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 | papua new guinea | italian horror | zombie apocalypse | midnight movie | 

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Taglines:

When the creeping dead devour the living flesh!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Virus (1980)

Country:

Italy Spain

Language:

Italian Spanish

Release Date:

14 October 1983 (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:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the first draft, Claudio Fragasso had followed the idea of an entire Third World made up of an army of zombies, who the armed forces of the industrialized nations would have had to fight. However, the script had to be altered considerably due to budget limitations.

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Goofs

(at around 54 mins) When Lia lights up a cigarette, it is clearly during the day, in the next shot, it is night time.

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Quotes

Vincent: Patience is the chief virtue for those who have faith. Mahatma Gandhi, New Delhi, 1946.
Lt. Mike London: Up your ass. Lieutenant Mike London, Shit Creek, the year is now.

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Connections

Referenced in Révolution VHS (2017)

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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

Dawn of the Dead rip-off extrodinare.

What to say about this movie? Where to start? I think I will begin with the title. I bought it as "Hell of the Living Dead". It is also known as "Virus", "Night of the Zombie", and "Zombie: Creeping Flesh". Out of these titles the creeping flesh one and virus fit, but the other two do not. Especially, the night one. Most of the zombie action takes place in broad daylight. Then there is the stock footage. I know many have commented on it, but man there is a lot of it. Here is a little advice to all film makers, don't set the movie in a location you can't film in. And if you must use stock footage at least use some different shots rather than just birds and monkeys in the tree tops. Then there is the music. When people say it is just like "Dawn of the Dead" they aren't kidding. It is exactly the same music and when it isn't music from Dawn it is music from a sci-fi movie called "Alien Containamation" and when it isn't music from it, it is a combination of both. Then there is the similarities between Dawn and this movie. The swat team, the reporters, the center at the end and the mall in dawn, the situation at the beginning where the swat team is first introduced, the elevator scene and so on. The zombies themselves aren't the best in the game. Well some do look rather good, but most of them have very little make up. Then there is the swat team who make it through horde after horde of zombie only losing one member, this team seems competent, then they reach the facilty and proceed to become very easily killed idiots. They aren't very distinct either, I think they are all dubbed by the same person.

A good point about this movie is the plot. It involves a leak a research facility called "Hope". Its nice to have zombies come to life for a reason and as bad as this flick is the end isn't to bad with plenty of gore effects. In fact after the "Hope" scene the movie cuts to two people attacked in the park and it is like wow this is looks like a better zombie movie about to start! But it is actually the end of this one. You can learn some lessons from this movie though 1) Zombies can only be killed if you shoot them in the head, but go ahead and shoot them in the body because it looks cool and you never run out of ammunition anyway 2) When going into an area of stock footage natives get the girl in your party to take her shirt off and dress up like a native, does it help, no! But if she's willing to do it let her (why didn't the horny soldiers not make one comment when she took off her shirt?) 3) If your friend is attacked by an apparently dead rat, don't lend a hand he deserves to die for being stupid enough to let himself get killed by a rat 4) Don't put your guns down and put on a tu-tu and top hat and pick up a cane when zombies are in the area 5) When on a beach it is possible to find boats just lying around 6) and finally, don't speculate on why everything is happening till you are out of the building where the zombies are, this just gives them a chance to gang up on you. In the end this is a bad flick with some areas that are OK. If you have a wicked sense of humor though and like making fun of films then give it a try.