Il ritorno degli zombi

Talk about a one-man vision! This film maybe very low budget with little to recommend it any department, but when taken into consideration that is was written, produced, edited, directed and starred the same chap, McCrann, the film becomes quite impressive. Chuck Austin McCrann was presumed dead on September 11th, but for us horror film fanatics who knew nothing of the man we have this cheap little zombie flick, known as Bloodeaters in the States to remember him by.

Filmed in the ‘ZOMBIE CAPITOL OF THE WORLD', Pittsburgh, this film also has regular Romero crewmember, John ‘Martin' Amplas as a double-dealing FBI agent. He and his colleague decide to dump their new herbicide, ‘DROMAX' on a cannabis crop, similar in theme to Return of the Living Dead. The dust settles on the harvesting hippies too. Soon these poor fellas are running around the country searching for different kind of munchies. The rest of Forest of Fear involves McCrann, his wife and brother frequently running from place to place escaping the carnivorous hippies; a mentally challenged kid and his older sister trying to find their parents who were previously killed by the ‘zombies'; a touch of comic relief between an unemployed alcoholic and his mouthy wife. There is the occasional scene of violence too, albeit not too graphic.

This isn't a great movie by any standards. The special effects, acting and cinematography all scream the word ‘cheap' in unison. But there is something in particular with the one-man vision, Pittsburgh country setting, John Amplas and its inclusion on the ‘Video Nasties' list, which make Forest of Fear rewatchable

Still not sure why this movie qualifies for the dubious video nasty distinction but aside from it being an amateurish production and abysmally acted, it features a coherent plot, generally well-executed suspense, and some effective makeup effects when a backwoods drug operation is disrupted by an experimental herbicide that turns the hippie cultivators into bloodthirsty maniacs.

Aside from the atrocious acting, lighting is the main challenge, the night-time scenes almost too poorly lit to be discernible. The other constant irritation is the not-so-subtle anti-government rhetoric which could've been jettisoned in the editing room, it adds no value to a film of this scale other than to make its inclusion seem glib and self-indulgent.

Low-budget 'redneck horror' is tedious at times, but the frequency of the violence almost compensates, the audience only left despairing at the sheer ineptitude of the victims as they repeatedly stumble their way into the waiting arms of the rabid cannibal hippies who've abandoned peace and turned to violence. Some of the gore scenes are quite effective (e.g. The bludgeoning at the camp site is quite brutal and realistic), whereas others are valiant efforts that don't quite execute as intended (e.g. The fountain of sauce spurting from the severed hand looks comical rather than scary).

If only there were a few more professional actors on hand (Amplas being the only name I recognised although his performance isn't one of his best), better lighting and a tighter ending, 'Toxic Zombies' might've been a minor horror classic. As it stands, whilst it's suspenseful and bloody and I'd choose it any day over today's Hollywood twaddle, it's going to be a little too amateurish to reach a wider audience and gain the appreciation it deserves.

Using the paraquat controversy as a plot peg, "Bloodeaters" is a very low budget horror pic joining the hundreds of gore films inspired by George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" hit. Pic was filmed in Pennsylvania in 1979 under the title "Forest of Fear".

A set of young criminals are harvesting a $2,000,000 crop of marijuana, when a Federal agency orders the forest sprayed with Dromax, an experimental herbicide. Chemical turns the sprayed humans into bloodthirsty zombie-like monsters who prey on unwary victims in the remote forest.

Film's main subplot deals with corrupt government agents, but by film's end the morality of heroes, villains and zombies is foolishly subordinated to audience-baiting "survival is everything" tactics.

Grainy 35mm blowup of a film shot in 16mm is a tipoff to the amateur efforts here on all artistic and technical levels. McCrann's corny script consists largely of vamping between gore scenes, with plenty of blood and ugliness for what used to be called the "slob" trade in the heyday of William Mishkin pix. Zombies emit dumb grunting sounds comically reminiscent of Soupy Sales' old White Fang and Black tooth tv sketches.

Acting in "Bloodeaters" varies from the monotone of nonpros to very hammy comic relief, the latter including Hariet Miller's turn as the shrewish wife of the cropduster. It is distressing to see John Amplas, who received critical kudos in the title role of Romero's "Martin" (shot in 1976) reduced to playing a stock heavy in another regional production.

My review was written in October 1980 after a Times Square theater screening.

Forest Of Fear is generally dull and boring with a few "decent" bits (note: decent doesn't always mean good!) The story starts off quite interesting but soon gets tedious. A group growing illegal drugs are sprayed with a toxic herbicide which turns them into bloodthirsty zombies. After this a lot of stalking around the forest and occasional gore follows. None of the characters are particularly interesting and you won't feel any sympathy when they die. The decent bits are when a man gets his hand severed, complete with spurting blood, and a few splatter scenes such as when one of the zombies is killed at the end. I wouldn't recommend watching it for this as you can find ten times as much gore in a Lucio Fulci flick. It has a typical synth score and a woman gets her breasts out.

I would only recommend Forest Of Fear if you're a backwoods slasher fan. It's not really for zombie fans as the "zombies" just look like regular people with makeup and dark circles round their eyes. It's a rare title too - unavailable on DVD, but old VHS copies appear on ebay from time to time.

One of the infamous video nasties that were banned in Britain, this one known as Forest of Fear, is still banned. It was released on video in the US as Toxic Zombies, and is also known as Blood Butchers. With all these names changes, maybe they can sneak it past the British Film Board.

It is a typical zombie movie. The government sprays some unapproved substance (DROMAX) on marijuana fields on government land, and it turns the pot growers into zombies. They start killing their friends that didn't get infected, then move to campers in the woods.

Lots of blood and body parts, but only one gratuitous nude scene (Debbie Link) before the whole thing starts as one pot grower is bathing out of a pail.

Cameo by John Amplas (Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Knightriders).

For zombie completists.