| Zombie 4: After Death | |
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DVD Cover |
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| Directed by | Claudio Fragasso |
| Produced by | Franco Gaudenzi |
| Written by | Rossella Drudi |
| Starring | Jeff Stryker Candice Daly Massimo Vanni Jim Gaines Don Wilson Adrianne Joseph Jim Moss Nick Nicholson |
| Music by | Al Festa |
| Cinematography | Luigi Ciccarese |
| Editing by | Boris Wankenstein |
| Distributed by | Shriek Show(DVD) |
| Release date(s) | June 21, 1989 November 26, 2002 (U.S. DVD release) |
| Running time | 84 min |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | Italian (English dub) |
| Budget | $100,000 |
After Death is an 1989 Italian zombie movie made during the height of the zombie craze. Released in the United States under the title Zombie 4: After Death and in the United Kingdom as Zombie Flesh Eaters 3, the movie has no connections to the other official or unofficial Zombi films. It was directed by frequent zombie writer/director Claudio Fragasso under the pseudonym Clyde Anderson. The film is also notable for starring Jeff Stryker (credited as "Chuck Peyton") in one of his few non-pornography roles.
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A group of researchers at a remote jungle island outpost discover the natives are practicing voodoo and black magic. After killing the local priest (James Sampson), a voodoo curse begins to raise the dead to feed on the living in retribution. The researchers on the island are killed by the newly risen zombies, except for Jenny (Candice Daly), the daughter of a scientist couple. She escapes, protected by an enchanted necklace charm given to her by her mother shortly before her death.
She returns years later as an adult with a group of mercenaries to attempt to uncover what happened to her parents. Shortly after arriving at the island their boat's engine dies, stranding them. Meanwhile elsewhere on the island a trio of hikers discover a cave, the same cave leading to the underground temple where the original curse was created. After accidentally reviving the curse, the dead once again return to kill any who trespass on their island. The mercenaries encounter their first zombie, who injures a member of the team.
Taking shelter in the remains of the old research facilities medical quarters they are soon joined by Chuck (Jeff Stryker), the only surviving hiker. Arming themselves with weapons left behind by the long dead research team, they make their stand as the dead once again rise. One by one they are injured or killed, one of whom sacrifices himself to blow up the medical facility and his newly undead team members. Jenny and Chuck flee, the only survivors remaining. They stumble upon the cave once again, where the zombies appear and attack. Chuck is killed, and Jenny apparently becomes an advanced zombie. The ending remains somewhat ambiguous.
Producer Franco Gaudenzi approached Claudio Fragasso and his wife Rossella Drudi about making another 'Zombi' film after Zombi 3 made a huge financial loss for Gaudenzi. The film was shot in the Philippines using the same studio space used for Zombi 3. As a result of the drastically reduced budget, most of the zombie's faces were covered with cloth and not made up in the Zombie make-up and the explosion effects were shot in miniature.
The film was released as 'After Death' in Italy in 1989. The film was savaged by critics but made a good return, recouping the loss Franco Gaudenzi made on Zombi 3. Due to the financial success of the film in the US, Joe D'Amato released his movie, Killing Birds Italian: Uccelli assassini (1988), as Zombie 5: Killing Birds in the US the same year.
Eccentric Cinema.com gave the film a negative review.[1] The Cinema Snob slso gave the film a very bad review.[2]
The film was released on November 26, 2002. It can be purchased separately or in a triple feature package. The Zombie Pack includes Zombi 3, Zombie 4: After Death, and Zombie 5: Killing Birds.
The film was released on UK DVD and VHS (as Zombie Flesh Eaters 3) on 19 August 2002.
The German DVD release by X-Rated Kult Video features an extended version of the film that runs 8 minutes longer than the US & UK releases. It is set to be released on Blu-Ray in somewhere 2012.
An unofficial sequel titled Zombie 5: Killing Birds is an unofficial sequel to Zombie 4 although it was released a year before but it was released in the US under the title Zombie 5.
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