A chemical leak at a plant in New Guinea causes the staff--and all of the natives--to turn into zombies. An anthropologist/TV reporter and a SWAT team are stuck on the island fighting for their lives. If there is such a thing as zombieploitation, this Italian movie is it at its worst. It "borrows" from "Dawn of the Dead" (and it sounds like it even uses snippets of the Goblin score), but leaves out or misuses all of the intelligent things that made DotD such a success. The plot and characters are so incredibly inconsistent and the editing is horrendous. It does have a high disgusting gore factor, and some impressive make-up effects (but some awful ones too). The child zombie in the beginning munching contentedly on his father's insides was simultaneously hilarious and sickening. What makes this the most bizarre zombie flick is that the footage of the New Guinea people is apparently taken from some old anthro documentary. One moment the picture is grainy and you see people performing their tribal ceremonies, the next the picture is clear and they are zombified and attacking our "heroes." Sometimes it is inappropriate (a woman eating something is edited to become a woman eating human flesh), and other times it is simply boring and filler (countless shots of animals in the wild). All that said, I think zombie movies are like pizza, and if you think so too, you'll find this one entertaining enough and it might even be funny with a buncha friends. And alcohol. My Rating: 3/10
Review of Hell of the Living Dead
