Hell of the Living Dead
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Hell of the Living Dead'' ( it, Virus – l'inferno dei morti viventi) is a 1980 Italian
horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
directed by Bruno Mattei. The film is set in a laboratory in
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
that releases a dangerous chemical, turning the technicians and locals into zombies. A French news reporter (
Margit Evelyn Newton Margit Evelyn Newton (born Margit Gansbacher in 1962) is an Italian actress who appeared in fourteen films between 1979 and 1990. Newton is perhaps best known for her performance in the 1980 zombie film '' Hell of the Living Dead'' (also known as ...
) and her crew land on the island to investigate. ''Hell of the Living Dead'' was a project developed by producers and given to director Bruno Mattei, who attempted to create a film similar to '' Dawn of the Dead'' but lighter in tone. It was shot in five weeks in Spain with a script that was not Mattei's first choice and a score by the band
Goblin A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...
, taken from other film scores that the band had performed. The film generally received negative reviews, noting bad dialogue and its obvious derivation of 1978's '' Dawn of the Dead''.


Plot

At a top-secret chemical research facility called ''Hope Center'' #1, a rat causes a chemical leak and dies. As two workers investigate, the rat suddenly comes back to life and kills one of the men, who likewise revives and attacks his co-workers. Subsequently, the entire staff of the plant turns into flesh-eating
zombie A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...
s. A four-man team of Interpol
commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...
s, consisting of Lt. Mike London, Osborne, Zantoro, and Vincent, are deployed to eliminate a group of
eco-terrorist Eco-terrorism is an act of violence which is committed in support of environmental causes, against people or property. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines eco-terrorism as "...the use or threatened use of violence o ...
s who have taken hostages at the US Embassy in Barcelona, Spain. The terrorists demand the closing of all the Hope Centers, which both the government and the military deny exist. Under orders of the local authorities, the press does not publicize the terrorists' demands or mention the disaster at Hope Center. After another team pumps tear gas into the building, Lt. London and his three commandos burst in, killing the terrorists. Once the mission is completed, the team loses contact with ''Hope Center'' #1. Thinking that terrorists have infiltrated the complex, the team flies to
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
. There, they meet journalist Lia Rousseau and her cameraman Max, who are investigating a series of mysterious, violent attacks on the locals. While stopping at a native village, they encounter several zombies. The commandos and the journalists travel through the New Guinea jungle in the commando's jeep, trying to survive while evading the zombies. The group takes refuge at an abandoned plantation, only to come under attack from the zombie residents. The walking dead kill and eat Osborne, forcing the survivors to flee. Rousseau and London's men battle their way to a beach, escape by raft, and finally arrive at ''Hope Center'' #1, where they find all of the workers either dead or roaming the facility as zombies. The zombies kill Max and Zantoro and infect London. Rousseau and Vincent learn about the experimental chemical accidentally released, which is causing the zombie infestation. Rousseau theorizes that the chemical, codenamed "Operation Sweet Death", has been invented to curb the
Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...
population by driving it into eating each other. She vows to tell the world, but a horde of zombies – including their now zombified comrades – close in and devour the last survivors of the team. Sometime later, the zombie contagion has spread beyond New Guinea's borders and throughout the world. While politicians and scientists dispute the matter, a young couple in the developed world is attacked and devoured by a horde of zombies in a city park.


