User reviews

A boatload of people run into `technical difficulties' and are forced to dock on a strange island where the dead are heard screaming. They join up with some survivors running from the zombie hordes infesting the island. It seems that some odd years ago the island was a research center where the world's top scientists gathered to defeat man's worst enemy…death. But during the experiments it seems that the scientists tried to cure a young girls' disease and end up killing her instead. Unfortunately for them her big bad voodoo daddy takes it personally and opens the third doorway to hell. One girl survived the zombie onslaught and now as a woman must unlock the secret that will close the gate to hell.

The script in the end is way too disjointed. It seems that whenever the scriptwriter came up with something he would just half hazardly throw it in and hope for the best. The action/ adventure element was a nice touch and kept the pace flowing nicely. As what seems to be a common factor in Italian zombie movies we get a soft-focus look that to me is quite annoying at times. Add to the mix a rather lush jungle, at times a choking (and blinding) fog and a synth score that owes a great deal to John Carpenter and you get a above-average but rather plain (and sometimes funny) zombie flick. The makeup effects aren't anything to write home about but the zombies are relatively intelligent (they even shoot and talk) and chew the scenery with mucho gusto.

A word of advice to anyone who couldn't get through the endearing badness of Zombi 3--go no further! Zombie 4: After Death is much worse. Let's just say that whenever neon laser effects turn up in a zombie movie my level 5 crap alert goes off. Zombie 4 somehow lacks the elements that made Zombi 3 entertaining and comes off as boring--and the worst thing a bad movie can do is be boring. A cute girl vacationing with some soldiers-for-hire (don't ask, I don't know either--maybe she's an A-Team groupie?) returns to an island she escaped from as a child. In the back story we see her scientist family upset a voodoo priest and he proceeded to wipe out the whole island in a fit. Of course the zombies are still there and the group quickly gets surrounded...you know the rest. A little statue necklace that looks like the one Peter wears in the Brady Bunch in Hawaii episode figures into it somehow, but whatever it was supposed to do fails miserably as none of the girl's lame attempts at recalling the dead ever work. Only confirmed bad zombie movie addicts should try this one. Or fans of weird mercenaries with very bad teeth and Village People mustaches; I do believe this had one of the strangest looking casts I've seen in a while!

This movie (?) doesn't really have zombies...they are more like Talking Ninja Ghouls and doesn't really have actors...they are more like people off the street. Almost has a 'porno-like' quality and feel to it. Also, has way too much back-story and way, way too much over explanation. In a nut shell, it goes something like this...some scientists on an island are trying to create the cure for cancer but they create some kind of reanimation formula and to top it off...they let this voodoo guy's daughter die...so, the voodoo guy sends his wife to hell and she comes back as a demon-like thing and everybody tries to run away, but the Ninja Ghouls get them...oh except for this little girl who wobbles away then starts to stop wobbling...but she continues and somehow finds a travel agent and gets off the island (I'm guessing because they don't show this). Anyway, I guess, we flash forward to when this little girl is all growed up, but I don't know because nobody says so and they don't even have the little '20 Years Later' graphic appear on the screen...where was I? Oh yeah, so, this growed up little girl comes back to the island...I'm not sure why...to find her parents bodies or something? But she came prepared...she has a bunch of angry army guys with her and one guy is so tough that he actually chases a zombie down and starts to beat him up for no good reason. Also, these two tough guys and a girl stroll into town...I don't know where they came from either, nor what town they're walking through...oh and one is wearing glasses which makes him smart. I think they must have used the little girls travel agent. Then people start getting torn apart...basically introduced then torn apart, to the point where it appears quite random. After people are torn apart...they come back and taunt their old friends...these are very mean spirited zombies. Where was I? I don't know...watch it and I don't think you'll know either!

ZOMBIE 4 is sooooooo bad that after watching it, I thought my DVD player was defective and it accidentally skipped a couple of chapters because the whole "story" just didn't make any sense at all and only a technical glitch with the DVD player would explain the massive plot holes in this cheap flick.

