Dawn of the Mummy - 1980

 Also known as Zombie 6.  Also, again, a Video Nasty.

I might be done.  I have been unable to find Revenge in the House of Usher...(moments later) okay I just found it online however I'm going to proceed because I may or may not actually get around to watching it on my laptop cuz FUCK that.  We'll see.

Dawn of the Mummy is stepping into one of my favorite subcategories, Egypt lore.  Some people are killed with poison gas, cut to the future and a crew of explorers the tomb and unknowingly raise the dead mummies to now begin coming after folks.  It's interesting to me that the line between mummy and zombie is quite thin, yet again I prefer something else over zombie.  Maybe its the rags, in this case its certainly the setting, I dunno dude I've just never been the biggest zombie dude.

I'm slightly surprised this would be labeled a Video Nasty because nothing that crazy happens in it.  I could be watching the censored version that has about 2 minutes less of footage, not sure what was on Tubi.  Probably.  There's a cool head chopping sequence and some decent gore effects and that's all fun and good.

So a lot of these were a relative breeze, I believe I watched 11 new movies in order to complete the "series".  Links?  Oh man.  I dunno about that.  Lets see here.  How about this, you can have these and you can do the rest yourself, because they're all more recent.   Oasis of the Zombies, Vengeance of the Zombies, Nightmare City, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, Burial Ground.

Fuck. I skipped A Virgin Among the Living Dead.  Okay, well, that's next.

Anthropophagus - 1980

 Also known as The Grim Reaper, Zombie 7,  and The Savage Island.

Gorefests like this also fall into my long ago project of watching Video Nasties, which could very well be my next series...hmmm...I do remember wanting to watch all of them.

Anthropophagus is a made up word essentially combining words for human and eating, meaning human eater.  Rarely does a made up word sound so legitimate and good, and its a good level place to start from for this movie, a low budget and insane gorefests which somehow consistently overachieves.

Its perhaps because of minimal scope, in a setup that is often seen but I still like.  Couple of people come to a small remote community, everyone is either standoffish or completely absent and the mystery builds.  Its slasher-esque in having some continual deaths while we build mystery and finally the killer is full on after our main characters and he's a bloody freakish weirdo played by George Eastman.

In the strictest sense this is the least "Zombie" movie as he is never stated to be undead and is instead a freaky cannibal man who is truly monstrous sure, but no zombie.  He does some insane shit, and this movie is known for the scene where he rips a baby out of a woman's vagina and eats the fetus.  Gooood stuff.

So minimal in scope and lots of gore keep this thing movie, and it elevates as a decent entry into the franchise and really more of a slasher than I expected.  4 stars.

Hell of the Living Dead - 1980

 I wonder if, with zero research being done at this moment, the Zombie series has an entry directed by every known Italian horror schlockmeister?  Its a bit of a long list, but also it can be short depending how you define it.  Jess Franco, Bruno Mattei, Lucio Fulci are three big ones, most lists would include them.  Michele Soavi, Lamberto Bava, Claudio Fragasso, these guys would appear on some lists but not all...  anyways, interesting to think about.

Also known as Virus, Night of the Zombies, Zombie Creeping Flesh, Zombie Inferno, and lots of others including Zombie 4.

I'm lucky I chose Zombie as a series, because really I am almost done with this as a series number one, but number two the films listed as connecting to Night of the Living Dead is way bigger than the Zombie series.  Nope, not starting that.  In fact I don't know what's next for me, but it will certainly be something different.

Hell of the Living Dead is pretty low on the totem pole as far as these things go.  They could not afford Goblin to make a new soundtrack so they simply lifted songs from other movies.  They spliced in footage from a documentary about Indonesia to make it seem more real...  It was basically not really trying.

That said, its not highly differentiated from several of these other Zombie movies.  It has decent effects, it has female nudity, it has cannibals and zombies both, in a plot extremely similar to Zombie Holocaust.  Eh, I mean, you could do worse...could certainly do better but could do worse.

Zombie 90: Extreme Pestilence - 1991

 You know, I would not have put it past this movie to title it Zombie 90 not because it was made in the 90s but because it was sorta saying 89 other Zombie movies had been made.  And not because they were claiming a legacy, more that they did zero research and figured there had been 89 of them.

