In the grand tradition of other resurrected corpse stink-fests from the mid 1980's, such as "THE VIDEO DEAD", "FOREVER EVIL", "I WAS A TEENAGE ZOMBIE", "RAIDERS OF THE LIVING DEAD" and "HARD ROCK ZOMBIES", Gold Gems Ltd. kindly presents "ZOMBIE NIGHTMARE" (a.k.a. "THE LAST VIDEO ON THE SHELF").
After a promising opening credit sequence, featuring the strains of Motorhead's "Ace Of Spades", it seems the film can do no wrong. The overall result is a film that's never as good as it wants to be and ends up falling extremely short of it's early promise. To put it mildly, this ain't exactly "THE LION OF WINTER", but it'll do.
Everyone's favorite steel-bending rock god thespian, Jon Mikl Thor of the aptly-named metal band THOR, plays a dork in a hooded sweatshirt who becomes victim to a hit-and-run by Tia Carrere and Co. His mother calls upon the neighborhood voodoo priestess, played by Manuska Rigaud (think Karen Black and Tina Turner's lovechild on PCP), to resurrect her dead son, so he can wreak revenge on the tire-squealing curlies. One by one, the no-good teenagers meet their end by the hands of the zombified dork in the hooded sweatshirt.
Halfway into the film, Adam West makes a welcome appearance, playing the local police chief who may have something to do with the intricate proceedings. Well, I won't give anything away here! Let's just say, if your name is Ronnie Milsap, you'll never see it coming! Think "THE USUAL SUSPECTS" with Manuska Rigaud. Get the picture?
For those who may ponder Adam West's involvement in such a film, allow me to put it into perspective, how many actors can say they've worked with The Three Stooges AND Jon Mikl Thor? I rest my case.
Thor went on to star in a whole 'nother nightmare, "ROCK 'N' ROLL NIGHTMARE" (a.k.a. "THE EDGE OF HELL" or "Hey, I rented ZOMBIE NIGHTMARE, and when I got home to play it, this tape was inside"). If "ZOMBIE NIGHTMARE" is good, then "ROCK 'N' ROLL NIGHTMARE" is DAMN good... or, maybe not.
I recommend watching both films back to back and then running around naked in a chicken coop, with petroleum jelly on your feet, for three hours. Compare the experiences and get back to me ASAP. Thanks.
