This Italian, tropical ripoff of "Return of the Living Dead" by Lucio Fulci and Bruno Mattei was an awful, awful movie, but the story of its troubled production is much more interesting than the film itself.

Back in the 80s, some Italian filmmakers figured out that you could hang out in the Philippines to make movies incredibly cheap, all while blissfully ignoring every OSHA rule in the book. None were more successful at this than the studio employing director Bruno Mattei and writers Claudio Fragasso and Rosella Druidi. They made "Terminator 2" (no connection to Terminator), "Cruel Jaws" (no connection to Jaws), and countless other crazy, ballsy knock-offs of Hollywood hits. But their producer suddenly had a bout of ambition and wanted to produce a sequel to Lucio Fulci's legendary "Zombi 2" (which itself had no connection to Zombi, Italy's rename for Romero's "Dawn of the Dead"). So he dispatched Fragrasso and Druidi to Italy to write a script for "Zombi 3" and convince Fulci to direct it. Amazingly, they succeeded on both counts.

However, the problems began as soon as Fulci arrived in the Philippines. First, he was handed a budget many times smaller than he had been promised -- too small to complete the script as he, Fragrasso, and Druidi had envisioned it. Preparation was all over the place. He also had terminal liver cancer and other health problems, and the tropical heat and humidity was almost more than his failing body could handle. There was even an armed revolution going on in the country during the shoot, though not near the places where they were filming. In the end, the movie Fulci shot was still only about 70 minutes long (too short for the 90-minute minimum), so in a moment of legendary pettiness, he apparently filmed 20 minutes of footage of characters rowing canoes around and hopped back on a plane to Italy with two middle fingers proverbially in the air at the Filipino/Italian producers.

The producers were horrified at the extended canoe footage, which they knew was unusably boring, so they asked their mainstays Mattei, Fragrasso, and Druidi to do their magic and somehow redo enough of the movie to finish it. This required Fragrasso and Druidi to add scenes that fit with what Fulci shot -- but not the expensive scenes that they originally envisioned that had to be cut. They had to come up with something new on the spot to fit the bastardized end product. Somehow, they succeeded. Meanwhile, Mattei had an even bigger problem -- of the entire cast of the original movie, he was only able to convince 2 or 3 actors to return to the Philippines to do the reshoot. Amazingly, like an absolute madman, he managed to successfully add 20-30 minutes to the movie using only those three actors, an extended prologue, and many scenes with masked military personnel. Against incredible odds, the movie was successfully finished and released.

To be clear, it's a TERRIBLE movie, and not especially enjoyable even in the "so bad it's good" kind of way. "Zombi 3" has excellent makeup and special effects and a killer soundtrack, but those aren't enough to counteract its negatives. There is zero internal consistency with what the zombies can do or how they behave, disbelief gets snapped so often that it sounds like a bowl of wet Rice Crispies, and many scenes with the masked military personnel have them lining up like they're almost too tired to walk before lining up to shoot down zombies. (In that heat, wearing overalls, it was entirely possible the exhaustion was real.) In the commentaries I watched after the film, everyone gives Fulci credit for the heart and soul of the film... which, if I were them, I wouldn't want to claim it, either. It should not be possible for a movie with this many explosions and death to be tedious, but somehow it manages it for long stretches. Yet, at the end of the day, it's a *finished* film, and I believe one that made a decent profit.

In my book, this movie is a true credit to Mattei, Fragrasso, and Druidi, and a black mark against Fulci. I am far less impressed by the lackluster film he mostly put together and left to rot than by their herculean rescue of a seemingly-doomed project. Sometimes the ones who get a production over the finish line are not the sensitive artists, but the commercial workmen with a gift at getting things done on time and under budget... no matter how many zombies, actors, and vital plot points they have to blow up to do it. If you see this film, I highly recommend the outstanding release by Severin Films that contains extensive behind-the-scenes commentaries that tell the tale I mentioned above, plus more besides.

Fulci's horror film about infected people on bersek and causing wreak havoc on a island in the Phillippines . A group of scientists at a top secret research center are experimenting with a chemical compound called 'Death One' and attempting to to obtain an antidote. When a terrorist's body , infected with a robbed chemical , is recovered by the US military, and being cremated , a virus/bacteria is unintentionally released into the atmosphere over the small island. Then the commander-in-chief (Mike Monty) orders to kill all people around. Along the way, three U. S. Army soldiers on holiday from their base , are driving around in their jeep. They are Kenny (Deran Sarafian), Roger (Ottaviano Dell'Acqua as Richard Raymond), and Bo (Massimo Vanni as Alex McBride). The three soldiers meet a group of three young tourists . Soon after , they board themselves up in an abandoned hotel as they attempt to fend off the nimble and aggressive living dead . But they are extremely afflicted by the stalking , vicious and agile flesh-eating stiffs relieved .

