Zombi 3

For the film with the similar title, see Zombi 3 - Da dove vieni?.
Zombi 3
Directed by
Produced by Franco Gaudenzi
Written by
Starring
Music by Stefano Mainetti
Cinematography Richard Grassetti
Edited by Alberto Moriani
Release dates
  • July 29, 1988 (1988-07-29)
Running time
 85 minutes
Language Italian
German

Zombi 3 (also known as Zombie Flesh Eaters 2 in the UK) is the 1988 followup to Zombi 2, itself an unofficial sequel to 1978's Dawn of the Dead (released in Italy as Zombi).[1] Beyond its title, Zombi 3 has little to no relation with the characters or plotlines of Zombi, Zombi 2 or in fact any subsequent Zombi films. Its only major similarity is in that it is another zombie film. It was directed by Lucio Fulci, but he retired due to ill health and was replaced by Bruno Mattei.

Plot

A group of scientists are working on a serum called Death One, which reanimates the dead. When Dr. Alan Holder (Robert Marius) and his assistant Norma experiment on a human corpse, the corpse becomes a zombie, prompting Dr. Holder to resign from the project. As he prepares to surrender the serum to waiting military officers, a small group of criminals ambush the center; all but one are killed, and the surviving criminal manages to abscond with Death One. During a chase, the container with the serum is shot out of his hand and breaks; as he tries to pick it back up, he accidentally touches the serum. He flees to the Sweet River Resort and settles in Room 4. General Morton (Mike Monty) promises Dr. Holder that he and his men will capture the criminal. By the time they catch up to him, however, he has already succumbed to the disease, but not before infecting a bellhop and killing a maid before finally cutting off his own hand in a failed attempt to stop the spread of the infection. General Morton orders the patrons and staff killed and buried in a mass grave, and condemns the resort; the criminal's remains are delivered to him and his right-hand men, Tracey (Bruno Mattei) and Cheney (Claudio Fragasso), and burned. As Dr. Holder and Norma fear, the ashes quickly infect the air, killing an entire flock of birds passing by.

Meanwhile, a trio of GIs on vacation are on the lookout for some girls to make out with during their holiday; they find several on a nearby bus. Among the bus's passengers are Nancy (Ulli Reinthaler), Carol (Marina Loi), Lia (Deborah Bergamini), Suzanna (Mari Catotiengo), Jane, Jane's boyfriend Tom, and the bus driver, Joe. Not too far away, another passenger from the bus, Patricia (Beatrice Ring) and her boyfriend Glenn discover the dead birds and are promptly horrified as the birds reanimate and attack, with Glenn being pecked and clawed repeatedly. The birds then assault the bus while the GIs attempt to extricate everyone from it, but not before Lia gets bitten. Patricia and Glenn stop at a nearby garage but are forced to flee when a zombie wielding a machete attacks Patricia and the garage goes up in smoke. The GIs and the bus party make a stop at Sweet River Resort, with Bo (Massimo Vanni) and Carol going off to look for some help. When their car breaks down, Carol goes looking for some water but is attacked and mauled by the zombies. Bo tries and fails to save her and is forced to flee when more zombies emerge from the lake. He eventually joins up with Patricia and Glenn. On the way to Santa Monica Hospital, Glenn dies and reanimates as a zombie on the bridge. During the resulting confrontation with the living dead, Bo is killed, but Patricia escapes with her life. Meanwhile, Dr. Holder and his team start work on an antidote to counter the effects of Death One as General Morton's men start to eradicate the zombies.