I thought OASIS OF THE ZOMBIES was wretched but ZOMBIE 4 actually surpassed it. Everything about ZOMBIE 4 is crap. At least there were some sex scenes in OASIS OF THE ZOMBIES. In ZOMBIE 4, there's nothing. Just a couple of interesting gore scenes and is better filmed than super murky OASIS.

There's a hilarious scene when one of the men wants to make out with a woman and the woman is reluctant. Well, that's understandable when they just escaped from an attack of a dozen zombies, who are still lurking right outside the house. Buddy, talk about bad timing. Arf!

Anyway, it's only worth seeing if you're a horror completist, enjoy Euro horror or are a zombie freak. No one else should see this abomination.

I bought this on re-release from a video shop being a lover of zombie flicks and all. I was expecting maybe a boring low-budget but gory flick. I was absolutely shocked to find this being one of most outstanding zombie flicks that I'd seen in a long time! The start involves a man sacrificing his wife so she will live again on earth. (um...Makes sense) A group of scientists with Uzis confront him and kill him in a mad rage. The mans wife then returns as a horrifying demon who rips the faces off the scientists and goes in search of the rest. A woman scientist tells her daughter to run and leave the island while she goes back to fight an army of Phillipino ninja zombies! Yes, its true! We cut very quickly to about 15 years later and get involved with some likeable characters and the girl who are going back to the island to investigate. We have the young Tommy, a handsome former soldier. Dan, your everyday best friend. Mad, a great white hunter and soldier of fortune and Rod who is also a soldier of fortune. Along with the main girl and a chick who fancies Rod. We also have a trio of explorers on the island who are searching for the lost scientists and find a cave with dead reviving powers. In the trio we have Chuck, the other handsome but daft city boy, A girl who's name I forget and David, the smart leader played by Massimo Vanni who appeared in 'Rats:Night of terror' and 'The last Hunter'. After they revive the dead from reading a book they are attacked. David, however, looks like a nerd and the obvious first victim. Instead, he takes on about 10 zombies at the same time using a torch and various martial arts skills. He kills all of them and even snaps ones neck! David is definitely on my list of top zombie ass kickers. Uncle Les from 'Braindead(Dead Alive)' and Roger from 'Dawn of the dead' are among them. In the meantime, Chuck escapes and joins forces with the other group. They find a stash of Assault Rifles and begin to kick ass! There is a lot of gore! The movie really scores though on being an unrecognised gem. It has fog for a spooky atmosphere, Cool characters, gore, a great soundtrack, suspense, action and above average acting. It moves at a fast pace and tells the story well. There isn't any comedy though which is a downer but you won't care with as much spectacular stuff as this! A fearsome 9 out of 10!

While working in a research for the cure of brain damage, a group of scientists are attacked and killed by a horde of zombies unleashed by a voodoo priest, and only a little girl saves. Twenty years later, she returns to the island with a group of mercenaries, while three researchers find a Book of the Dead and release the flesh-eater zombies again.

The lame and cheesy "After Death" has an awful screenplay with a terrible development of characters and their motives; the acting is laughable with histrionic movement of lips of the ham actors and actresses; the dubbing in English is unpleasant; the cinematography and locations are very poor and the soundtrack is annoying. The gore special effects are reasonable considering the extremely low-budget of this flick. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

I really like zombie movies and find myself more or less forced to buy them since they are hard to get your hands on otherwise. Zombie 3 (Zombie Flesh Eaters 2, whatever) is pretty bad, but still enjoyable because of the gore and how stupid and cheesy it is. This film, on the other hand, was a pure insult. I mean when you see these films you have to expect a very very bad film in order not to be disappointed. Still, I thought this one really sucked.

The script is so weird I don't know where I should begin. There are "flashbacks" of scenes that take place 20 years earlier than the majority of the rest of the film, but there is absolutely nothing to suggest this except an explanation from one of the characters long into the film after the scenes in particular have taken place. The zombies are very disappointing also. Why are they all dressed in black rags? Why do they run around and jump like frogs? The gore is pretty boring too. Sure, the face being ripped off, that was nice. But the rest like the constant drooling of the zombies (clearly inspired by The Evil Dead, like a lot of other things in the film) is just not very exciting.

