Following the success of Zombi (a Dario Argento retitled and recut version of George Romero's Dawn of the Dead), and Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2 (released as Zombie in the US, and unrelated to Romero's film), producer Franco Gaudenzi was looking to strike while the iron was hot and get another zombie movie out into theaters. So naturally, Gaudenzi approached Lucio Fulci about making another film, what would become Zombi 3. He agreed, and the end result is a film that is only partially Fulci's, despite his name being the only one credited, and one that he has said that he does not particularly like. Now, if the director doesn't like the film, why should we? The answer is we probably shouldn't, and it really isn't all that good. Still, there is something about this movie, and many like it that have an unexplained attraction for the horror movie fan.
Where to begin? Should I give you some of the weird history of the movie, or jump right into the story and related content? Perhaps I should start by saying, which would perhaps invalidate this review, that the DVD I have of the movie is defective, part of the disk is clouded, and the main film loses about 25 minutes out of the middle? The funny thing is that I do not feel that I missed much of the story. I believe my reaction would have turned out exactly the same. There are two sequences that I am sad to have missed: a zombie head that attacks from a freezer, and one of the zombie fodder characters losing her legs in a pool attack. Yes, I know this could cloud your feelings for my review, but please read on as there was some fun to be gleaned from the feature.
The story opens with a man stealing a briefcase containing a highly dangerous experimental chemical called Death1, which is being developed as a chemical weapon. What it does is turn those who come into contact into zombies, who in turn can infect those they come into contact with (well, those they don't eat anyway). The thief is chased, and ultimately injured, but not before he is exposed. He takes refuge inside a resort hotel, where more people are infected. Soldiers in white decontamination suits are sent to "cleanse" the area, meaning find the initial source and kill the rest.
The military men in charge of the cleansing decide the best way to get rid of the body is to burn it, thus closing the incident. Those of you who are familiar with these movies will know that is not a good decision, it is just a convenient way to spread the infection to a larger area ensuring a much larger outbreak of zombie-itis. These scenes are highlighted by the emphatic arguments of the lead scientist, laughable in execution and a wonderful source of unintended comedy.
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