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 who are fighting flesh-eating zombies.

Directors:

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

Writers:

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

Stars:

Margie Newton, Franco Garofalo, Selan Karay

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Margie Newton	...	Lia Rousseau (as Margit Evelyn Newton)
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:

zombie | female nudity | bare breasts | grindhouse | papua new guinea | 

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Taglines:

Pray it will never happen.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Much of this film's music was also used in Beyond the Darkness (1979).

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Goofs

Lia's hairstyle changes throughout the film.

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Quotes

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

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Alternate Versions

The film was first submitted to the BBFC (as "Zombie Creeping Flesh") for theatrical release in 1982 in a slightly pre-cut print which removed the graphic flesh eating scenes, bloody shootings, and the final 'eyeball-popping' killing of Lia by zombies. This version was passed without further cuts. However the distributors decided the film was too long and removed a further 14 mins before release, which completely removed the entire SWAT commando/hostage sequence and most of the scene where a camouflaged Lia witnesses the embalming of a jungle native. This reduced the running time to around 84 mins, and this shorter print later appeared as a pre-cert VHS release on the Merlin label. The film then became unavailable for many years due to the inclusion of the Merlin VHS on the DPP list of 72 video nasties. The complete and uncut version was eventually passed by the BBFC in January 2002 and released on the Vipco label.

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Connections

Featured in The Cinema Snob: Corona Zombies (2020)

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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

This movie...

.. is good and bad. The acting, bad. Script, bad. But I give it credit for one thing; zombies. Yes, the make up was horrible, but this movie had so many zombies. I loved it when the zombies chased the boat into the window, very cool. This movie is just fun to watch. I laugh at the stock footage and some of the acting, but I must admit i wish more movies like this would be made in the new millienium.

7/10

Details

Official Sites:

Virus (1980)

Country:

Italy Spain

Language:

Italian Spanish

Release Date:

14 October 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zombi 4

Filming Locations:

Badalona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beatrice Film, Films Dara

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1