Also known as Zombie 7 and Zombie 2001: Battle Royale.

This is the type of thing where the director had previously made a series of movies called Violent Shit 1-3, and made a rip off sequel to Anthropophagus.  They're trying to get viewers and keep them by being purposefully bad to a degree here, I have to think, and by being meta and or intentional with exactly what this is...  This is made to be low class stupid low budget schlock, so it should be judged that way.

Zombie 90 is also the type of movie where it now has a permanent joke of an English dub on it.  Apparently the story goes that the composer did all the voices himself and made them incredibly stupid, and the director was like "yeah perfect" and left it all in.  They also changed the dialogue to a large extent, having characters talk about taking shits and other stupid bullshit like that.

The plot is really third or fourth down the list of things this movie is concerned with, it is basically that two doctors unleash a new disease that makes zombies, and yeah whatever now there's zombies all over coming after people.  There's nonstop zombie violence from minute one, and though its amateur as all get out and the large majority of the "comedy" doesn't work, there are a few moments like the baby kill scene that might illicit a mild chuckle or smile from ya.

This falls into a weird category for me with rating.  It sets out with a specific intent and does achieve it, its just not ever been "my thing" and at less than 90 minutes still feels long.  It's one tone (or less) and if you are into it you're into it, but for me...uh... 3 stars.

Panic - 1982

 Also known as Bakterion, Monster of Blood, and Zombie 4.

I was composing this whole thing in my head for a lead in to this review about what makes movies good, or at least better, than others.  I don't feel like I need to exactly spell it out for you though.  Memorable characters, smart dialogue, cinematography, like if you don't know this stuff than watch more movies.

But the reason I was thinking this was because a lot of the zombie movies I've been watching have had nothing really worth mentioning, and that another way of saying that none of those things I mentioned or the other commonly held aspects of what make a movie stand out were present.  Thus, those without the standout parts have to be evaluated more upon things like effects, or pace, or even just something like "well, how bored were you?  Really bored?  Or only kinda bored?"

I'm trying in a roundabout way to determine why I liked Panic more than some of these others.  What can I say, it had some standout sequences, a cool ending, good effects, some topless (and bottomless) female nudity...  I mean maybe this is part of criticism, which is to say overall I'm sure its hard to make a movie, but also we're not asking for that much.  It just has to grab us in some way and more often than not that can be relatively up to you the filmmaker to give us whatever, as long as its something.

So in that way Panic stands out and overachieves in just a small way, not as big as some, but it is good.  In the scope of lookalike zombie movies, see this one.  4 stars.

Night of the Seagulls - 1975

Another case where the movie in question came out before Zombie and all the others and was retitled in various ways to capitalize on the popular event.

The Blind Dead has been on my list for a long time, and realistically I do believe I saw at least one of these movies at some point but I guess I did not leave a review.  This one is also known as Don't Go Out and Night, Night of the Death Cult, Zombie 7 and Zombie 7: Last Rites.

The reason this one stands out, lets start there.  I have to admit that in these reviews for the Zombie series so far I'm running into a lot of pretty whatever average zombie movies that seems to have very little one can say about them, very little to call out.  They've been running in the 2.5 star range which is to say "yeah sure" but ultimately to also say "I dunno".  

Number one, atmosphere.  The dark shadows, the strange eerie minimal music, the cool location of the island they're on.  But more than that the effects.  My god the effects.  I will watch all of the Blind Dead series even if this is the only one to carry a "Zombie" moniker just because of these effects.  A mix of puppets and costumes, you have these awesome fucking dusty, cobwebby zombies in cloaks with swords and armor and FUCK does it look incredible!  They're also present in the entirety of the short movie.  Don't have endless dialogue about the presence of the zombie.  Show the zombie, and keep the movie short.  This is barely 90 minutes and that should be your target always.

Its also the little stuff.  Any movie with quick editing helps, the super echo-ey sound effects help a ton, and I love the way the zombies are somewhat intelligent but not too much.  They know when to look under a bed for example, they know to avoid fire, but they also cannot see everything and they don't understand a danger before its known to them.  

