And here we have yet another eighties 'zombie' movie, which despite a title that brings to mind illusions of Lucio Fulci-type walking-dead mayhem, it owes a damn site more to slasher flicks such as Friday the 13th and The Prowler et al. Inexplicably, there was a high number of horror attempts during the eighties that incorporated the living dead into their titles, but cinematically delivered stalk and slash plot lines that were prominent since Halloween categorised the genre. Fulci's House by the cemetery was a prime example of a slasher film cloaked under the guise of a Romero style zombie-thon, whilst Zombie Island Massacre, The Dead Pitt and Ruben Galindo's Cementerio del Terror and Ladrones De Tumbas all mixed re-animated corpses with the plot trappings of the slasher craze that swept the eighties.
It opens on a high school baseball field sometime during the 1960s. An amicable coach named Bill Washington is watched playing catch with some youngsters by his wife and son. Also in the stands are a Haitian school girl and two troublesome youngsters who let their intentions be known by plotting a nasty surprise for the African spectator. As the young family head home across the streets of the idyllic neighbourhood, they come across the two hoodlums from earlier attempting to rape the passive Haitian. Bill Washington immediately intervenes, much to his downfall, because whilst his back is turned he is stabbed in the chest by one of the rampant thugs. The screen fades with a shot of the young boy watching his father struggle for life on the cold concrete sidewalk.
Fast forward twenty years and Tony Washington - the child from the prologue - has grown into a helpful and polite young man. Whilst out shopping for his mum's groceries, he underlines his impressive community status by courageously battering two armed thugs that were attempting to rob the local shop keeper. Things takes a turn for the worse for the vigilante, when he is savagely run down and killed by a gang of drunken teenagers in a scene that pre-dates I know what you did last Summer by at least twelve years. The gang of drunkards speed off into the night, showing no remorse for their victim. Despite being visually devastated, Tony's mum decides not to inform the police of the murder and instead she calls upon the favour owed by the Haitian from the pre-credits sequence. Somewhat fortunately (albeit stereotypically) Molly Mokembe is now a voodoo priestess and so with a dust of black magic, Tony Washington rises from the dead to avenge his ruthless murder....
If you were looking for a possible pre-cursor to Kevin Williamson's I know what you did last summer, then look no further than this inexcusably poor mid-eighties entry to the slasher cycle. The plot is familiar to each and all, as the victim of a horrendous accident returns to avenge his death, systematically slaughtering the culprits one by one in gruesome fashion. Although the film never reaches the heights of slasher-classic status, it does boast a few credible benefits that lift it from the irreversible depths of movie obscurity. The soundtrack is awesomely impressive, with songs provided by Motorhead, Girlschool and Thor and I must admit that I was pleasantly shocked as 'The Ace of Spades' confidently adorned the credit sequence. As is the case with so many eighties slasher entries, Zombie Nightmare plays host to one young and fresh-faced 'soon to be superstar'. Yep, you don't need to clean those spectacles; that chubby faced youngster unconvincingly warbling is none other than Tia Carrera, most memorable for her characteristic performances in Wayne's World and True Lies.
Unfortunately, it seems the budget spent on the soundtrack pretty much drained the finances from the rest of the feature, because Zombie Nightmare seems to take an unprecedented slope into mediocrity very quickly. Despite an excellent debut performance from Frank Dietz as the protagonist, the dramatics are really scraping along the lines of putrid slop. Watch out for the hilarious Manuska Rigaud, who seems to believe that 'acting' amounts to squawking her voice like she's constantly suffering from an epileptic fit. Zombie Nightmare is famous for thrash legend Jon Mikl Thor's lengthy cameo in the opening half of the film. Despite proving that rock stars certainly shouldn't walk the path to Hollywood, he also manages to pull off the admirable feat of adjusting his body shape and height unrecognisably post death!
