Guest Author - Andy Boxall

AKA: Burial Ground, The Nights of Terror, Le Notti del Terrore, The Zombie Dead.

Director: Andrea Bianchi
Starring: Karin Well, Peter Bark, Maria Angela Giordano and Gian Luigi Chirizzi
Region 0, Japan Shock release.
Out Now

A particularly beardy professor uncovers more than old fossils on a dig near a huge mansion. He has invited several couples of the younger (and less bearded) variety for the weekend and soon they are fighting the undead that the professor has awoken. Shockingly, this skimpy plot is not the worst thing about Zombie 3, no, there is much worse to come.

The movie opens with the plot exposition prior to the title (in this print it was The Nights of Terror) and with that out of the way director Bianchi slips in some softcore exploitation to remind anyone who has heard of him of his roots. Then the living dead start to flood the mansion and every single member of the cast suffers a hideous fate. Not that the DVD cover didn’t warn you though, stating on the reverse ‘in which everyone dies!’

Make no mistake, Zombie 3 is a bad, bad film. The direction is lazy, the characters pure cliché and the plot miniscule. None of the characters seem to be bothered that zombies surround the mansion and none make any sane decisions about what to do, including being perfectly happy to send servants off on their own to perform menial tasks! Add this to the tiresome, lingering shots of nothing in particular and Zombie 3 becomes a very challenging 80 minutes or so.

Of course, this being a cheap horror film, the fact that it is not very good has no bearing on whether it’s worth watching or not. The first plus is the zombies themselves, the rotting make up is very good and the director has no problem zooming in and showing it off. Secondly come the rest of the effects and seeing as 90% of the cast meets a nasty end, there is a lot to showcase. Check out the scythe assisted beheading for some impressive ingenuity! One Gianetto De Rossi dealt with the make-up, a regular over at the Lucio Fulci zombie camp.

The last and best reason to watch Zombie 3 is Michael. This is the part of a young (10 years old maybe) boy played by a man way over 20 years old, complete with imitation squeaky child voice. This on its own should have you tracking the movie down, but the actor, Peter Bark, looks so shockingly scary that at times he detracts from the zombies! His performance and some of the disturbing things his character does (up to and including trying it on with his mum!) seals Zombie 3’s fate as a trash classic.

The Disc:

This single disc version is a Dutch release on the Japan Shock label and is a nice effort. Naturally for such a cheaply made film the extra material is lacking, but they do include an informative and amusing essay that explores a little about the director and the making of the movie. Otherwise a dubious trailer, which is a spliced together effort of the gorier moments in the film, plus a small picture gallery, is your lot.

Picture quality surpasses what would be expected and although it gets a little dark and there are traces of dirt on the print, it does the job well enough. The soundtrack is stereo and seeing as it consists of either bursts of the cool score or screaming it’s sufficient.

Conclusion:

Perhaps this review should end in a similar way to the movie, which just stops dead at a point where further money would have been required and flashes up a dodgy English phrase. Here goes: The profecy (sic) of watching the nights of terror is too come true! Beware the burial ground and 20-somethings impersonating pre-pubescent boys!

NOTE: Not to be confused with Zombi 3, AKA Zombie Flesh Eaters 2, by Lucio Fulci and Bruno Mattei. Don't you just love Italian cinema!