Watch it in the context of the Zombie phenomenon or not, but do watch it.  You know in its relative circle, it can have a full 5 stars.

The Hanging Woman - 1972

 La orgía de los muertos (translated as Orgy of the Dead) a.k.a. The Hanging Woman (US theatrical release),.   Beyond the Living Dead, Return of the Zombies and Bracula: Terror of the Living Dead.  Regionally titled as Death Chorus of the Skeletons, and re-released in Germany on March 1, 1977 as Die Bestie aus dem Totenreich / The Beast from the Death Realm. It was shown in the U.K. as Zombies - Terror of the Living Dead, in France as Les Orgies Macabres, and in Australia as Bracula, Terror of the Living Dead, The Naked Goddess of the Zombies.

This one's going for the belt.  Nothing on Wikipedia as to what Zombie number this was and where it was titled that.   I wonder if I could've skipped this one?

There it is!  It's also a Zombie 3.  This and many others were made before the original Zombie, and they were retitled for either redistribution or I guess for video release?  I'm not really sure and nothing specifies.  How could this be Zombie 3 years before Dawn of the Dead and before Zombi?

This film The Hanging Woman is a lot more in the vein of the Hammer Horror films, with stuffy Brits talking a lot and slow plot movement in a old cold looking castle like building.  Something about a man who saw a hanging woman that people either seem to deny entirely or minimally dismiss.  It likely has something to do with the devil worshipping cult and the creepy gravedigger that are both present in the town, just my guess.

I give it a pretty solid 2.5 its very run of the mill for "this type of thing" but even in that lens, its on the mildly not as good side of things as far as Hammer Horror is concerned.

Absurd - 1981

 Also known as: Anthropophagus 2, Zombie 6: Monster Hunter, Horrible, and The Grim Reaper 2.

Perhaps more relevant than Zombie 6: Monster Hunter is the alternate title Anthropophagus 2. That would be because the first Anthropophagus has the same guy in it, George Eastman. Aka Luigi Montefiori. This dude is a veteran of Italian horror, usually in small roles, and I’ve seen him around plenty. 

This is also something that could have the alternate title of snagging basically any contemporary slasher and throwing a 2 in back of it. The zombie connection I guess comes from the plot so let’s go. 

George Eastman is infected with some disease and goes to the hospital. During his operation he gains consciousness and is drugged up. Then this keeps happening and soon enough it’s clear he’s unkillable and he raises from the dead with a vengeance and starts killings people. 

It works like a methodical slasher from that point on, and really it’s like the later Halloween or the later Friday the 13th series where these guys were basically unkillable and/or zombies. It really made me wonder, when they brought Jason and others back as truly unstoppable, was the horror trope they were ripping off truly zombie/undead horror movies there? Interesting. I had always just thought of it as them being creative and jumping the shark, not specific to copying something else  

Strange movie, definitely a bit of a one off from everything I’ve seen.  Anthropophagus is also given the name of a Zombie movie here and there in the world of horror so maybe this is similar to that.  I’ll have to watch it again to judge.  Some good kills here, some good gore, I’ll give it a 3.5

Doctor Butcher M.D. - 1980

In addition to the title Zombie Holocaust, the film has since been released under various other English titles, including Island of the Last Zombies, Queen of the Cannibals and Zombie 3. - Wikipedia

Okay so when it makes sense I'll call these their Zombie names, I said, but then I realized I'll have many entries titled Zombie 3 or whatever, some even with the same year....  so that can't work.  So I guess I'll waffle back and forth on what I call them?  I'm not sure yet.  Anyhow I like that the title of this movie is sorta Doctor Butcher Medical Doctor.  I mean, MD is doctor, so...

Same release year as Cannibal Holocaust, so I'm not really able to tell what happened here as Zombie Holocaust has no release date.  But I'm guessing this was released after and retitled when Cannibal was a hit.  This is the classic buncha people get to an island and nefarious stuff is going down plot.  There's a mad doctor on the island conducting human experiments that bring people back from the dead, but also there's a local tribe of people that are cannibals, and that's really the focus of this movie.

