Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Zombie 3 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 30, 2018

George A. Romero is often credited with reinvigorating the (un?)dead zombie film genre with Night of the Living Dead, but in contextualizing both Zombi 3 and Zombie 4: After Death (also known simply as After Death), it may be helpful to think back to an earlier era of zombie film as exemplified by I Walked with a Zombie. That 1943 film didn’t posit “homegrown” members of The Walking Dead (so to speak), but instead provided a spookily exotic Caribbean locale laced with a subtext of slavery and voodoo. While there’s not exactly the same idea running through either of these films with at least some input from Claudio Fragasso, there are jungle locations and a feeling of being somewhere well outside of urban environments. Kind of amusingly, Zombi 2, released stateside on Blu-ray as Zombie several years ago, was evidently intended to act as an “unofficial” sequel to Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, since Romero’s film was released overseas as Zombi (got that?). Zombi 2, which bares more than a few passing similarities to “old school” zombie films like that aforementioned Val Lewton outing, was the creation of Lucio Fulci, and Fulci at least began Zombi 3 (there are varying accounts of what happened, including one given by Fragasso in a supplement on Zombi 3). One way or the other, Bruno Mattei and Fragasso stepped in to either finish or at least append material to (depending on which version you believe) the film. Fragasso himself served as director for Zombi 4, and once again a certain “old school” voodoo aspect plays at least a part in the plot proceedings.

Zombie 3 departs from some “traditional” (or maybe “neo-traditional”) zombie movie formulations by actually positing a reason why there are ooey, gooey flesh eaters wandering the landscape, with an opening vignette which documents the development of a serum rather presciently called Death One, one which perhaps unsurprisingly causes “zombie-ism”. The first part of the film seems to be focusing on the doctor and nurse engaging in the experiment, but sometime later the film takes a detour of sorts after the serum is stolen and infections begin accruing.

The detour ends up involving a bunch of other people on an unidentified island, with some “official” army types and other apparent visitors ultimately teaming up to confront the rising zombie hordes. There are a number of really well done sequences in the film, including what might be termed Patient Zero (or maybe more accurately Patient One), chopping off his own hand as the infection takes hold. Later, when a corpse is burnt, the ashes end up infecting birds, leading to another rather effective sequence that may have you thinking twice about approaching apparent roadkill. Another fun moment comes toward the end of the film and involves a pregnant woman in labor who is already showing signs of the infection and whose attempts to give birth play a little like an iconic scene in Alien.

There are a lot of pretty hyperbolic pull quotes on the back cover of this release, but perhaps the most salient of them calls Zombie 3 "pure daft entertainment". If approached with an appreciation for a generally lo-fi atmosphere that is still able to support some nicely done makeup effects, Zombie 3 may not in fact reach classic status, but it's often fun in an unabashedly gonzo way.

Zombie 3 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Zombie 3 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The back cover of this release doesn't provide a whale of a lot of information on the transfer or its source, stating only that it's a "2K scan" and that the film is "uncut for the first time ever in America". There's rather wide variability in a number of aspects that we cover in our reviews, and so perhaps more than usual my 3.5 score above is an "average" of sorts. The grain field has rather wide variances, clumping at times in understandable moments like the optically printed credits sequence, but then more or less disappearing at others, as in the helicopter theft sequence that follows the credits, a relative absence that leads me to believe some noise reduction may have been applied here, at least in places. Some of the lab material is bathed in red and green tones, and there's a later green hued sequence, and fine detail levels fall rather dramatically in these moments. Clarity is pretty variable as well, with some moments (typically brightly lit outdoor scenes) that I'd personally score closer to the 4.0 mark, but with other (mostly but not entirely interior) scenes looking fairly murky and ill defined. A long mist shrouded sequence starting at around 40:00 presents the roughest looking moments both in terms of general clarity, detail levels and compression. On the whole, though, colors pop rather well throughout, and the gruesome makeup effects look appropriately ghastly, though flesh tones can look a little on the pink side at times and some of the green soldier uniforms don't really resonate too vividly. The elements used for the transfer do show fairly regular if minimal signs of age related wear and tear.

Zombie 3 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Zombie 3 features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track that has good fidelity but the almost hilariously loose sync that post-dubbed Italian films tend to. Even though some (maybe even most) of the actors seem to have spoken English during the shoot, the match up of lip movements to dialogue is haphazard at best. Stefano Mainetti's effective score offers quite a bit of bombast, especially since it features percussion instruments so prominently.

Zombie 3 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Last Zombies (1080p; 18:49) is an interview with Claudio Fragasso and Rosella Drudi, evidently done at the same time as the one included on Severin's recent release of Violence in a Women's Prison. In Italian with English subtitles.


• Trailer (1080p; 2:51)


• Tough Guys (1080p; 4:55) features interviews with actors and stunt performers Massimo Vanni and Ottaviano Dell'Acqua. In Italian with English subtitles.


• The Problem Solver (1080p; 8:30) is an interesting piece with "replacement director" Bruno Mattei. In Italian with English subtitles.


• Swimming with Zombies (1080p; 4:30) is an interview with actress Marina Loi. In Italian with English subtitles.


• In the Zombie Factory (1080p; 5:51) is a really fun interview with FX artist Franco di Girolamo, who demonstrates things like shoving scissors into prosthetic hands to make them bleed. In Italian with English subtitles.


• Audio Commentary with Stars Deran Serafian and Beatrice Ring

Additionally, a Soundtrack CD is included.

Note: I typically use my PC drive and PowerDVD to determine resolutions on supplementary material. While Zombie 3 booted fine in my standalone players, it had a devil of a time in my PC drive. The first time I got an overpowering grinding sound and everything froze. The second time I once again got the overpowering grinding sound for about five to ten seconds, but that then abated and the disc booted fine. I have stated on numerous occasions that I find PowerDVD to be one of the buggier programs I've ever used, and this well could have been an issue with the program, but I'm mentioning it in case anyone else encounters any difficulties with their disc.

Zombie 3 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Zombie 3 is one of those releases where I'm almost guaranteed to get questioning (if not outright angry) responses from viewers, with fans asking how I could give this "only" a 2.5, and newcomers to the film asking why I gave it any stars at all. You have to approach both Zombie 3 and its follow up with the appropriate (low?) expectations, and just go with the flow. For those who like their gore effects extremely gorey, Zombie 3 more than fills the bill, and even though certain plot elements are definitely derivative and the overall acting acumen is (at best) "not ready for prime time", the film still offers some distinctive features. Video has some hurdles (not as many as Zombie 4), but audio is fine, and the supplements outstanding for those considering a purchase.