Synopsis: Terrorists steal a nerve toxin from a secret military base, which accidently gets into a city's water supply, turning the inhabitants into cannibal zombies. Meanwhile, a trio of soldiers on leave help a group of teens stranded in the outskirts of town fend off the zombies. A DJ at the town's only working radio station provides philosophical commentary.

Now for the Zone's Eye View:

By Scott Maravilla

Director: Lucio Fulci/Bruno Mattei

Starring: Deran Sarafian, Beatrice Ring, Richard Raymond, Alex McBride, Ulli Reinthaler, Marina Loi, Deborah Bergamini, Alan Collins

In 1979, taking advantage of the popularity of George Romero's Dawn of the Dead and liberal Italian intellectual property laws, Lucio Fulci directed his gorey opus Zombi 2 (released State-side as simply Zombie). Dawn had been released the prior year in Europe under the title Zombi thereby leading to Fulci's pseudo-sequel. However, a funny thing happened on the way to the cannibal luau, Zombi 2 became a cult hit in its own right. And with Mia Farrow's thespian sister Tisa lending her talents to the production, how could it not? 

Zombi 3 is exploitatively titled to cash in on the popularity of 2 as it has nothing to do story wise with its predecessor. Zombi 3 was a troubled production from the start as Lucio Fulci was ill throughout filming, and production had to cease on a couple of occasions in order to allow the director to recover enough to continue shooting. The final product is co-credited to director Bruno Mattei (Hell of the Living Dead aka Night of the Zombies), but was actually completed by writer Claudio Fragasso, Mattei's long-time collaborator. Fragasso, himself, went on to write and direct Zombie 4: After Death. 

The film opens very atmospherically, thanks to a green tinted lens, with two scientists testing a top secret chemical agent called Death One on a cadaver. At first the experiment appears to be a failure, but then the corpse is reanimated. It begins to mutate and breaks out of its glass containment chamber screaming. Not wanting to continue with the project, the lead scientist, Professor Holder, resigns. 

While the army is collecting Death One, the research facility is attacked by an unidentified rival power. The invading forces attempt to steal Death One, but, instead, one of the soldiers becomes contaminated with the agent after a stray bullet pierces its container. The infected man takes refuge in a nearby hotel where he mutates into a zombie and murders a housekeeper. Of course, not before he graphically cuts off his own hand as it begins to change.

The army arrives at the hotel in full anti-contamination gear, and round up all of the guests and staff. The general in command of the operation orders, safely from headquarters of course, to "eliminate everyone there" and "bury them in a mass grave." The body of the infected man is returned to headquarters and cremated. Smoke containing the toxin rises from the crematorium to infect a flock of birds which, in turn, begin to infect the local populace. Hilarity ensues.

In a genre lacking in originality, it comes as no surprise that Zombi 3 fails to break any new ground. But this is unoriginal even by the standards set by its brethren. It is basically a more serious version of Dan O'Bannon's Return of the Living Dead with echoes of Mattei's own Hell of the Living Dead. Despite this, Zombi 3 is just good old fashioned icky zombie fun. The film features some innovative gore sequences like a woman giving birth to a zombie baby that eats the mid-wife and a flying zombie head. If you're wondering how it is able to fly then you are thinking too hard. Anyone who enjoys Italian zombie and cannibal films will like this entry. If you are somewhat averse to the genre then this isn't the film to convert you. 

The good folks at Media Blasters continue to bring us through their Shriek Show line imports of horror films which had otherwise been available in the United States only as bootlegs of varying quality. Like the other discs in the Shriek Show line, this one is chock full of extras to satisfy the Euro-horror enthusiast including interviews with Bruno Mattei, Claudio Fragasso and some of the stars of the film. In one of the more unintended amusing parts of the extras, the interviewer of Marina Loi asks "Do you remember your first time with Lucio Fulci?" Oh…you mean her first time acting. And I thought we were going to get the juicy behind the scenes gossip. There are also trailers, talent biographies and liner notes. However, the notes are in such small script you need a zoom option on your player to be able to read them without getting a headache. 

Both the picture and sound are of excellent quality. The film is presented uncut in anamorphic widescreen transfer with 1.85:1 ratio and dolby digital sound. My only gripe with the disc is one that I have of DVD releases of the genre in general. I would like to see an optional Italian audio soundtrack with English subtitles in addition to the crappy dubbed version. I am a purist and prefer my films as they were intended to be seen by domestic audiences. Companies should take a page from the releases of The Beyond and Blood and Black Lace which feature such an option.

Overall, this is an excellent disc and a valued addition to one's hardcore horror film library. Those especially enamored by Italian gore flicks of the 1980s will be happy that Zombi 3 is finally available in the States. However, the average viewer with none of the appreciation for the genre might want to give this a pass. I give it a 4.