Zombie 3 (1988)

When a terrorist's body, infected with a stolen chemical, is cremated by the US military, a virus is unintentionally released into the atmosphere over a small island.

Directors:

Lucio Fulci, Claudio Fragasso (uncredited)

Writers:

Claudio Fragasso (story), Claudio Fragasso (screenplay)

Stars:

Deran Sarafian, Beatrice Ring, Ottaviano Dell'Acqua

Cast

Cast overview:
Deran Sarafian	...	Kenny
Beatrice Ring	...	Patricia
Ottaviano Dell'Acqua	...	Roger (as Richard Raymond)
Massimo Vanni	...	Bo (as Alex McBride)
Ulli Reinthaler	...	Nancy
Marina Loi	...	Carole
Deborah Bergamini	...	Lia
Luciano Pigozzi	...	Plant Director (scenes deleted) (as Alan Collins)

Storyline

When a terrorist's body, infected with a stolen chemical, is recovered by the US military, the corpse is cremated, unintentionally releasing the virus/bacteria into the atmosphere over a small island. Soon the infected populace mutate into flesh-hungry zombies, and a trio of soldiers on leave must team up with a group of tourists and board themselves up in an abandoned hotel as they try to fend off the agile and aggressive living dead.

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Plot Keywords:

cameo | good versus evil | techno music | heavy metal | friends who live together | 

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Genres:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for horror violence and gore, and brief language

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian English

Release Date:

29 July 1988 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Zombie 3

Filming Locations:

Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

Company Credits

Production Co:

Flora Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min 72 min (heavily cut) 84 min (cut) (DVD edition)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Producer Franco Gaudenzi was worried about the film, and had second unit director Bruno Mattei brought in to work on the production with Claudio Fragasso in order to complete it. Mattei had been in the Philippines at the time filming Strike Commando 2 (1988).

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Goofs

15 minutes into the film, a room service boy enters the infected mans bedroom to bring him water. After he leaves, he asks a female colleague to clean the room. When she enters, it is clearly a completely different room.

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Quotes

Roger: [Roger runs out of ammo in front of a crowd of zombies] It's empty! Looks like I've had it!

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits appear over footage of three separate groups of characters travelling to the same destination (the helipad outside the chemical plant). All three groups converge once the credits end.

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Alternate Versions

The UK release (entitled Zombie Flesh Eaters 2), along with several other European prints, miss out a five minute pre-credit intro scene showing Dr Holder and his assistant trying to re-animate a corpse. This scene is included in the Japanese releases by Tokuma Video and Magnet DVD.

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Connections

References The Crazies (1973)

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Soundtracks

The Sound of Fear
Written by Mario Zaccagnini (as Zac) - Stefano Mainetti (as S. Mainetti)
Performed by Clue in the Crew

User Reviews

An entertaining Italian Zombie flick

Zombi 3 has an interesting history in it's making. Firstly, it is a sequel to Fulci's hit Zombi 2, with Zombi 2 itself being of course a marketing ploy to trick people into thinking it was a sequel to George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead aka Zombi. Confusing enough? Basically, none of the films have anything to do with one another, but who cares when they make money. I guess Fulci himself starting to not care about the production about half way through Zombi 3 when he decided to walk out. Bruno Mattei was brought on board to help pad the film with additional scenes to lengthen the running time.

Zombi 3's plot is your typical zombie fare. Scientists develop a serum on an island in the Philippines, terrorists steal it unleashing a plague, and zombie run amok. The scientists want to create an antidote, while the military is set on mowing down everyone without prejudice. There are also brief inserts of a Radio DJ preaching about how we treat the planet.

Overall, I actually liked this film. I heard horrible things, but I find the goofy dialogue quite enjoyable. The film seems to be an attempt at raising awareness about pollution, corrupted military, Man playing God, etc. I get the feeling this was at one point a serious film, but it veered off in a weird direction, presumably when Mattei came on board.

Besides ripping off other zombie flicks, this was very reminiscent of Romero's The Crazies. You hear the Radio DJ breaking the good news with, "When you see the men in white suits & gas masks, Run to them for Help." This is of course played to the images of the men in white gunning down zombies. Later, they straight up steal a scene from Crazies in which one of the regular, uncontaminated people is killed by mistake.

The gore factor is pretty good in this one with zombie hordes around every corner. How is it cool? Let me count the ways…1. Zombie Birth 2. Flying Zombie Head 3. Zombie Birds. 4. Zombie with no legs swimming in a pool. My favorite zombie was the machete-wielding maniac at the gas station. He was bad ass and nearly tore down the entire building trying to kill a girl.

Favorite Quote – When a sergeant insists on cremating a zombie, the scientists asks, "Don't you think that once the ash is in the air, it will fall to the ground, and contaminate everything?" To which the Sargeant boldly replies, "Now you're talking science fiction." He also continues to mention the "Science Fiction" told by the scientists even at the end when everyone dies.

Extras: Gallery, Trailers, and Interviews, most notably the one with Mattei where he insists he directed 40% of the scenes, yet cannot recall which ones or any other significant details.

Bottom Line: A must see for zombie and Fulci fans.

Rating: 7/10

Molly Celaschi www.HorrorYearbook.com MySpace.com/HorrorYearbook