Hell of the Living Dead
Encyclopedia
Virus: Hell of the Living Dead is a 1980
horror film
, specifically a zombie movie, directed by Bruno Mattei
.
The film is also known as Virus (which is the original Italian title of the film), as well as Night of the Zombies and Zombie Creeping Flesh.
s.
The movie then shifts to an unnamed European country with a four-man team of commando
s led by Lt. Mike London (José Gras) being deployed to eliminate a group of terrorists who have taken hostages inside a large building. The unknown terrorists are demanding the closing down of all the Hope Centers, which both the government and the military deny the existence of, and the press, under orders of the local authorities, do not make any public announcement to the terrorists' demands or any mentioning of Hope Centers. After pumping tear gas into the building, Lt. London and his three commandos burst into the room where the terrorists are and kill them all. Once the mission is completed, the team is flown to Papua New Guinea
due to communication being lost with Hope Center #1, presumed due to terrorist action. They soon meet journalist Lia Rousseau (Margit Evelyn Newton
) and her cameraman, who are investigating a series of mysterious and violent attacks on the local native population.
After encountering some of the natives, the group come under attack by hordes of flesh-eating zombies which attack the native village, killing and eating all the living people they come into contact with. Over the course of the movie, the four military men and two journalists travel through the New Guinea jungle in the commando's jeep, trying to survive while evading increasing numbers of flesh-eating zombies. Midway through the film, the group takes refuge in an abandoned plantation, only to come under attack from the zombie residents who kill and eat one of the commandos, forcing the surviving group to flee.
Eventually, Rousseau and London's men battle their way to a beach where they take a raft and finally arrive at Hope Center #1, where they find all of the workers either dead or roaming the facility as zombies. Rousseau and London finally learn about the experimental chemical that was accidentally released which kills people and turns them into zombies. Rousseau learns from the papers left behind in the offices that the chemical, coded as 'Operation Sweet Death', had been intended to curb the Third World
population by driving them into preying on each other
. In the end, however, neither London's team nor the two journalists make it out alive as the zombies attack them from all directions, and they are all killed.
The final scene has a group of zombies attacking a couple in a city park where it grimly implies that the contagion
has now spread to the developed world.
and his wife Rossella Drudi. As the market was hungry for zombie films in the wake of Lucio Fulci's blockbuster Zombi 2
, two studios specializing in low budget horror, Dara Films in Spain and Beatrice Films in Rome, pitched together to option the script.
The original script, set in Africa, would have been much too expensive for Dara/Beatrice to produce, with scenes involving ships full of dead bodies and a corpse mincing plant, so Bruno Mattei
, well known for being able to work with scant finances, was brought on board to direct with the help of Claudio Fragasso
. Filming took place in and outside Barcelona
over a four-week period where all the forest/jungle exteriors were shot before the production moved back to Rome to finishing filming at Studio Mafera. Shortly after this, Mattei realized that the footage shot in Spain was insufficient and partially unusable. Dara had decided not to rewrite the script before the production began and therefore much of the footage shot was random in its nature; indeed much of the film's plot is incomprehensible.
In an attempt to give the film a more exotic feel and provide the protagonists with another set piece in which to battle zombies, Mattei suggested that footage from the pseudo-mondo
documentary La Vallée
be incorporated into the film and sets built to mirror the village from the documentary so new scenes could be shot. This was agreed to by the producers, who were anxious to get the production back on track. As Mattei was busying himself with the studio filming, Fragasso was given free rein to shoot some new special effects shots (mainly consisting of zombies getting shot in front of a dark backdrop and the famous hand in face ending) to gore up the film, again at the producer's request.
The "fog" style attempt to save the production continued with a new ending tagged on, and the addition of some of Goblin
's music from the Dawn of the Dead soundtrack. This almost caused a legal wrangle for the production as Goblin had not authorised their music to be used in the film. With all the new additions the film now ran over 100 minutes and consequently some of the original footage was removed prior to its first release in Italy in November 1980. Dara also edited the film further prior to submitting it for UK release.
said of the film, "Did you like Romero's Night of the Living Dead
? How about the sequels Dawn of the Dead and Day Of The Dead? If so, then you're going to absolutely hate Hell of the Living Dead."
Gerald Browning of Bloody Disgusting
said, "I am a fan of films that make me think. I especially like films that leave me with an uneasy feeling at the end. Hell of the Living Dead did neither... However, I have found myself watching it on DVD to tap into that guilty pleasure that yens for attention."
J.C. Maçek III of WorldsGreatestCritic.com wrote, "At the very, very least Hell of the Living Dead realizes what it takes to make a midnight B-Movie
endurable, meaning, at least one very hot topless chick."
