Directed by Lucio Fulci, Zombie 3 is another in the long line of zombie horror flicks to come out of Italy. This one does not have a lot to do with the other Zombi movie, known as Zombi 2 in Europe, and Zombie Flesh Eaters elsewhere around the world (also directed by Fulci). In true spirit Zombi 3 does provide more of the same zombie mayhem that the title implies. Filmed in 1998 this gives Fulci some time to capitalise on the advancing technology and hopefully a bigger budget. Unfortunately I don’t feel he did either. The film feels like a huge waste of potential.
To me, this brings flash backs of “Day of the Dead”. The plot revolves around a lab / military experiment where by strange substance the scientists are working on, called “Death One” leaks out and makes its way through the local philipino population. The disease turns its hosts into flesh craving zombies. Obviously from then on in the blood, guts and flesh start flying. Pretty simple plot really so no need to into any major detail.
This is still firmly rooted in the B grade subsection of Zombie films. Its not in the same league as “Dawn of the Dead” or “Day of the Dead” if you’re new to zombie flicks I’d say stick withe the Romero Stuff. Those are the classics. The acting in this has some really hammy moments, there’s some good examples of gore, and theres some shitty stuff in there too. The video capture seems to be a little on the “VHS” side of things despite the film coming from 1989 its doesn’t seem to have a lot of definition. The musical score is a fairly typical Italian horror score. So no complaints there.
Overall this isn’t bad, but there’s no real need to venture this far into the underground unless you’ve seen all the better zombie flicks and still crave for more. Not to say this is bad, its just a little less than I’d expect from Fulci as a genre leader and mainstay.
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SOME PRODUCTION NOTES
Now this is where it gets confusing. In Europe, Dawn of the Dead was originally released as “Zombi”. In 1979 Fulci directed “Zombi” which in Europe was known as “Zombi 2” to ride the coat tails of the “Dawn of the Dead / Zombi” Success. Now this one, the sequel to Zombi is branded as “Zombi 3”. I felt the need to clarify this because for years I thought I was missing the movie “Zombi 2” from my collection!
The other thing you need to know is that it appears that Lucio Fulci did not complete the directorial duties for this film. It was completed / co directed by another Italian Horror director, Bruneo Mattei who’s work I don’t really feel stands up to Fulci’s. It’s unclear whether it was Fulcio’s health Issues or creative differences that forced the split. But lets face it this isn’t the greatest of zombie movies