It's really hard with zombie films once you get past the more or less "quality" ones like Return of the Living Dead, Lucio Fulci's Zombie and George A. Romero's films. They all get a very bad rating on IMDb and the reviews vary a lot. I really liked films like Nightmare City and Junk, but this one was crappy as hell. It is not worth wasting your hard-earned money on. My rating: 1/10.

I happened to watch After Death just because I'm a great fan of these walking brainless creatures. Made a reservation at first, anxious to see this movie and then rented it for 2 Euros. Everything looked so bad from the very start! The opening scene with this Voodoo ceremony, was totally rubbish while there are many movies connected to Voodoo that make your heart pump fast from terror. The acting was almost amateur and could in no way make you jump off your seat. Special effects were cheap and the plot - while it could be interesting under larger budget - was ruined by the bad script and the terrible appearance of the zombies. All zombies were...masked (!!!), apart from the main actors. Zombies talking, jumping like kangaroos and carrying...M16s!!! Well THAT was totally out of the original creatures we know. They looked like....armed vampires (or something) with superhuman powers. As for the story, the action started with no prologue at all! Many goofs! A total low budget movie! Just stay away! If you want to watch it, I warned you at least. / Regards, Panos - Greece

Italians back in the day knew how to make a cheap horror film. It may be a bad film overall, but it could also be a fun film to watch. This one fits the bill as it is pretty bad, but it is also a pretty fun watch. Lots of zombies, lots of gore and it goes by at a pretty fast pace. The only thing it was missing was some nudity, but honestly, none of the females in this film looked like they would have a decent chest region anyways so I do not think we are missing much there. This film is a zombie film set on an island and they could have titled it, "Zombie Island Massacre"; however there is a movie with that title and it quite frankly it was boring and literally featured like a minute of an actual zombie. It was also not made by the Italians! No, they crafted something that may not be something one could classify as a good movie, but it was a fun watch!

The story starts out thrusting viewer right into the action as a group of scientists have a confrontation with a witch doctor who is angry at the group and blames them for the death of his daughter. So, he has risen the dead to take revenge and sent his wife to hell so that she too may return from the dead and take revenge upon the scientist. They kill the witch doctor, but his wife does rise and she goes on one heck of a kill spree! In fact, I would say it is the best portion of the film. We witness a little girl running away and how she got off the island is none of our business, but she returns along with five other people and they somehow get stranded on the island. Meanwhile, a group of three idiots are traversing the island to try and figure out the mystery of what happened to the scientists even though what happened 20 years prior and none of them look old enough to really have any stake in what happened. They accidentally raise the dead and soon one of the three meets up with the other group and they must try and survive the endless wave of zombies!

The film does feature a lot of good gore and one cannot complain too much about the zombie action. It is when you think about the story that it becomes a bit horrible. The group that gets stranded are in a little boat and we never learn what the heck they are doing. There are two girls and four guys, the girls don't seem to be any of the guys girlfriends and the guys are apparently mercenaries. How did the hook up and why? None of our business. You also have to watch a guy leave the safety of a structure to go after the zombies kind of like the guy in "Hell of the Living Dead" did, except he was less effective. You also get to see a guy pick up a book and say, "It's the book of the dead" and the book literally has in English on the cover, "Book of Death". I just found that funny as you expect it to be in another language or called something else, not in a very plain writing, "Book of Death".

So yeah, this film is bad, but I enjoyed it for what it was. I thought it was a better film that Lucio Fulci's Zombie 3, the film that had absolutely no idea what it wanted to be, because at least this one was consistent. Zombies that are risen by voodoo are on the attack! Unlike that one that seemed to have the most inconstant zombies in the history of zombie films. Speaking of Zombie 3, this film would be packaged as Zombie 4: After Death, even though it was not really part of that series, though once again, it seems more in line with Lucio's first Zombie film than did three. What is kind of also funny is that the film that would be packaged as Zombie 5: Killing Birds was made in 1987...two years prior to the film that was supposedly the fourth film! Of the three, this is by far the best; of course, that is not really saying much.