This medium-budget terror motion picture deals with a group of soldiers and other unfortunate people who run into a pack of infected populace coming back to life by mutating into flesh-hungry zombies , an astonishing epidemic that reanimates them and while terrorizing an unnamed Philippines island . Gory , eerie , pretty repellent , and ghastly cannibal feast in which violent flesh-eating stiffs , zombies-lookalike cause massacre , destruction , slaughter and gory attacks . This creepy horror movie dealing with an ever-dwindling group including an unrelenting shock-feast laced with an army of Zombies appearance roaming here and there , throughout the countryside , villa, military installations and some people besieged inside a hotel delivering the goods , enough to be interesting . Lucio Fulci's success is regularly directed with startling visual content and atmospheric production design ; furthermore special mention for excellent make-up . This frightening movie is plenty of thrills , chills , high body-count executed by the eerie Zombies and photographed in pallid color with lurid images and scary results . This is a so-so excruciatingly Zombie film where the intrigue, tension , suspense appear threatening and lurking in the sunny outdoors , dark nights and every room , and corridors from a gas station , a house , a van , research facility , power plant , jungle and many other places . At the time considered the plus ultra of thoroughly disturbing movie is less stomach-churning for nowadays's standards , yet its fundamental power to thrill remains undiminished . Watch for the great highlights as skull which flies out of the freezer , the infected birds attacking the passengers on the van and other Fulci's marks who repeats ad nauseum . There're some familar faces of the Italian-B series ,such as : Ottaviano Dell'Acqua , Massimo Vanni , Luciano Pigozzi or Alan Collins nicknamed the Italian Peter Lorre , Robert Marius, Mike Monty , and writer Claudio Fragasso and assistant director Bruno Mattei have brief cameos as soldiers in the crematorium scene . Like many Italian movies filmed at the time and release anyway , most of the actors provided their lines in English language and were then re-dubbed for the international markets .

This genuinely frightening story with correct utilization of images-shock in which the camera stalks in sinister style , being adequately photographed by Ricardo Grasseti on location in CBK Power Company Plant, San Juan, and Pagsanjan, Philippines . Creepie and frightening musical score by Stefano Mainetti , in Goblin style , composed by means of synthesizer . The motion picture was middlingly directed by Lucio Fulci , but he had to leave the shooting , that's why he suffered a heart stroke . Producer Franco Gaudenzi asked second unit director Bruno Mattei and writer Claudio Fragasso to take over the director's chair , both of them stayed in the Philippine Islands at the time filming : Strike Command I and its sequel Strke Command II . Lucio Fulci did not love the storyline for Zombi 3 (1988) which he considered to be "terrible", as he wanted to change it but the producers refused. Italian Lucio Fulci made other good terror films as ¨ From beyond¨ , ¨House by the cemetery¨ and ¨New York ripper ¨ deserving cult status. Critics are divided over both the moral and talents of Fulci (1927-1996), who sometimes directed under the alias Louis Fuller. For some reviewers many of his flicks are extremely cruel and savage , yet their gory surface often concealing social, religious , or provoking commentaries or other thoughful , intelligent issues . Nevertheless , most of them considering his works have undeniably provided a considerable influence on the terror genre , creating decent efforts on low budget flicks . Standing out his ¨Don't Torture a Duckling¨ deemed to be one of his best pictures . In 1979, Fulci's film making career successfully another high point with him, breaking into the international market with ¨Zombi 2¨ (1979), an in-name-only sequel to George A. Romero's Zombi: Night of the Living Dead (1978), which had been released in Italy as 'Zombi'. And his big hit ¨New York Ripper¨ , at the time rated as a video nasty , due to it and why the excessive extra violence was heavily cut or prohibited in a large number of countries . With this film established Fulci as a gore director par excellence . Over the next three years, Fulci plied his trade with finesse and flair-play , rivaling even the popularity of his "opponent" the great Dario Argento, with such sanguine classics as ¨City of the Living Dead¨ (1980) and ¨Beyond¨ (1981). These films, as well as the reviled "New York Ripper" (1982) are actually intelligently crafted, with sound commentaries on everything from American life to religion. In Zombi 3 (1988) he creates a rare Zombie thriller that manages to be both scary and skilfully made , but average . Rating : 4.5/10 : very mediocre , it's just one long unrelenting cannibal feast and average budget horror movie that still packs a punch for those who like to be terrorized out their wits.