Zombi (film series)

The Zombi series refers collectively to various European horror films that have been falsely marketed as sequels to either George A. Romero's Italian-American film Dawn of the Dead, (1978) or Lucio Fulci's Italian film Zombi 2 (1979). The latter was itself falsely marketed by the Italian distributor as a sequel to the former, against the wishes of both Romero and Fulci. A confusing history has emerged from the practise of retitling films for release in different countries, in which a given film may have a different title in each country in which it is released. In Britain, these films were released as the Zombie Flesh Eaters series. In North America, these same films became known as the Zombie series.

Zombi (film series)
Directed byGeorge A. Romero
Dario Argento
Lucio Fulci
Release date
CountryItaly
United States
United Kingdom
Thailand
LanguageEnglish
Italian

For the European release of Romero's Dawn of the Dead, the film was re-edited by Dario Argento, and re-scored by Goblin, and retitled Zombi. Following its success, a zombie film by Lucio Fulci that was already in production was retitled Zombi 2, to appear as an ersatz sequel. A series of increasingly tenuous efforts by various producers to capitalize on the Zombi name ensued.[1]

Series by region

Italian series

The Italian series starts with Dawn of the Dead and is followed by Zombi 2 and its officially released sequel.

British series

In the UK, the series is known as Zombie Flesh Eaters. While it follows the Italian series in proper order, it ignores Dawn of the Dead as the first entry, and instead starts with Zombi 2, adding the unrelated film Oltre la morte as a third installment.

  • Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979) (Italian title: Zombi 2)
  • Zombie Flesh Eaters 2 (1988) (Italian title: Zombi 3)
  • Zombie Flesh Eaters 3 (1988) (Italian title: Oltre la morte, a.k.a. After Death)

German series

The German series, like the Italian series, starts off with Dawn of the Dead, but ignores Fulci's Zombi 2 (which was released separately as Woodoo), and instead continues with Day of the Dead and the Italian Zombi 3.

  • Zombie (1979) (original title: Dawn of the Dead)
  • Zombie 2: Das Letzte Kapitel (1985) (original title: Day of the Dead)
  • Zombie III (1988) (Italian title: Zombi 3)

Thai series

The Thai Zombi series follows the titling and numbering of the British series, but adds the unrelated film Killing Birds with the new title, Zombie Flesh Eaters 4.[2]

  • Zombie Flesh Eaters (Italian title: Zombi 2)
  • Zombie Flesh Eaters 2 (Italian title: Zombi 3)
  • Zombie Flesh Eaters 3 (Italian title: Oltre la morte, a.k.a. After Death)
  • Zombie Flesh Eaters 4 (Italian title: Uccelli assassini, a.k.a. Killing Birds)

American series

Although the American series begins with Zombi 2 and continues in the established sequence, some of the films were re-titled again and the titles do not follow in numerical order. Zombi 2 was renamed Zombie, but Zombi 3 was still renamed Zombie 3 rather than Zombie 2. Two additional films were released on home video with titles that would imply that they were sequels, but which had nothing to do with the Italian series.

  • Zombie (1979) (Italian title: Zombi 2)
  • Zombie 3 (1988) (Italian title: Zombi 3)
  • Zombie 4: After Death (1988) (Italian title: Oltre la morte, a.k.a. After Death)
  • Zombie 5: Killing Birds (1987) (Italian title: Uccelli assassini, a.k.a. Killing Birds)

In the 1990s, several unrelated titles were released as Zombie sequels by T-Z Video (a.k.a. Edde Entertainment) These titles were as follows:

  • Zombie (1979)
  • Zombie 2 (the same film as Zombie)
  • Zombie 3: Return of the Zombies (1973) (original Spanish title: La orgía de los muertos, a.k.a. The Hanging Woman) (starring Paul Naschy, directed by José Luis Merino)
  • Zombie 4: A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973) (original French title: Christina, princesse de l'érotisme, directed by Jess Franco, with additional scenes, directed by Jean Rollin, added for re-release in 1981)
  • Revenge in the House of Usher: Zombie 5 (1982) (correct title: Revenge in the House of Usher, directed by Jesus Franco). The words "Zombie 5" were added to the video box only (in very small letters in error), not on the film print itself.)
  • Zombie 6: Monster Hunter (1981) a.k.a. Absurd (which is itself a pseudo-sequel to Joe D'Amato's Antropophagus)
  • Zombie 7 (Joe D'Amato's Antropophagus (1980) a.k.a. The Grim Reaper)
  • Zombie 8 (1975) a.k.a Night of the Seagulls

Other films
  • Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974) has also been released as Zombi 3 – Da dove vieni?.
  • Zombie Holocaust (1980), also known as Doctor Butcher, M.D. has also been released as Zombie 3; it stars Ian McCulloch, who also appeared in Zombi 2.
  • Nightmare City (1980) has been released as Zombi 3.
  • Another film to bear the name Zombie 3 is Andrea Bianchi's Le notti del terrore (1981), a.k.a. Burial Ground.
  • Panic (1982), a.k.a. Bakterion, is known as Zombi 4 in Greece.
  • Pulgasari (1985), a North Korean film, allegedly released in Pakistan as Zombi 34: The Communist Bull-Monster.[3]
  • Zombie '90: Extreme Pestilence (1991), a.k.a. Zombie 2001: Battle Royale; has also been released as Zombi 7. It was directed by German Andreas Schnaas
  • Zombie 1 (1995), a.k.a. Zombi 1, is a short film by Dutch director Richard Raaphorst available on the film anthology Nether Horror Collection

References
  1. Russell, Jamie. Book of the Dead. FAB Press, 2005 ISBN 1-903254-33-7.
  2. http://www.ethaicd.com/show.php?pid=54149
  3. "Pulgasari (1985) Release Info". IMDb. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
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