Cast


Production

Director Bruno Mattei noted that the production began as a specific request from the producer. Mattei planned to make a film inspired by 1978's '' Dawn of the Dead'', but wanted a lighter tone for the film. Mattei said that initially two screenplays were written, and that the producers rejected the screenplay that Mattei preferred. The film was Mattei's first to be made under the name Vincent Dawn, a request made specifically by the film's Spanish production side.
Claudio Fragasso Claudio Fragasso (born 2 October 1951) is a film director and screenwriter. Fragasso first attempted to make art films in the early 1970s, then became a screenwriter in the Italian film industry in the mid-1970s. Fragasso met director Bruno Matte ...
stated he wrote ''Hell of the Living Dead'' with Rossella Drudi, his frequent co-scripter. Fragasso felt there had been several zombie films made recently, and wanted to do something different after watching '' Dawn of the Dead'' suggesting the film would be like ''
Soylent Green ''Soylent Green'' is a 1973 American Environmental film, ecological dystopian thriller film directed by Richard Fleischer, and starring Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, and Edward G. Robinson in his final film role. It is loosely based on t ...
'' as well as envisioning the film as "an undead epic, a kind of ''
Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella ''Heart of Darkness'' by Joseph Conr ...
''". Among the cast was
Margit Evelyn Newton Margit Evelyn Newton (born Margit Gansbacher in 1962) is an Italian actress who appeared in fourteen films between 1979 and 1990. Newton is perhaps best known for her performance in the 1980 zombie film '' Hell of the Living Dead'' (also known as ...
as Lia. Newton recalled that she felt a great sense of responsibility at the time, playing the film's protagonist. Newton felt nervous in a scene involving nudity in front of the indigenous people. She asked that everyone be removed from the set, with only indispensable cast and crew remaining. The scene was shot in one day. ''Hell of the Living Dead'' was shot in 5 weeks. The film includes
stock footage Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...
to suggest that the film was set in
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...
. Fragasso stated that when the crew arrived in Barcelona to shoot the film they found they had no money and had to improvise and rewrite the previous script. The production had this footage from the beginning of shooting the film and had rebuilt some of the locations from the stock footage in
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
, where the film was shot. Fragasso commented on the use of stock footage in the film as producers wanted to reuse footage they had, which led to Mattei adding footage of a documentary ''New Guinea, Island of Cannibals'' into the film. Parts of the film were improvised on set, such as when a character enters a room imitating
Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...
in his film '' Singing in the Rain''. The score is credited to the band
Goblin A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...
, but is mostly taken from other film scores Goblin performed, such as ''Dawn of the Dead'' and ''
Contamination Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that spoils, corrupts, infects, makes unfit, or makes inferior a material, physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc. Types of contamination W ...
''. Mattei was a fan of their music and secured rights to it for the film through Carlo Bizio. Fragasso stated that the music was from other films and from their album ''Roller'' as
Goblin A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...
were too expensive at the time to get for an original score.


Release

''Hell of the Living Dead'' was released in Spain in November 1980 and in Italy in August 1981 and released in the United States in 1983. It was described as "moderately profitable" in Glenn Kay's book ''Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide''. It has been released under several titles, including ''Virus'', ''Night of the Zombies'' and ''Zombie Creeping Flesh''.


Critical reception

In a contemporary review, Steve Jenkins (''
The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...
'') noted that the possibility of a subversive subtext involving Third World victims corrupted by scientific research was "truly buried here in an orgy of flesh chewing and vomiting, as well as dialogue that beggars belief." The review commented positively that the film had unexpected pleasures, such as "the ludicrous attempts to dub speech on to stock footage (featuring humans) and a story, low-budget UN meeting consisting of a handful of delegates hurling pieces of paper at each other." From retrospective reviews, Glenn Kay (''Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide'') also noted the poor dialogue, as well as bad shot composition—with scenes changing from day to night between cuts, slow pacing and overacting.
AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...
described the film as "cluelessly bad" with a script of "dreadful characterizations and dialogue," noting that it would be enjoyed by fans of cult and trash cinema. John Kenneth Muir (''Horror Films of the 1980s'') stated the film was not enjoyable to watch and that it added little originality to the zombie genre in the vein of other films such as ''
Return of the Living Dead ''The Return of the Living Dead'' is a 1985 American comedy horror film written and directed by Dan O'Bannon in his directorial debut, and starring Clu Gulager, James Karen, Thom Matthews and Don Calfa. The film tells the story of how a wa ...
'' and ''
Day of the Dead The Day of the Dead ( es, Día de Muertos or ''Día de los Muertos'') is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely obser ...
''. Both AllMovie and Muir noted the film's similarity to ''Dawn of the Dead'', with Muir referring to it as "perhaps the most blatant rip-off of ''Dawn of the Dead'' ever produced". Mattei later expressed that he felt the film's dialogue was "pretty stupid" and that like all his films, he would reshoot it if possible. When asked how she felt about the film in 2013, actress Margit Evelyn Newton responded that "Obviously seeing it now, I would change some things. But that is okay. ''Virus'' has helped me get more work." Fragasso commented on the film later saying that the film "designed with lots of love, but in the end it came out a test tube baby, a kind of abortion ..But I'm satisfied with the end results."


See also

*
List of horror films of 1980 A number of horror films were released in 1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
*
List of Italian films of 1980 This is a list of Italian films that premiered or were originally released in 1980 (see 1980 in film). Footnotes References * * * Shipka, Danny. ''Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960-1980''. ...
* List of Spanish films of 1980


References


Footnotes


Sources

* * * * * * * * *


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hell of the Living Dead 1980 films 1980 horror films Apocalyptic films Films about cannibalism Italian zombie films Films shot in Spain Films directed by Bruno Mattei Films scored by Goblin (band) Films about viral outbreaks Spanish zombie films 1980s Italian films Italian exploitation films Italian science fiction horror films Italian splatter films Italian action horror films Films set in Papua New Guinea