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:

They eat the living!

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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

Claudio Fragasso, the writer of the screenplay, also directed one half of the movie, he said in an interview.

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Goofs

Zantoro loses his hat in several scenes but can be seen wearing it later on.

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Quotes

Lt. Mike London: Buildings have people in them. We'd better go investigate.

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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

Big-time "Dawn of the Dead" rip-off falls flat

Horror fans have labeled films such as "Burial Ground", "Zombie", "Cannibal Apocalypse", and others as "Dawn of the Dead" rip-offs. Well, they ain't never seen this atrocity! "Night of the Zombies" COPIES EVERY SINGLE ELEMENT OF "DAWN OF THE DEAD"! It takes too long to list, but here's a few: male and female TV people, SWAT team, hostage situation in the beginning of the movie, stolen Goblin music, a zombie kid, scientists and politicians deciding what to do, a SWAT team member who jokingly shoots zombies, and the list goes on. Plus, the ending rips off "Zombie"!

Now, that doesn't make this movie bad....well, yeah it does, but I mean that it doesn't make the movie unwatchable. Set in New Guinea, there is documentary footage of wildlife every 5 minutes intercut with mindless dialogue sequences (badly dubbed) and ineffective zombie attacks. A lot of the zombies are just people with mud rubbed on their face, while others are genuinely creepy. Unfortunately, their attack scenes are not scary, the gore effects gratuitous and obviously fake (some deliver some jolts, though), and their victims are idiots who stand frigidly as the zombies move in for the kill. The SWAT team members shoot aimlessly into the bodies of zombies even after the fact that they have to be shot in the head is established. Even one of the team members gets fed up with telling his friends to shoot them in the head! Add some meaningless topless scenes (female journalist gets nekkid and puts on make-up to interact with a tribe), some mondo footage (natives wiping dead peoples' blood on their faces, a maggot-eating ritual), and dead-weight characters and you have the final result: a whole lot of fun to watch, yet painfully mind-boggling as to how it could have possibly gotten past the script stage!

Not that I want you to spend $20+ on a copy of this movie, but the uncut letterboxed version is the best to get. The widescreen format gives this trash heap a hint of authority and any uncut print is better than a butchered American print. Otherwise, seek out the out-of-print Vestron Video copy at any mom-and-pop video store. It's guaranteed to be there, along with other bad zombie video standards "Burial Ground" and "Zombie Lake".