the pool of the abandoned hotel and munching off a poor girls legs. But aside from that...the rest of the flick just falls flat on its ass.

Endless upon endless scenes that don't do jack to move the already non existent plot along. That was my main gripe with this flick. The sets look unfinished and the art direction is practically non-existent. I hate it when everything looks so damn unfinished! I like my b-movies, but this one just really went even below that! Its closer to a z-level flick, if you ask me.

The zombie make up? Pure crap. The zombies are all Asian actors (the movie was filmed in the Philippines) so you get a bunch of Asian looking zombies. But thats not a big problem since they movie was set in the phillipine islands anyway. Its the look of the zombies that really sucks! They all died with the same clothes on for some reason. And what passes for zombie make up here is a bunch of black make up (more like smudges) on their faces. One or two zombies had slightly more complex make up, but it still wasn't good enough to impress. Its just a bunch of goo pointlessly splattered on the actors faces. So not only is this flick slowly paced but the zombies look like crap. These are supposed to be dead folks! Anyhows, for those expecting the usual coolness in a Fulci flick don't come expecting it here cause this is mostly somebody else's flick. And those two involved (Mattei and Fragasso) didn't really put there heart and souls into it. In fact, when you see the extras on the DVD you will see that when Fragasso is asked about his recollections and his feelings on this here flick, he doesn't even take it to seriously. You can tell he is ashamed of it and in many occasions he says they "just had a job to do and they did it". And that my friends, is the last nail on this flick. There's no love, and no heart put into making this film. Therefore you get a half assed, crappy zombie flick.

Only for completest or people who want to have or see every zombie flick ever made. Everybody else, don't even bother! Rating: 1 out of 5

I was hoping this was going to be a good movie. "Ooooooh the next instalment." I thought to myself. I plonked the dvd in the player and sat back. The first promising scene with the zombie with a machete really made me sit up. I, like many, am used to zombies shuffling around and moaning a bit. For those few moments i was quite excited. Then nothing entertaining happens for ages as the dull story plods along with little gore to spice it up. Then there is the flying head in a fridge scene, which made me soil myself from laughing so hard. I am glad i have the dvd, just so i can replay that scene again and again. What else can i tell you? The rest of the film is instantly forgettable, horrible dubbing, naff music and so on. If it had more gore then i would be more inclined to recommend it (yes, it is the uncut version i have). I'm sure had Fulci been more involved it would have been better. Oh well. 3 out of 10 for the flying head!!

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.

Off the blocks let me just say that I am a huge zombie fan so I don't make statements like the above lightly. Secondly let me say that this is an Italian zombie film and Fulci only directed 15 minutes of it before handing over to Bruno (Rats, Night Of Terror) Mattei. This is no Dawn of the Dead folks.

That said this is easily one of the most entertaining zombie films I have ever seen.

The script is wonderfully horrible. Just check out the two scientists trying to find an antidote ("Let's try putting these two molecules together").

The zombies come in all varieties. From moaning shufflers, to machete wielding maniacs, to birds!

The gore is plentiful. Legs are bitten off, arms amputated, stomachs burst open.

The pace is fast, flying from one zombie attack to the next.

Then there's the head in the fridge. Oh the head in the fridge! One of the greatest moments in horror since Ash got his hand possessed in Evil Dead 2.

You should know already whether you're the sort of person who's going to like this sort of film. Get some mates and some beer and you'll be in for a fun night.

Did I mention the head in the fridge?!?!?

When a group of men rob a chemical virus from a facility, they are chased and killed. One of them escapes with the container but the glass with the virus breaks and he is infected. The military force finds his body and cremates his corpse unleashing the virus airborne. The locals are infected becoming killer zombies.

"Zombi 3" is a cheesy and trash but also funny zombie movie. The story and the screenplay are lame, the acting is histrionic, but the gross special effect is gruesome, gore and hilarious. The zombies are a complete mess, with some of them moving very slow and others very fast, but I believe that fans like me of the cult Lucio Fulci will find exactly what we expect. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Zumbi 3"

Note: On 30 Aug 2022, I saw this film again.

Simply wow… after the first 20 minutes or so I was contemplating gouging my eyes out. I am a huge zombie fan and own everything I can find I am also a huge cheesy/bad movies fan and a serious glutton for movie pain. This however is inexcusable!! What the hell where they thinking not following the first Zombi 2 path of zombies in the main land now and the possibility of something descent? Even Zombi 4 (afterdeath) just gave up and went all out with crap and cheese to make a pseudo comical event out of it. This couldn't make up its mind weather or not to be funny or… lk;jsdfalksdflkjsfdlkjljk;lqib god it hurts I'm angry I just spend 90 minutes watching this trash and it felt like it was 3 hours long. It was like watching some skinny white guy trying to rap about his type-R, sad and confused but more uncomfortable then funny. Just get biozombie and stop trying to hold Fulci up as great, he really isn't that amazing. Happy hunting

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.

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.

This movie is awesome on so many levels... and none of them are the level that it was intended to be awesome on.

Just remember this: When you're watching Shaun of the Dead and other recent zombie movies... be they good or bad... THIS is the formula that they are using. THIS is what makes zombie movies so great.

And what makes it BETTER than great is the story behind the movie. A simple web search will provide you with everything you need to know.