1980 in film
- Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year ....
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
, specifically a zombie movie, directed by Bruno Mattei
Bruno Mattei
Bruno Mattei was an Italian film director, screenwriter and editor who gained a cult following for a wide variety of exploitation films that covered many genres, ranging from women in prison to zombie films...
.
The film is also known as Virus (which is the original Italian title of the film), as well as Night of the Zombies and Zombie Creeping Flesh.
Plot
The film opens at a top secret chemical research facility called Hope Center #1 where a chemical leak in one of the modules at the facility turns the entire staff into flesh-eating zombieZombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s.
The movie then shifts to an unnamed European country with a four-man team of commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
s led by Lt. Mike London (José Gras) being deployed to eliminate a group of terrorists who have taken hostages inside a large building. The unknown terrorists are demanding the closing down of all the Hope Centers, which both the government and the military deny the existence of, and the press, under orders of the local authorities, do not make any public announcement to the terrorists' demands or any mentioning of Hope Centers. After pumping tear gas into the building, Lt. London and his three commandos burst into the room where the terrorists are and kill them all. Once the mission is completed, the team is flown to Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
due to communication being lost with Hope Center #1, presumed due to terrorist action. They soon meet journalist Lia Rousseau (Margit Evelyn Newton
Margit Evelyn Newton
Margit Evelyn Newton is an Italian actress who appeared in fourteen films between 1979 and 1990. Frequently billed as Margie Newton, she also received billing, at various points in her career, as Margie Moreau, Margi Eveline Newton and Margi Evelyn Newton.A native of Rome, Margit Evelyn Newton used...
) and her cameraman, who are investigating a series of mysterious and violent attacks on the local native population.
After encountering some of the natives, the group come under attack by hordes of flesh-eating zombies which attack the native village, killing and eating all the living people they come into contact with. Over the course of the movie, the four military men and two journalists travel through the New Guinea jungle in the commando's jeep, trying to survive while evading increasing numbers of flesh-eating zombies. Midway through the film, the group takes refuge in an abandoned plantation, only to come under attack from the zombie residents who kill and eat one of the commandos, forcing the surviving group to flee.
Eventually, Rousseau and London's men battle their way to a beach where they take a raft and finally arrive at Hope Center #1, where they find all of the workers either dead or roaming the facility as zombies. Rousseau and London finally learn about the experimental chemical that was accidentally released which kills people and turns them into zombies. Rousseau learns from the papers left behind in the offices that the chemical, coded as 'Operation Sweet Death', had been intended to curb the Third World
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
population by driving them into preying on each other
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
. In the end, however, neither London's team nor the two journalists make it out alive as the zombies attack them from all directions, and they are all killed.
The final scene has a group of zombies attacking a couple in a city park where it grimly implies that the contagion
Contagion
Contagion may refer to:In medicine:* Infectious disease, also known as contagious disease, with infection, or the infectious agent, also known as contagionIn media* Batman: Contagion, a story arc in the Batman comic book series...
has now spread to the developed world.
Cast
- Margit Evelyn NewtonMargit Evelyn NewtonMargit Evelyn Newton is an Italian actress who appeared in fourteen films between 1979 and 1990. Frequently billed as Margie Newton, she also received billing, at various points in her career, as Margie Moreau, Margi Eveline Newton and Margi Evelyn Newton.A native of Rome, Margit Evelyn Newton used...
as Lia Rousseau - Franco Garofalo as Zantoro
- Selan Karay as Vincent
- José Gras as Lt. Mike London
- Gabriel Renom (Gaby Renom) as Max
- Josep Lluís Fonoll as Osborne
- Piero Fumelli as Coroner On Tv
- Bruno Boni
- Patrizia Costa as Josie
- Cesare Di Vito as Newscaster
- Sergio Pislar
- Bernard Seray as Technician Fowler
- Pep Ballenster as Josie's Husband
- Victor Israel as Zombie Priest
- Joaquin Blanco as Professor Barrett
- Esther Mesina as Woman In Bar
- Genarrino Papagalli as Tv executive
- Antonio Molino Rojo as SWAT leader
- Tito Lucchetti as terrorist leader
Production history
Virus started life as a film treatment written in 1980 by José María Cunillés and was latter fleshed out into a rather large script by Claudio FragassoClaudio Fragasso
Claudio Fragasso is an Italian screenwriter and film director of mostly low-budget exploitation films.- Filmmaking history :...
and his wife Rossella Drudi. As the market was hungry for zombie films in the wake of Lucio Fulci's blockbuster Zombi 2
Zombi 2
Zombi 2 is a 1979 zombie horror film directed by Lucio Fulci. It is the best-known of Fulci's films and made him a horror icon. Though the title suggests this is a sequel to Zombi Zombi 2 (also known as Zombie, Island of the Living Dead, Zombie Island, Zombie Flesh Eaters and Woodoo) is a 1979...