Back at the hotel, Jane and Tom go to the kitchen to look for some food but are ambushed and killed by a zombie head that had been resting in the freezer. Lia reanimates, kills and devours Susanna and almost kills Nancy before being thrown off the balcony and killed. Kenny (Deran Sarafian) and Roger (Ottaviano Dell'acqua) encounter Patricia as she arrives to try to break the news about Bo's demise, but the living dead start swarming the hotel. Kenny, Roger, Patricia, Nancy, and Joe kill as many zombies as they can before fleeing. After crossing the river, they are met by some of General Morton's men, who kill Joe. The other four escape as the final stage of General Morton's zombie eradication begins and Dr. Holder expresses his worries that the infection of the atmosphere may not be restricted to the island. Arriving at a nearby hospital, the four encounter a pregnant woman in labor. As Nancy helps deliver the newborn, Patricia engages in a final deathmatch against Glenn and beheads him, while Kenny and Roger have another run-in with General Morton's cleanup crew. Nancy is killed by the newborn, who turns out to be a zombie, and Kenny, Roger, and Patricia escape to find more zombies waiting for the kill. They make it to a helicopter, but only Kenny and Patricia are able to escape with their lives. Roger is attacked by the zombies while trying to join them and is subsequently killed by the cleanup crew. To Patricia's horror, the zombies have taken over; Blue Heart, the DJ who provided commentary for much of the film, even dedicates his next record to "all the undead around the world", having been infected himself. Upon hearing the broadcast, Kenny decides to return to the island, assuring Patricia that he intends to save what's left of humanity from the zombies.

Cast

Production

Though Lucio Fulci is cited as director in the film's opening credits, Fulci really only directed portions of the film, bowing out after a few weeks of filming. This has been largely attributed to an illness that was aggravated by the Philippines filming location; however, Fulci claimed he left because the producers kept changing the screenplay.[2] The footage amounted to approximately 70 minutes worth and was found wanting.

Bruno Mattei was asked to step in and the resultant film, with its running zombies and a more sci-fi/action-oriented story, ended up resembling Mattei's films much more closely than anything Fulci had done up until then. In a filmed interview found on the Shriek Show DVD release in 2004, Mattei estimated that Fulci's surviving contributions constitute approximately 50 minutes of the finished film, or roughly 60% of what is onscreen. Mattei also stated that he still considers it to be Fulci's film, not his.[3]

Release

Zombi 3 was released to theatres in its native Italy on July 29, 1988. Although it has gained some notoriety over the years, it has never received an official theatrical release outside of Italy. In most countries, it was released direct-to-video.

Home Media

In the United States, Zombi 3 was released in 2002 as a special edition from Media Blasters' Shriek Show division,[4] who released the uncut version of the film. The film used many sources including VHS footage in order to be uncut. It also features trailers and interviews. The disc was then re-released with a commentary track. Media Blasters subsequently re-released the film as part of the Zombie Pack in 2005 alongside After Death and Killing Birds.

In the United Kingdom, Zombie Flesh Eaters 2 was issued as part of Vipco's Vault of Horror collection (cat no. VIP094). Vipco later re-issued Zombi 3 as part of their budget 'Screamtime Collection'(VSC028)

Reception

Writing in The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, academic Peter Dendle said, "Most of the movie is a quilt of scenes and motifs shamelessly pasted together from Dawn of the Dead and Return of the Living Dead, but fast pacing and continuous shooting help distract from the absence of plot or character development."[5] Dread Central included the film in their top ten list of best viral outbreak films.[6]

Unofficial sequels

After Death and Killing Birds are unrelated films marketed as unofficial sequels.

References

  1. ↑ Maçek III, J.C. (2012-06-15). "The Zombification Family Tree: Legacy of the Living Dead". PopMatters.
  2. ↑ Lavagnini, Massimo F. "Lucio Fulci Interview". Shockingimages.com (Draculina) (24).
  3. ↑ Million Monkey Theater in-depth Analysis
  4. ↑ "Zombie 3". media-blasters.com. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
  5. ↑ Dendle, Peter (2001). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia. McFarland & Company. pp. 193–194. ISBN 978-0-7864-9288-6.
  6. ↑ Serafini, Matt (2010-02-26). "Top 10: Outbreak Movies". Dread Central. Retrieved 2015-02-18.

External links

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