Zombi 3
"I'm feeling fine now Patricia but I'm thirsty, FOR YOUR BLOOD!!!"
Lucio Fulci's follow up to his critically acclaimed (yeah right) Zombie (which is actually Zombie 2, an unofficial sequel to Dawn Of The Dead which was originally called Zombie: Dawn Of The Dead). I really enjoyed Zombie but even more so now because of the collectors edition, this is the definitive version of Zombie and its the only version that does justice to the film. As for Zombi 3, it's a standard Italian zombie movie (if there is such a thing) with a lot of emphasis as always on gore, bad dubbing and just some very shoddy film making in general but hell, I liked it anyway. It has all the right ingredients to go down as one of the worst Italian horror films ever made although the competition is pretty stiff.
It's about a group of scientists working on an experiment properly named Death 1. After a botched attempt (the corpses come back to life but are unstable) in using Death 1 to bring a corpse back to life a group of terrorists steal the virus and one of them becomes infected with it. The guy is eventually found dead and his body is foolishly burned causing the virus to spread in the smoke throughout the atmosphere.
Zombi 3 has some great gore scenes including a zombie head which comes flying out of a refrigerator to claim a victim. It is very goofy and foolish with relation to how the zombies attack. They seem to come out of the most interesting of places including haystacks, hedges, below bridges, high up compartments and so on. The gas station scene with the zombie chasing a young woman looks like it belongs in the Three Stooges due to the sped up camera. The presence of a black DJ named Blue heart who adds very out of place philosophical commentary is strange to have in a film like this but indeed very funny. What tops it all off is how cruel and cold hearted the army are portrayed.
Zombi 3 should be able to please most die hard horror buffs. You can tell the film is not the highest of standards when director Fulci leaves in mid production and Bruno Mattei (Night Of The Zombies, The Other Hell) takes over. You can also tell what parts Fulci directed (the good ones) and what parts Mattei did (the bad ones). The movie just seems all out of whack. You have scenes where the zombies are slow moving and other scenes where they run like the wind. The great music score by Claudio Simonetti helps. If you like Fulci even the least bit you have to give Zombi 3 a chance and if you especially like zombie movies you can't go wrong. You could always do worse with Burial Ground, Night Of The Zombies, Bloodsucking Nazi Zombies or Zombie Lake. If you go into Zombi 3 thinking cheese then cheese is what you'll get, I HAVE SPOKEN!
Rating: 2 ½ out of 5
Richard Taylor