I will admit. Although Zombi 2 was my gateway into the world of Lucio Fulci several decades ago, the zombie genre never was my cup of tea. Few movies in this genre ever impressed me, the two most important would be Return of the living dead and Zombi 2, followed by Dawn of the dead and then (sorry Umberto, I know you hate it being called a zombie movie) Nightmare City. However, among the Italian spoofs that came after these mentioned films I find some of them theoretically brilliant but horribly executed. Take the two shockingly overrated Fulci films Beyond and City of the living dead. They somewhat have story, potential, budget (from what it looks like) that could have been so promising but it's all very poorly put together with cheap zoom ins despite great cinematographer, sloppy takes with goofs, bad special fx, cheesy music repeated over and over - and in all that some terrific and brilliant atmosphere and a few brilliant scenes. This is why I have learned to appreciate the really low budget versions better, because they are more honest in what they are and what you get. Andrea Bianchi's Burial Ground was utter trash first time I saw it, but almost 30 years later I love it and keep it closer than most films of this decade. Then there are the real lows, like Bruno Mattei's "Hell of the living dead" or the Fulci/Mattei/Fragasso "Zombi 3" but it's almost even worse although Fulci directed like 65 minutes of it - but the guy was not well, we must not forget. Fragasso however still was young and capable of working in the jungles of asia to do this little action packed movie, which unlike the earlier films from the most recent years, sports a really cool soundtrack by Al Festa. I particularly like the instrumental cues. It really gives the movie a lift, similar to how Simonetti took on Cut and run. For being a low budget italian movie, I think it has quite decent acting and pace if you approach it with b-movie expectations. So far, this is by far the best Fragasso film I have seen, but with that said you should still expect something in the schlocky realm. The 2K scanned Bluray from 88 films is a very welcome release. These movies deserve this kind of love!

I found this film, hidden deep in my closet of horror. Without having any clue what so ever I began watching it. After the first 10 minutes, the face of 4 people were already ripped off. I'm always up for a bit of gore so I left it on. Afterwards, when I looked it up here, It seemed to be a part of the Zombi-series, brought to us originally by Lucio Fulci...makes sense. So, it's also known as : Zombi 4 or "Oltre la morte"... and about a million other aka's. Italian zombie films are always fun. Even though they all start to look alike, you just keep on watching them. I don't know why that is actually. It's just a common thing. The make up is gore enough but the music is disturbing (especially the rock ballads). The story ? OK, a group of soldiers (sort of) are caught on an island. On this same island, a curse has been spoken by a witchdoctor upon a group of scientists 20 years ago. One little girl escaped and now she's back on the island ( what are the odds on that, huh) The zombies are still dwelling around and hunt down the now grown up girl and her friends. That's it...don't tell me you expected more. One more thing. The leading actors name is Jeff Stryker (he also has several aka's) Does that name means anything to you? If not, you're a good boy/girl because Mr. Stryker is an adult actor. According to his biography, this is the only non-adult film that he ever made...Zombies and porn, that's a hell of a resumé if you ask me.

I would like to thank all who left comments here, good or bad.After all publicity of any kind is good publicity! For those of you who enjoyed the film, I have a blog where i am working on a book called Fish Heads and Rice. I have written a short story about the behind the scenes of Zombie 4 - After death. http://nicknicholson.blogspot.com/ It was fun to work on this film, and I am sure a lot of viewers found it funny to watch. None of us had a script to work from, but what the heck, when you know you will be probably be dubbed in another language you don't really care. It was the only film of the Horror genre that I have ever worked on. I wish i could do another one as these are a real gas to do!

If you are bored and want a funny read, please do visit! Thanks to you all!

What do you get if you mix an island of scientists, a voodoo witch doctor, zombies... and then open the third door to Hell (apparently neglecting the fact that Fulci had already opened all seven doors)? Well, you get "After Death".

