Hell of the Living Dead (1980)

A tough female reporter and her cameraman boyfriend team up with a four-man commando unit in the New Guinea jungle whom are fighting flesh-eating zombies.

Directors:

Bruno Mattei (as Vincent Dawn), Claudio Fragasso (uncredited)

Writers:

Claudio Fragasso (story), José María Cunillés (story) (as J.M. Cunilles)

Stars:

Margit Evelyn Newton, Franco Garofalo, Selan Karay

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Margit Evelyn Newton	...	Lia Rousseau
Franco Garofalo	...	Zantoro (as Frank Garfield)
Selan Karay	...	Vincent
José Gras	...	Lt. Mike London (as Robert O'Neil)
Gabriel Renom	...	Pierre (as Gaby Renom)
Josep Lluís Fonoll	...	Osborne (as Luis Fonoll)
Pietro Fumelli	...	Man on TV (as Piero Fumelli)
Bruno Boni	...	Reporter
Patrizia Costa	...	Woman in Bar
Cesare Di Vito	...	TV Speaker
Sergio Pislar	...	Technician Lawson
Bernard Seray	...	Prof. Barrett's Assistant
Víctor Israel	...	Zombie priest
Pep Ballester	...	Josie's Husband (as Pep Ballenster)
Joaquín Blanco	...	Professor Barrett

Storyline

After a chemical leak at the Hope Centre in Papua New Guinea (an organization devoted to feeding underdeveloped countries) turns its staff into flesh-eating zombies, a four-man commando squad led by Mike London are sent to investigate. They run into a TV news crew led by celebrity reporter Lia, who are after the same story, but when they discover that the entire country has been overrun by zombies, what are the chances of them getting the message across? Unlike most zombie films, this actually tries to make a serious point - that if we don't feed the Third World, they'll come and feed on us!

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Plot Keywords:

papua new guinea | zombie | italian horror | italian | psychotronic | 

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Taglines:

If only they would die...

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Hell of the Living Dead (1980)

Country:

Italy Spain

Language:

Italian Spanish

Release Date:

20 January 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hell of the Living Dead

Filming Locations:

Badalona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beatrice Film, Films Dara

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The documentary footage of the New Guinea tribe is real footage filmed of a burial service. The rest of the footage can be seen on the documentary Des morts (1979)

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Goofs

After Pierre is killed in the elevator. Zantoro shoots at a zombie missing an eye. He clearly fires his machine gun into the zombie's chest. A close up shows the male zombie squirm and fall backward dead from the shots. Which is incoherent because Zantoro (and other characters) know the zombies can only be killed by head shots or incapacitation to the brain.

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Quotes

Technician #1: She may not know much about chemestry, but in bed, her reactions are terrific.
Technician #2: I'm not surprised with that cute little ass.
Technician #1: I'm a tit man, myself.

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Connections

Referenced in 28 Days Later... (2002)

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Soundtracks

Most of the soundtrack music by Goblin was borrowed from
the films "Dawn of the Dead" and "Alien Contamination".

User Reviews

Give Bruno Mattei props, this movie rules!!

I am a huge gore-fan. And my favorite director is Lucio Fulci. I have seen gore from Fulci to Argento to Raimi to Itenbach to Schnaas to Romero to Lenzi to etc... But for some reason alot of people hate movies with the name "Bruno Mattei" on it. Hell of the Living Dead has been put down and made fun of by so many. Why? I saw "Night of the Zombies" years ago on VHS and was hooked. The movie, written by Claudio Fragasso [Zombie 3, Rats, Beyond Darkness, AfterDeath, etc..] is a complete rip off of Dawn of the Dead, with Goblin Music [taken from Dawn of the Dead & Luigi Cozzi's Toxic Spawn], a swat team, etc. So its a rip off, Who cares. The movie is awesome. Where else are you going to see a swat member dress up in drag, only to be eaten by zombies. The characters are hilarious! My favorite member is the swat member with long brown hair ["Guess I'm not on the menu after all!"]. The dubbing is so bad it rules! The acting is hilarious and fun. The story is basically the same "Government project gone wrong" story. FX are cheesy, yet fun to watch. This title is pure cheese, but great cheese!Thank god Anchor Bay decided to pick up some Bruno Mattei flicks and re-release them on DVD. This and Bruno Mattei's "Rats: Nights of Terror" are now out, and they are definate "Must Have" titles. If you want a serious zombie flick, look elsewhere. But Hell of the Living Dead rules! Now, if Anchor Bay can pick up the Lucio Fulci/Bruno Mattei "Zombie 3" rights and put it on DVD!!