NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and more DAWN OF THE DEAD, unleashed a mass, slow staggering hoard of monster films that took the undead everywhere and anywhere. Some films of the zombie genre were really good. Trampling over the bloated corpse of Romero’s savage monsterpiece were ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS, THE BEYOND and coming up a close third, HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD. The first two were acclaimed maestro Lucio Fulci work. He has been written about by many and I am not going down that road of self rewarding oinks and millenial screaming fits.HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD was helmed by travelling B movie director and gore munching delighter Bruno Mattei, its the sort of knock off that is more than the sum of its body parts, entrails and eye balls. Gloriously fun, it is less a research piece which will uncover details about the genre, region or why the video nasties were so irratically moronic, more it will let you see how low budget film making, targeting cinema and video, often used any trick in its broad play book, to deliver. So with a new sensational 4K UHD presentation (it really is indeed), its time to return to the tropics and investigate the outbreak of the living dead in Papua New Guinea.

A secret plant is testing something that might prove utilizable as a weapon or maybe it might make nice and tasty burgers. No one is sure. Then a deranged murder spree sees that its likely that the test is producing some horrid monster, flesh eating types. Reporter (Margit Evelyn Newton) is on the case. She wants to know what is truth and lie in Papua New Guinea. She was told that monsters are killing people. Now her and her trusted cameraman (Gaby Renom) are following a squad of commandoes to find out. The problems start quickly. Staggering shells of humans are everywhere and in order to try and stop it, guns are proving poor. Add to this a set of unexpected monster incarnations in a zombie priest, granny, child and even a rat! This is going to be tough going! As the brains and blood flow, the island becomes more and more deranged and the hope of a story that will be a world exclusive moves to the hope of survival. With everything out to get them, it is likely that they might not achieve either…

88 Films have started with a stonkingly great box, with art work that leaves no one unaware of the films highlights. Graham Humphreys will be the vision of this generations adoration of the past and I suspect a documentary or two will appear in the foreseeable future. The 4K Remaster from the Original Negatives has a lot to live up to and does. The reason I say this is that there are five very poor copies of the film in circulations (3 on Youtube and 2 on DVD). The Blu ray that 88 films sent out a few years back, was refreshing and I liked it very much (a review is around here). But I noted that the colour and texture were off a little and that this bleached a few of the later, interior scenes. Well now this has all but been corrected. It still feels bleached a little in the white light but I am now leaning toward DOP fails prehaps (the demands of a quick turn around). The commentary by Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth is excellent. Howarth gets grief from idiots who are couch experts and social media warriors, but he has the knowledge, works hard and delivers detail. He also makes it translated to a casual viewer and, importantly, is not in love with his own voice (or ego). The interviews were average and didnt stir me but the Attack of the VHS Zombies, is a great extra that makes a case for zombie films and a little background to why they matter both in this films case and for film lovers.

Limited Edition contents

• Limited Edition Slipcase with artwork by Graham Humphreys
• A3 fold-out poster with artwork by Graham Humphreys and Original Italian Poster Artwork
• Booklet notes with new writing on the film by Francesco Massaccesi
  
• 2 Disc Set

UHD contents

• Brand new 4K Remaster from the Original Negatives presented in High Definition (2160p) in 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
• HDR Grade
• LPCM 2.0 English Mono
• LPCM 2.0 Italian Mono with newly translated English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary with Italian Genre Film Experts Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth
• Original Trailer

Blu-ray contents


•  Brand new 4K Remaster from the Original Negatives presented in High Definition (1080p) in 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
• LPCM 2.0 English Mono
• LPCM 2.0 Italian Mono with newly translated English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary with Italian Genre Film Experts Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth
• Beauty and the Dead – An Interview with Margie Newton
• Poor Zombies – An Interview with Claudio Fragasso
• Vincent and Clyde – A 2022 Interview with Claudio Fragasso
• Writing the Dead – An Interview with Rossella Drudi
• Attack of the VHS Zombies
• Original Trailer
• Reversible sleeve with newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys and original Italian poster

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