, two studios specializing in low budget horror, Dara Films in Spain and Beatrice Films in Rome, pitched together to option the script.
The original script, set in Africa, would have been much too expensive for Dara/Beatrice to produce, with scenes involving ships full of dead bodies and a corpse mincing plant, so Bruno Mattei
Bruno Mattei
Bruno Mattei was an Italian film director, screenwriter and editor who gained a cult following for a wide variety of exploitation films that covered many genres, ranging from women in prison to zombie films...
, well known for being able to work with scant finances, was brought on board to direct with the help of Claudio Fragasso
Claudio Fragasso
Claudio Fragasso is an Italian screenwriter and film director of mostly low-budget exploitation films.- Filmmaking history :...
. Filming took place in and outside Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
over a four-week period where all the forest/jungle exteriors were shot before the production moved back to Rome to finishing filming at Studio Mafera. Shortly after this, Mattei realized that the footage shot in Spain was insufficient and partially unusable. Dara had decided not to rewrite the script before the production began and therefore much of the footage shot was random in its nature; indeed much of the film's plot is incomprehensible.
In an attempt to give the film a more exotic feel and provide the protagonists with another set piece in which to battle zombies, Mattei suggested that footage from the pseudo-mondo
Mondo film
A mondo film is an exploitation documentary film, sometimes resembling a pseudo-documentary, usually depicting sensational topics, scenes, and situations...
documentary La Vallée
La Vallée (film)
La Vallée is a 1972 French film written and directed by Barbet Schroeder. The film stars Bulle Ogier as Viviane, a woman who goes on a strange and accidental voyage of self-discovery through the New Guinea bush....
be incorporated into the film and sets built to mirror the village from the documentary so new scenes could be shot. This was agreed to by the producers, who were anxious to get the production back on track. As Mattei was busying himself with the studio filming, Fragasso was given free rein to shoot some new special effects shots (mainly consisting of zombies getting shot in front of a dark backdrop and the famous hand in face ending) to gore up the film, again at the producer's request.
The "fog" style attempt to save the production continued with a new ending tagged on, and the addition of some of Goblin
Goblin (band)
Goblin are an Italian progressive rock band known for their soundtracks for Dario Argento films ....
's music from the Dawn of the Dead soundtrack. This almost caused a legal wrangle for the production as Goblin had not authorised their music to be used in the film. With all the new additions the film now ran over 100 minutes and consequently some of the original footage was removed prior to its first release in Italy in November 1980. Dara also edited the film further prior to submitting it for UK release.
Critical reception
DVD VerdictDVD Verdict
DVD Verdict is a judicial themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. Current editor in chief is Michael Stailey, who also reviews for Rotten Tomatoes...
said of the film, "Did you like Romero's Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent black-and-white zombie film and cult film directed by George A. Romero, starring Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Karl Hardman. It premiered on October 1, 1968, and was completed on a USD$114,000 budget. After decades of cinematic re-releases, it...
? How about the sequels Dawn of the Dead and Day Of The Dead? If so, then you're going to absolutely hate Hell of the Living Dead."
Gerald Browning of Bloody Disgusting
Bloody Disgusting
Bloody Disgusting is a website that covers horror movies with reviews, interviews and news. It is currently run by Brad Miska, and Tom Owen. According to one source, the site has 1.5 million unique visitors and 20 million page views each month. It is widely considered to be the "world's most...
said, "I am a fan of films that make me think. I especially like films that leave me with an uneasy feeling at the end. Hell of the Living Dead did neither... However, I have found myself watching it on DVD to tap into that guilty pleasure that yens for attention."
J.C. Maçek III of WorldsGreatestCritic.com wrote, "At the very, very least Hell of the Living Dead realizes what it takes to make a midnight B-Movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
endurable, meaning, at least one very hot topless chick."
Alternate titles
Hell of the Living Dead has numerous alternative titles (aka) :- Zombie Creeping Flesh (UK)
- Virus (Italy)
- Cannibal Virus
- Night of the Zombies (USA)
- Zombie Inferno
- Zombies of the Savanna
- Inferno dei morti-viventi (Italy)
- Zombi 2: Ultimate Nightmare (Italy)
- Zombi 4 (Usa pre-release title)
- Zombi 5: Ultimate Nightmare" (Italy)
- world of the dead usa (2012)new edition some reboot