The first thing you'll notice about this film is the 80s metal soundtrack thrown together by Alberto Festa (including his song, repeated throughout the film, "Living After Death"). Not unlike other 80s Italian horror films, this seems to make sense even though it really doesn't.

The second thing you'll notice is that this film features gay porn star Jeff Stryker. (Unless, of course, you don't know gay porn stars... then you won't notice at all.)

This film is greatly under-appreciated by audiences, I fear. I loved it, and it seems that the hardcore fans of Italian horror do, too, despite the general agreement that this film fails. Jim Harper says the film features "fast-paced, sharply edited action scenes that rely heavily on excessive gore", and despite the fact "the story is patently absurd" the film is "gruesome enough to please gorehounds." Likewise, Jay Slater praises the film when he says the picture is "a blast of energy, rippling with violent action and awash with gore", an "energetic splatter picture in the spirit of Herschell Gordon Lewis" This is absolutely right. While trying to pass itself off as a sequel to "Dawn of the Dead", it has much more in common with Lamberto Bava's "Demons". The splatter effects and rock music make it perfect for this series.

Director Claudio Fragasso laments that the most intense gore had been stripped by the censors. He also insists that the "special effects were all made laboriously by hand", which I think pays off -- most of the zombies are remarkable. What gore was cut is unknown to me... it's already a fairly gory picture as is... to increase it would make this one for the record books.

If you only know Fragasso from the "best worst movie" "Troll 2" or don't know his work at all, this is a fine introduction. Taking the zombie jungle island formula many others have used and mixing it with the gore and colorful blood of Lamberto Bava, "After Death" is a film worth catching, and at least for me, owning.

First of all, let me clear the confusion on the Zombie series, because people are seeing Zombie 2's, and 7's all over the place.This is the true series:Zombie(fulci's classic), Zombie: Nights of Terror(a.k.a Zombie 3, but I say it's 2 because it was made before the official 3),Zombie 3,and Zombie 4: After Death.Anyway, Zombie 4: After Death is one of the best zombie films I've ever seen.It's got a cool plot, great effects, cool characters, and loads of suspense.Exciting, good story, music score, and effects.****1/2 out of *****.Hard to find, but worth the search.

A group of scientists looking for a cure for cancer, anger a big flabby black voodoo priest. So he does what all big flabby voodoo priests do, sends the legions of undead after them. All of them die, save for the little girl of one of the scientists. Now I'd think that seeing zombies rip open my parents would leave a scar on me. But the girl sees fit to go back to the exact island when she's older with a ragtag group of mercenaries only to have zombies once again appear.This film is inept in every single possible way. The plot doesn't make one iota of sense. The acting's atrocious. The special effects bargain basement. And it has no heart so it isn't fun. Director Claudio Fragasso and Writer Rossella Drudi would later prove they can do EVEN worse when they made one of the worst films EVER made with "Troll 2"

My Grade: D-

DVD Extras: Linier Notes; Claudio Fragasso Bio; Interviews with Candice Daly, Jeff Styker, and Claudio Fragasso; Theatrical Trailer; Trailers for "Zombi 3", "House on the Edge of the Park", and "Eaten Alive"

Easter Egg: Bonus American trailer for "Zombi 2"

Unless there's some deep nuance to these films I'm missing, none of them have been worth my time, not even in terms of ' haha, this was a dumb movie '.

At the start, it might be all thrills as you realize you've found another movie to point and laugh at, but about 30 minutes in you'll reflect on your life and realize that you watching this was easily preventable had you listened to your instincts and picked something else.

No matter how you cut it, Zombie 4/After Death/Oltre la Morte is an undeniably horrible movie in a lineup of movies that have garnered unwarranted followings. Truly, you'd get a more exciting tale from a child, if anything because they aren't adults being serious about their work.

The makeup is the worst it's been in these movies, the acting, which has either really bad audio, rerecorded dialogue, or dubbed dialogue, made me feel like it was minutes away from a horrifying porno.

