Customer Reviews

Vengeance of the Zombies

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Though not my favorite Paul Naschy film (Hunchback of the Morgue takes that prize), Vengeance of the Zombies is still a fun 1972 Spanish origin horror movie, given the most respectful treatment yet on DVD.

Highlights include some awesome music, hip London locations, Naschy in 3 different roles (Indian mystic Krishna (?!), his scarred evil brother, and Satan), cheesy (but effective) makeup and topless scenes from both Mirta Miller (Dracula's Great Love) and Aurora De Alba (Frankenstein's Bloody Terror).

The HD image transfer is absolutely flawless and looks like it was filmed yesterday, not 35 years ago. Really, it's amazing. Amazon says the image is widescreen, but it's fullscreen. There doesn't seem to be a loss of visual information, but I can't say for sure. Audio boasts a selection of Spanish w/ subtitles or dubbed English with a choice of mono or surround stereo.

I hope Deimos follows through with their plan to release Spanish horror classics Night of the Sorcerers and The Loreley's Grasp later in the year-they have done a real standup job here and deserve much praise and success for their efforts.

Buy it!

Horror legend Paul Naschy stars as the eastern mystic, Krischna. He's a laid-back guru dude w/ a mellow groov-itude. Unfortunately, his eeevil twin brother (Naschy) is not so meek. He's out to destroy those who have wrecked his life by raising nubile women from the dead and outfitting them w/ sheer, black, granny nightgowns! VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES is a rib-tickler from start to finish. Worth owning for any / all Naschy addicts! The dream sequence w/ Naschy as satan, complete w/ awesome antlers, is a classic!...

"La Rebelión de las Muertas" (a.k.a. "Vengeance of the Zombies" - 1972) is the latest film I've seen in my attempt to review every zombie/vampire/undead movie. "Vengeance of the Zombies" is a little plodding, yet enjoyable, Zombie movie. The plot is a bit convoluted, and I wouldn't even know how to begin to summarize it without confusing the reader. Simplifying it, a bunch of dead people are brought back to life by a vengeance seeking deformed Indian man living in London.

What strain of zombie are those seeking vengeance? These are voodoo zombie women with teased or bouffant hairdos. They are raised from the dead by burning blood covered plastic dolls, and they walk around in see-through cloaks. The make-up is basically different shades of gray grease-paint. These are slow moving zombies. Since they are voodoo-style, they are not infectious meat-eaters. Instead they are assassins sent to kill people, usually be choking them. They are brought to life and controlled by a guy in a really bad "V for Vendetta" costume. I give the vengeance zombies a slightly above average 6/10 rating.

The gore mostly consists of bright red fake blood. Most of the killings are from victims being choked or stabbed. There are a lot of fish-eye lens close-ups of zombie faces, which are kind of creepy since the zombie some of the women are not very easy on the eyes. Vengeance rates a medium gore/violence score of 5/10.

Of course, there is a fare share of the required zombie film gratuitous sexism and nudity. There are a couple of half-hearted sex scenes, and the zombie women walk around in transparent black nightgowns. Most of the movie the viewer will probably find themselves wishing that people would put on a few more clothes. Vengeance gets a gratuitous sexism and nudity score of 6/10.

Vengeance of the Zombies is very slow and plodding. The plot is not very consistent, and subplots pop in and out of the movie without meaning or context. At a certain point I began to wonder why they even bothered with a story. There was a really great dream sequences a third of the way into the film, and the finale was entertaining. On the boredom scale (0 being insomnia curing, 10 being '78 Dawn of the Dead) Vengeance of the Zombies gets a 5/10.

I didn't watch the film in the original Castilian, but the dialogue gets a 4/10 for being pretty standard European zombie movie dialog. +1 for a terrible overdub into English (that's a good thing) and +1 for the funky pre-disco free-jazz soundtrack. Overall, Vengeance of the Zombies gets an average 5/10 in my Zombie movie scale. It might be worth buying for the hardcore zombie fiend. Definitely worth renting for the more casual undead movie fan.

This is a highly entertaining Spanish chiller that I have enjoyed watching many times. Until this DVD release I've only seen crappy looking VHS copies so this remaster is a revelation. The picture quality on this is amazing and the hilariously out of place soundtrack sounds clear too and never fails to make me laugh. I'm just not sure lite jazz music belongs in a horror movie but it sure is fun when you've got friends over and your throwing back a few beers. Anyway this movie is just completely crazy and completely great and if you want to have some fun watch this with some friends.

I have to say this is the wildest Naschy movie I have seen yet.
The 'dream scene' where Naschy is Satan is a real hoot.

Plus the DVD itself is excellent quality and at a good price.

This movie is a mess. It's worthwhile for hardcore zombie movie fans (maybe) and for fans of Italian horror. For most everybody else, it is ultimately disappointing. This is a shame, because it has so many interesting pieces; that unfortunately, fit together poorly.

An Indian Fakir is offering enlightenment to the daughters of upper class British families. Said daughters keep "mysteriously" dieing and then being reanimated as zombies. One of the daughters (our protagonist) falls in love with the Fakir. This greatly irritates both the daughter's British "friend" (our male protagonist) and the Fakir's Indian girl friend. It doesn't do much to improve the mood of the Fakir's evil brother, either.

The director was trying for an intelligent zombie film with a twist. So we get Indian mystics and Fakirs, African voodoo, Scotland Yard, London in the 70s (not a typical setting for a zombie movie) and even a little political commentary on the end of the British Empire in India. There is a "secret" reason why the daughters of the families in question were targeted. There is definitely more "story" that you'll find in your average zombie movie.

Unfortunately, the whole is less than the sum of its parts. If you want to see a good "different" kind of zombie movie set in England (and Victorian England at that) check out "Plague of Zombies."

"Vengeance of the Zombies" is a Spanish film set in 1972 London. Paul Naschy wrote and stars in this film in a triple role: not only does he appear as Krishna, but also as Krishna's evil brother, Kantaka, as well as Satan. Krishna is a nutty guru who attracts an impressionable young woman, Elvira. After he moves into a house in the country that was previously owned by devil worshippers, Elvira pays him a visit. Elvira has a very surrealistic dream in which Satan holds dominion over the basement; the makeup here is a highlight of the film.

A psychiatrist and expert on the occult helps the police solve the mystifying cases which are all related to India, voodoo, and zombies (the morgue resurrection scene is particularly interesting). In the negative column are Krishna's intermittent "episodes" (which are really episodes of overacting) and the horrendous soundtrack which consists largely of percussion, organ, and guitars being played in different keys and time signatures. The opening and closing theme is an equally enchanting ditty featuring the worst scat I have ever heard.

The film is quite plodding and suffers from poor dubbing in which some of the character names seem to be subtly altered from the original Spanish. Overall it is not especially scary, but has a few interesting moments. The setting, swinging 1970s London, is unusual for a zombie movie, and is one of the more enjoyable features of the film. The acting is frequently amateurish, though, and the production values are not especially good, which, combined with the slow pacing, makes the film a challenge to watch (resist the tendency to fast forward, no matter how strong). Overall, it's worth two stars for incidental creativity.