There's no gore or suspense worth mentioning and the whole feature is weakly directed to the excess of point and shoot mediocrity. Originality is a wayward concept in the eyes of Jack Bravman, so basically, what you see is what you get - and you get very little. Zombie Nightmare is far from being the worst slasher movie released during the peak period, but I really could only find very little to recommend. The hulking lone killer proves that this is pure slasher trash and those searching for a dose of zombie gore will be thoroughly disappointed
It opens on a high school baseball field sometime during the 1960s. An amicable coach named Bill Washington is watched playing catch with some youngsters by his wife and son. Also in the stands are a Haitian school girl and two troublesome youngsters who let their intentions be known by plotting a nasty surprise for the African spectator. As the young family head home across the streets of the idyllic neighbourhood, they come across the two hoodlums from earlier attempting to rape the passive Haitian. Bill Washington immediately intervenes, much to his downfall, because whilst his back is turned he is stabbed in the chest by one of the rampant thugs. The screen fades with a shot of the young boy watching his father struggle for life on the cold concrete sidewalk.
Fast forward twenty years and Tony Washington - the child from the prologue - has grown into a helpful and polite young man. Whilst out shopping for his mum's groceries, he underlines his impressive community status by courageously battering two armed thugs that were attempting to rob the local shop keeper. Things takes a turn for the worse for the vigilante, when he is savagely run down and killed by a gang of drunken teenagers in a scene that pre-dates I know what you did last Summer by at least twelve years. The gang of drunkards speed off into the night, showing no remorse for their victim. Despite being visually devastated, Tony's mum decides not to inform the police of the murder and instead she calls upon the favour owed by the Haitian from the pre-credits sequence. Somewhat fortunately (albeit stereotypically) Molly Mokembe is now a voodoo priestess and so with a dust of black magic, Tony Washington rises from the dead to avenge his ruthless murder....
If you were looking for a possible pre-cursor to Kevin Williamson's I know what you did last summer, then look no further than this inexcusably poor mid-eighties entry to the slasher cycle. The plot is familiar to each and all, as the victim of a horrendous accident returns to avenge his death, systematically slaughtering the culprits one by one in gruesome fashion. Although the film never reaches the heights of slasher-classic status, it does boast a few credible benefits that lift it from the irreversible depths of movie obscurity. The soundtrack is awesomely impressive, with songs provided by Motorhead, Girlschool and Thor and I must admit that I was pleasantly shocked as 'The Ace of Spades' confidently adorned the credit sequence. As is the case with so many eighties slasher entries, Zombie Nightmare plays host to one young and fresh-faced 'soon to be superstar'. Yep, you don't need to clean those spectacles; that chubby faced youngster unconvincingly warbling is none other than Tia Carrera, most memorable for her characteristic performances in Wayne's World and True Lies.
Unfortunately, it seems the budget spent on the soundtrack pretty much drained the finances from the rest of the feature, because Zombie Nightmare seems to take an unprecedented slope into mediocrity very quickly. Despite an excellent debut performance from Frank Dietz as the protagonist, the dramatics are really scraping along the lines of putrid slop. Watch out for the hilarious Manuska Rigaud, who seems to believe that 'acting' amounts to squawking her voice like she's constantly suffering from an epileptic fit. Zombie Nightmare is famous for thrash legend Jon Mikl Thor's lengthy cameo in the opening half of the film. Despite proving that rock stars certainly shouldn't walk the path to Hollywood, he also manages to pull off the admirable feat of adjusting his body shape and height unrecognisably post death!
There's no gore or suspense worth mentioning and the whole feature is weakly directed to the excess of point and shoot mediocrity. Originality is a wayward concept in the eyes of Jack Bravman, so basically, what you see is what you get - and you get very little. Zombie Nightmare is far from being the worst slasher movie released during the peak period, but I really could only find very little to recommend. The hulking lone killer proves that this is pure slasher trash and those searching for a dose of zombie gore will be thoroughly disappointed