The other focus is topless female nudity, and man is it good.  Here is all I could find though, sadly:

The reasons are both plot and non-plot related for her to be partially or fully nude a LOT.  Again, it was good.

Pretty okay effects with plenty of gross out gore and autopsy scenes, this one checks some boxes but does not overachieve.  This is your very definition of like "average Italian 80s cannibal movie".  Oddly enough it is only now that I realize that though I am into zombies, not into cannibals, but also how closely related those two are and yet I have differing opinions.  

I'll give this a 3 out of 5.

Zombie 5: Killing Birds - 1988

 Funny how this listed year of Zombie 5 is before the listed year of Zombie 4 huh?  Almost like they're not really true sequels...

Also known as Zombie Flesheaters 4, naturally.

This Zombie entry is almost universally titled Zombie 5: Killing Birds, and I have seen and heard the title before, though not seen the actual movie until now.  The legacy of this one is a little bit mixed as it was attributed to different directors and was shifted around a little bit more than some of these.

You can't really tell though, cause I'll tell you straight out this is better than Zombie 4.  This has better music, is more quickly paced, has better effects, and even has a couple very cool sequences such as the scene where the guys are all trying to escape in a van and a zombie is holding onto a girl by her head.  This movie also has Robert Vaughn playing a blind guy, who is intermixed into the plot and plays a role in the zombies existence in this movie.

There's a somewhat loose connection to birds as well, but honestly you can just tune a lot of this stuff out and watch the zombie violence, which is fun and nonstop. This movie is definitely a step up and a fun one to watch regardless of it's Zombie connection.

From here it's going to get complicated.  Oasis of the Zombies, Vengeance of the Zombies, Nightmare City, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie and Burial Ground are sometimes labeled with the Zombie name.  So luckily I don't have to watch those.  Looks like I'm jumping to the Blind Dead series, as sometimes those carry a Zombie name, and that's kinda nice cuz I have wanted to see that series.  But last few times I looked for those, they weren't online.  So we'll see.

Zombie 4: After Death - 1989

 Also known as After Death and as Zombie Flesh Eaters 3.  Just FYI I am going to call all these unofficial Zombie sequels by their Zombie name.  Just for the sake of making things easier.

Claudio Fragasso is kind of in the same ballpark and same vein as Lucio Fulci, which is to say B and C tier Italian schlockmeisters that directed tons of horror movies in the 70s, 80s and 90s.  Fragasso is best known for directing Troll 2, and has been on this blog before with Women's Prison Massacre, the other type of movie he made: exploitation.

Just in a few minutes of IMDb scrolling I see Fragasso made unofficial Italian entries into Texas Chainsaw, the House series, obviously Zombie, need we mention Troll.  

After Death has a group of people landing on a mystery island and uncovering a sinister plot of voodoo and witchcraft that bring people back as zombies.  I like zombie and or monster movies where those monsters are known in the world, the movie is not filled with people exclaiming "Oh my god they're like dead but not dead?" instead it's just straight up "they're zombies!"

It's kind of strange because there's zombies from the beginning and yet midway through the movie the group also reads from the book of the Dead and unleashes a spell that brings more back from the dead - I thought they were already coming back from the dead?  I dunno.

After Death is also known for starring a male porn star, apparently unbeknownst to director Fragasso.  Fragasso also stated that this was “the last gasp of Italian horror" and it's kinda true and very sad.  I know there's Asylum and other similar D grade ripoffs that are still made now, but stuff that was made cheap in foreign countries with many degrees of mistranslation and blatant copyright infringement and all that just doesn't seem to be around anymore.  I'd love to see a modern Italian sequel/ripoff of Us released starring a gay porn star and tons of topless women with kickass electronic music again...

As far as this actual movie goes, however, it's not going to blow your mind or anything.  Its a tad too long and too plodding without anything really happening for most of it besides just mild zombie horror.  The effects seem to be cheap minimal face and neck scabby, blotchy skin.  Nothing really good.  Its alright, pretty tame and perhaps not the best or most interesting.  2.5 stars.