So next movie I have revisited is a movie I actually discovered thanks to Box who drafted it in the previous horror draft. I'm talking about FleshEater, a zombie movie from 1988 when zombie flicks started losing their appeal. The turkey score of 4,8 on imdb indicates it is bad according to the average Joe/Jane. It's trash indeed in the same league as Burial Ground who had been my favorite bad movie for awhile. However FleshEater actually is rapidly rising in my favorite trashranking.
What's the appeal of this zombie flick? It has a paper thin plot, there is hardly any character development. However it has a great pace, it's only like 10minutes before the 'head' zombie played by director Bill Hinzman makes a first victim. It's no Evil Dead but the gore is practical and the people behind these effects and make-up did great on a low budget. they elaborate on most of the gory parts in the 'making of'. It's enlightening and you can't feel unmoved by their enthusiasm and dedication. producer/assistant director Andrew Sands (also playing the dressed up vampire getting his nose bitten off) said FleshEater was the most fun project he participated in. And I think a lot of other cast members felt the same about it.
Fans of George Romero's Night of the Living Dead would recognize Hinzman immediately as zombie number 1, the first zombie attacking poor Barbra and her brother. Hinzman took the basic idea of his role added some witchcraft idea and moved the start location to the woods instead of a cemetery. He makes a first victim some more and everyone he bites will be infected and go on a human hunt as well. It's as basic as it gets but the movie actually never manages to be boring.
There is some more NOTLD moments like the young bunch hiding in a cabin barricading it but there is already an infected one among them (like Karen the little girl even though it takes a lot longer for her to transform). A couple eventually are forced to take shelter in an underground barn which is initially their savior. They manage to stay out of the claws the zombies several times however unwillingly leading them to other people who ain't that lucky. They eventually get a tragic ending like Ben, as one of the hunters mistakenly takes them for zombies. Oh yes and there is a big fire too not a car but a barn.
The movie feels pretty 80s, one of these things are gratuitous nudity. There is several scenes where breasts are exposed. The most memorable is the one where the eldest daughter (Susan Marie Spier) of a family of 5takes a shower, gets attacked and killed by Hinzman and later on returns to join in on the family feasting on poor daddy. Was this some kind of nod to Trash (Linnea Quigley) from Return of the Living Dead who spends most of the movie fully naked as well? The youngest daughter dressed as little angel was actually played by the director's own daughter Heidi. Bill said that short interaction he has with his daughter in the movie was his favorite moment. Of coursewho wouldn't love have their own kids join in on some human nibbling? The mother was played by Bill's own wife Bonnie. It was really a family project!
Yes this movie owes big time to Night of the Living Dead and it was all with the consent of George Romero himself. I'm really the last person who gets hot about tribute movies but this little flick, obscure trashy gem deserves more recognition. I works actually wonderfully as some kind of unofficial sequel to the Romero classic or the further adventure sof zombie number 1. I think it should be included in all future Romero's Dead trilogy boxes as a bonus.
Next revisit (probably): The Entity (1982)
