Zombie Flesh Eaters

[krakenslayer]

Kraken, The link you posted doesn't appear to work. What time is this presentation on Monday at? Is there still tickets available? Clue me up my young friend. Looks like they moved the page. Try this one: http://www.gft.org.uk/content/defaul...&date=5/4/2009 I think there're still tickets left, but I'd advise you to book it online or over the phone as I have a feeling it might sell out before Monday.

[MagicMoonMonkey]

I will ask the wife if I can go in the morning. If I get the nod, I will email you and meet you there.

[capncnut]

Apparently, though, he is now a bit reclusive and lives and very rarely agrees to talk about the horror movies he did Except when he's on the Italian Invasion panel at Chiller And when he came to London...

[krakenslayer]

I will ask the wife if I can go in the morning. If I get the nod, I will email you and meet you there. Cool beans, man!

[krakenslayer]

I will ask the wife if I can go in the morning. If I get the nod, I will email you and meet you there. Didnae see you there matey! Did you not get the thumbs up? You missed youself, it was great! Just got back. Had a fantastic time. McCulloch was a complete pleasure to listen to - very eloquent and funny with many interesting anecdotes and more than willing to put up with the most inane comments from certain sections of the audience (including one guy who wouldn't shut up about how much he hated Contamination). He was even so gracious to sign my ticket. And he gave me his pen (it ran out after he signed my ticket). It's a "Bic Cristal Clic".

[MoonSylver]

Contamination[/I]). He was even so gracious to sign my ticket. And he gave me his pen (it ran out after he signed my ticket). It's a "Bic Cristal Clic". Very cool KS. "Zombie" is one of my favorite non-Romero zed films, & McCulloch was awesome in it. I wish he'd made more horror flicks. There was something about his cool charm & dry wit that made him different than the typical horror leading man.

[MinionZombie]

Sounds like a cool time, kraken. Any highlights from his answers?

[krakenslayer]

Sounds like a cool time, kraken. Any highlights from his answers? He was pretty funny: Q: "So working in all these European horror films, how did that affect your career from then on?" A: "I never worked in feature films again." He also read out some hilariously scathing reviews of his acting in Zombie Flesh Eaters that he found on an internet forum (not this one ). He spoke about how, after shooting Survivors, he was acting in rep in Plymouth for such a small sum of money that he was effectively subsidising the theatre when he was offered the role in a film that would pay $12,000, take him to New York, Rome and the Dominican Republic, and allow him to bring his girlfriend along. The film was Zombie and that was how he got into movies. He talked about his suspicions that Contamination was actually co-funded by the Italian mafia and a Columbian drugs cartel. He also complained that in all the Italian films he did, with with so many naked and scantily-clad women running around, he never actually got anywhere with them on-screen, except when he had to rescue a topless Auretta Gay.

[MinionZombie]

He was pretty funny: Q: "So working in all these European horror films, how did that affect your career from then on?" A: "I never worked in feature films again." He also read out some hilariously scathing reviews of his acting in Zombie Flesh Eaters that he found on an internet forum (not this one ). He spoke about how, after shooting Survivors, he was acting in rep in Plymouth for such a small sum of money that he was effectively subsidising the theatre when he was offered the role in a film that would pay $12,000, take him to New York, Rome and the Dominican Republic, and allow him to bring his girlfriend along. The film was Zombie and that was how he got into movies. He talked about his suspicions that Contamination was actually co-funded by the Italian mafia and a Columbian drugs cartel. He also complained that in all the Italian films he did, with with so many naked and scantily-clad women running around, he never actually got anywhere with them on-screen, except when he had to rescue a topless Auretta Gay. Cool info, it must have been an entertaining day.

[ryansson]

Well finally got round to ordering the 25th anniversary edition of this, getting pretty scarce now in the UK and have seen it online for £50+ but managed to grab a copy for £16. Just read a review of this edition though and it gets slated as it's been cleaned up too well making the SE's look dreadful. Anyone care to comment who has this ?

[MinionZombie]

Well finally got round to ordering the 25th anniversary edition of this, getting pretty scarce now in the UK and have seen it online for £50+ but managed to grab a copy for £16. Just read a review of this edition though and it gets slated as it's been cleaned up too well making the SE's look dreadful. Anyone care to comment who has this ? Really? I thought the 25th Anniversary print was rather spiffing (I've got the R1 disc).

[ryansson]

I guess some people might prefer the grainy effect of the original, looking forward to seeing it all cleaned up myself. Not seen the other two films, any good?

[MinionZombie]

ZFE2 aka Zombi 3 is kinda funky. It's really daft and all over the shop, but it's still kinda good. ZFE3 aka Zombi 4 I've only seen once - okay in general. ZFE1 aka Zombi 2 is the one you really want to spend your time on though. Fulci seemed to put some actual effort into Zombi 2, but he then did Zombi 3 and he just seemed like he couldn't be arsed most of the time with that flick, I have to say.

[krakenslayer]

In terms of plot, themes and atmosphere, Dawn and Zombie are quite different. On the business side of things, Zombie nonetheless received a boost in popularity by riding Dawn's coat-tails, and there is some debate as to exactly how far the producers went to grab those coat-tails. Apparently the movie was already in pre-production around the same time Dawn was being prepped for release, but that doesn't mean the producers didn't hear that Dario and Claudio Argento were working with George Romero on a zombie movie and, and since at that time everything Argento touched became Italian box office gold, decided that they too would have a slice of that potentially lucrative pie. It's also unknown how much the script changed between the initial story concept (which was, I believe, a far more old-school I Walked with a Zombie-style voodoo-oriented horror film) and the final shooting script. Specifically, were the extended scenes in the US always part of the story, and did the story always end with what is easily construed as a lead-in to the opening of Dawn of the Dead (effectively turning the film into a prequel to Romero's series)?

[krakenslayer]

I guess some people might prefer the grainy effect of the original, looking forward to seeing it all cleaned up myself. Not seen the other two films, any good? Good is not the word, but entertaining in their own way. Claudio Fragasso (the director of Troll 2, which has been called "the best worst movie ever made") was involved in both of the "sequels", so that should give you a fair idea of what to expect. I use the term "sequel" very loosely since both Zombi 3 and Zombie 4: After Death (called Zombie Flesh Eaters 2 and 3 over here) have even less to connect them than Dawn and Zombi 2 (aka Zombie Flesh Eaters 1). ---------- Post added at 07:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:55 PM ---------- Talking of prequel-y Dawn things, the Japanese theatrical Dawn supposedly had a scrolling text intro (I think it might've been approved by Romero, not sure) that explained the zombie uprising as the result of a meteorite hitting the Earth. This was confirmed by Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima, who was in attendance at an early 80's screening. I had heard that before. I always wondered why they didn't stick with Night's suggested explanation of a returning space probe bringing back something nasty from Venus, if they felt they really must have a sequel.