Hell of the Living Dead (1980) Virus (original title)

Director:

Bruno Mattei
(more)

Writers:

Claudio Fragasso (story) &
José María Cunillés (story)
(more)

Release Date:

20 January 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Get ready... It's gonna be one hell of a Night...

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Flesh Eating | Zombie | Chemical | Cameraman | Papua New Guinea

Cast

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
Esther Mesina	...	Josie
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Carolyn De Fonseca	...	Josie (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Larry Dolgin	...	Osborne (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Claudio Fragasso	...	SWAT Officer at Embassy Siege (uncredited)
Edward Mannix	...	Lt. Mike London (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Bruno Mattei	...	SWAT Officer at Embassy Siege (uncredited)
Antonio Molino Rojo	...	SWAT Leader (uncredited)
Elo Navarro	...	Various Zombies (uncredited)
Gennarino Pappagalli	...	Mr. Farrara - TV Executive (uncredited)
Gregory Snegoff	...	Terrorist Leader / TV Technician (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Robert Spafford	...	Third World U.N. Representative / Technician (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Susan Spafford	...	Margit Evelyn Newton (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Pat Starke	...	TV Speaker (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Frank von Kuegelgen	...	Zantoro (voice: English version) (uncredited)

Directed by
Bruno Mattei		(as Vincent Dawn)
Claudio Fragasso		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Claudio Fragasso		(story and screenplay) &
José María Cunillés		(story and screenplay) (as J.M. Cunilles)
Rossella Drudi		uncredited
Bruno Mattei		uncredited

Produced by
Sergio Cortona	....	executive producer
José María Cunillés	....	co-producer
Isabel Mulá	....	producer

Original Music by
Goblin

Cinematography by
John Cabrera

Film Editing by
Claudio Borroni

Production Design by
Antonio Belart

Makeup Department
Maria Teresa Carrera	....	hair stylist
Giuseppe Ferranti	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Walter Brandi	....	production manager (as Walter Bigari)
Paolo Picchi	....	production manager
Marcelino Riba-Abizanda	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Claudio Fragasso	....	assistant director
Claudio Fragasso	....	first assistant director: second unit

Sound Department
Romano Pampaloni	....	sound
Paolo Picchi	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Carlo Aquari	....	camera operator
Allan Gornick Jr.	....	underwater cinematographer
Josep Gusi	....	camera operator
Giovanni Leacche	....	still photographer

Music Department
Gianni Dell'Orso	....	musical director

Other crew
Federico Canudas	....	continuity
Silvio Colecchia	....	continuity
José María Alarcón	....	additional voices (spanish version) (uncredited)
Josep Maria Angelat	....	voice dubbing: Profesor (spanish version) (uncredited)
Carolyn De Fonseca	....	voice dubbing: Patrizia Costa (English version) (uncredited)
Antonio de Vicente	....	voice dubbing: Selan Karay (spanish version) (uncredited)
Julia Gallego	....	additional voices (spanish version) (uncredited)
Claudi García	....	voice dubbing: Franco Garofalo (spanish version) (uncredited)
Francisco Garriga	....	additional voices (spanish version) (uncredited)
Edward Mannix	....	voice dubbing: José Gras (English version) (uncredited)
José Mediavilla	....	voice dubbing: Pep Ballenster (spanish version) (uncredited)
Eduardo Muntada	....	additional voices (spanish version) (uncredited)
Joaquín Muñoz	....	voice dubbing: Joaquín Blanco (spanish version) (uncredited)
Isidro Sola	....	additional voices (spanish version) (uncredited)
Pat Starke	....	voice dubbing: Pietro Fumelli (English version) (uncredited)
Albert Trifol	....	additional voices (spanish version) (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Beatrice Film
• Films Dara

Distributors

• Motion Picture Marketing (MPM) (1984) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Vestron Video (1984) (USA) (VHS) (dubbed)
• CMV Laservision (1998) (Germany) (video) (laserdisc)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Cydonia Films (2003) (Spain) (DVD)
• Another World Entertainment (2010) (Denmark) (DVD)
• Another World Entertainment (2010) (Norway) (DVD)
• Astro Distribution (1998) (Germany) (VHS)
• Blue Underground (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Creature Features (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Creature Features (1996) (USA) (VHS) (dubbed)
• Merlin Video (1982) (UK) (VHS)
• Njutafilms (2010) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Pony Video (1987) (Japan) (VHS)
• Suevia Films (2007) (Spain) (DVD)
• TDK Core (1987) (Japan) (VHS)
• Video Instant Picture Company (VIPCO)

Also Known As:

"Virus" - Italy (original title)
"Night of the Zombies" - USA
"Hell of the Living Death" - Belgium (English title) (video title)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

Italy | Spain

Language:

Italian | Spanish

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | Canada:R | Norway:18 (2010) | Spain:18 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:18 | Canada:R (Ontario) | France:-16 | Germany:BPjM Restricted | Finland:K-18 | Germany:(Banned) | UK:(Banned) (1984-2002) | UK:18 (re-rating: 2002) | UK:X (original rating: 1982) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Italy:VM14 | Italy:VM18 (VHS rating) | Hong Kong:III

Filming Locations:

Badalona, Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Beatrice Film

Trivia:

Stock footage from the film Nuova Guinea, l'isola dei cannibali (1974) was used for the native scenes. Nuova Guinea, l'isola dei cannibali AKA Guinea Ama has been recently re-released on DVD as The Real Cannibal Holocaust.

Goofs:

Plot holes: 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.

Quotes:

Lt. Mike London:[to Vincent looking shaken up after escaping a zombie raid in a native village] Why the long face? Something eatin' ya?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Mulberry Street (2006)

Not Bad

I've seen quite a few zombie movies over the years and I have to say that the european ones are the best. The gore effects in these movies are very realistic and provide quite a few scares and Night of the Zombies is no exception.The gore effects and storyline are good and is what I expected from this type of movie, but what I didn't expect was the overlong use of stock footage from a National Geographic special which was not only unnecessary but very annoying and the dubbing could also have been handled better, but overall not a bad movie storywise. Just remember to keep the VCR remote close so you can fast forward the stock footage.

MY RATTING 7/10