All in all, it doesn't linger. There's never a point where you think to yourself "c'mon, get on with it"... it moves quick and corners nicely. This is the sporty, little Italian number of zombie flicks.

So awful, it's wonderful! If your tongue spends an ample amount of time in your cheek... rent it, buy it, love it.

As a great trivia note: If you're watching it on DVD, you'll notice that there is sound effects during the menu screen, underneath the musical score... Well... that's because that music was lifted straight from the trailer... which is probably the only working print of that music that still exists which is long enough to loop.

I was hoping for a little more. Zombie Flesh Eater was originally released as Zombie 2, and was supposed to be a sequel to George Romero's excellent Dawn of the Dead. After having seen Dawn, I rented Zombie Flesh Eaters, and it wasn't bad, but it wasn't much of a sequel either. This one was released in Italy as Zombie 3, but in North America as Zombie Flesh Eaters 2. Confusing, eh? It was supposed to be the second sequel to Dawn of the Dead. Hoping once again for a much better movie, I rented it shortly after renting the first sequel. This movie stunk. It was terrible. None of the zombie laws as established by George Romero were used, despite the fact that it was supposed to be a sequel. Sometimes the zombies are slow as molasses, but at other times they are jumping out of the roof and ninja-kicking the living. You don't have to shoot them in the head, a few shots to the corpse (hee hee) seems to do the trick.... at least sometimes. Then there is a zombie head in a refrigerator that manages to propel itself out and bite someone?????

This movie made no sense. I know it was a zombie movie to begin with, and a sequel at that, but at least try to make it in line with the original! The effects were also dismal. It was very obvious that some of the fight scenes were with actors wearing bad masks. Sometimes they didn't even bother to cover their hands and legs, just slapped a little makeup on their faces.

All in all, very disappointing. I won't bother with Zombie Flesh Eaters 3 (Zombie 4) which was right beside this one at the video store. That is 2 disappointing sequels too many, I can only imagine how bad that one must be.....

R.

Watching this movie, anyone can tell that two people directed it. Also, that both had something different in mind when they were doing it. Fulci I believe was going for supernatural zombies and Mattei went for the strange chemical that turns people into zombies like in his "Hell of the Living Dead". I also think he saw "Return of the Living Dead", because some of the scenes in this one will make you think about that one. In the end Mattei's storyline is the one that is the dominate one, mainly because he did the editing. It probably would have been better if Fulci finished it, but I think he quit because it just was not up to his standards. The results, a terrorist for no reason steals a dangerous chemical that turns people into zombies and the army tries to cover it up while a bunch of people at a hotel try to survive. Once again this is not what I believe Fulci intended, I think he was going for a plot more similar to "The Beyond", but what we see on screen is another evil army cover-up movie.

Although it's not as creepy as it's cult classic predecessor (ZOMBI 2) I actually like this one better. This is because of it's faster pace, better settings, and cool 80's soundtrack. It's loaded with action and has sweet gore effects by Lucio Fulci. The zombies don't quite look as nasty as in ZOMBI 2 but they still look good. It was made pretty well but it definitely has it's share of cheesiness; for instance some zombies move really slow while others are as quick as ninjas. some are braindead while others say funny lines, but who expects consistency when it comes to Italian horror? There's even a flying zombie head! How rad is that? Definitely a must see for gorehounds and zombie fans. it'd probably satisfy most fans of action movies as well. Also check out Zombi 4.

Some gore and a great dose of pulp 'n' trash - entertaining and fun but for certain no masterpiece of the cosmos of the undead, but still here and there an unique idea or moment that makes you smile.

Recommended only if you worship zombie flicks a la Italian style, if you don't, avoid.

Fulci's name is attached to this, but it seems to have been done at gunpoint. Poor, poor Fulci. Rumors tell that he had to leave halfway through one of his Zombie/Zombi movies and some other jackass had to finish it, and ruined it instead. It must have been this one.

The movie now showcases the zombies as being made by some chemical rather than Voodoo, like the previous film--how's that for continuity? Unfortunately, I don't recall how it spreads everywhere…. Oh yeah, birds get it and then it spreads to people. Well, some idiot steals the chemical from some really unimpressive military base and, pretty soon, zombies are popping up everywhere. The story is pretty incohesive and I never really liked the heroes, which were some pretty generic soldiers and some women they picked up. The acting and dubbing is really badly done, and never once helps the story since it's quickly and easily ignored because of its suckiness. The zombies are now actually running after people to kill them, not at all like the kinds of zombies we've come to know and love from the original Zombie or any of Romero's Dead films. They seem overly fast and at times, almost a little too intelligent to be decaying walking human corpses.

On the upside, the gore effects and zombie make-up is actually pretty decent, but that's about all the redeeming value here. Somehow, the charm of Zombie is not seen, even for a second, anywhere in this movie. For shame.

Acting: 3/10 Violence/Gore: 6/10 Nudity/Sexuality: 1/10 Story: 4/10 Atmosphere: 4/10 Special Effects/Make-up: 8/10 Cheesiness: 7/10 Overall: 2/10 Crappiness: 9/10

Don't buy it, rent it only if you're a hardcore zombie film fan. And you have to be really goddamn hardcore.

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