The effects were horrible, the writing was pointless, and whoever scored the soundtrack REALLY liked the opening song. All in all, you're better off pressing your face against a microwave while it's running. In other words, avoid.

It is a shame that this should even be remotely linked with the Fulci classic. Fulci and Romero in the 70's,that was the cream of the crop. The best era in zombie films was the 70's. Outside of Fulci and Romero,you had a lot of really good relatively unknown Italian zombie flicks that actually are worth a look. This isn't one of them. This is 80's Zombie trash,the 80's pretty much ruined the Zombie genre and it still hasn't recovered. Sure Romero is back with his Diary and hopes for a new series but that is our only hope for those of us who like our zombie flicks to actually be scary and not tongue in cheek humor all the time. If these directors today want to make comedy then go make comedy and leave the zombie genre to those who would try to treat it with the respect it deserves. I mean really,if the dead did get up and start moving around and chomping on flesh,I don't think there would be too many one liners and jokes flying about do you? So leave it out of the zombie movies!! Sorry to get off topic but this film is so bad that you have to go off topic to get 10 lines in. Two words would sum up this movie perfectly...IT SUCKS! LOL. Go find some mid to late 70's Italian zombie flicks is you want to see a few decent pics. Zombi(Fulci classic)and the ORIGINAL Dawn are the two best zombie flicks of all time. To have trash like this in the same genre is a disgrace.

A group of scientists researching cancer treatments unintentionally kills the daughter of a voodoo priest. The priest hopes to get his daughter back by opening the third gate of Hell. Fast paced, fun action ensues as demonic zombies are unleashed. A group of mercenaries arrive to add to the fun, which leads to a downbeat ending. Why? Because there is a Zombie 5! Hmmm, an Italian zombie flick directed by a white guy with a white cast. How are the results you ask? Pretty good, but let's clear some things up. The director is listed as Clyde Anderson, which is a pseudonym for Claudio Fragasso. He uses the English name for his B & Z movies, so he still has the respect of Italians. He also worked on Zombi 3, which is famous for Lucio Fulci walking off production and the rest being shot uncredited by Bruno Mattei and Fragasso himself. This is the third in the Italian Zombi series.

And so goes another take of Nature vs Science vs Military. This is pure 80s flick right down to the "Eye of the Tiger"-type inspirational music, the guys with open shirts, girls with puffy hair, and a token black guy with a boom box. Story wise, this doesn't break new ground. The plot is similar to other stuck-on-an-island-with-zombies flicks, but this features voodoo elements, running zombies, and zombie friends that taunt the would-be victims. Hell, these zombies karate chop their way to the next meal.

There are of course plot holes. The chick says that she is cursed and the zombies want her after she escaped the fate of her family's death 20 years ago, so Why did she return to the island? She mentioned something about just now realizing she watched her parents get eaten when she was little. Yeah, like that would be difficult to forget. And if the magical circle of candles stops the zombies, Why don't they relight them when they go out and they get hit with another wave of zombies? The movie starts to slow down right about when the chick starts explaining why things are happening. I am pretty sure this part was improvised and she completely made up the weird story on the spot. The other characters die pretty quickly and we are stuck with the two bumbleheads. The acting is pretty laughable, as it always seems to be in this sort of flick. Chuck Peyton and Candice Daly seem pretty enough to look at, but do not sound very bright. Daly did the movie to be near her boyfriend in the Philippines and Peyton is really porn star Jeff Stryker. Really important side note: he has a 10 inch penis. For reals.

The camera shots are very clever and engaging with the director's predilection for extreme close ups whether to bulging eyes, chanting mouths, military boots stomping. The lighting was quite effective with flashlights in dark tunnels or candles lighting a room. The cinematography was well done with much attention lavished upon the lush forests to paint them falsely as inviting, instead of as an indicator of impending doom. The SFX kicked some ass and includes exploding heads, scissor stabbings, ripped off faces, a hand through a chest, and a pulsating eyeball. I have read some negative reviews, but I thought the film was pretty entertaining. I honestly believe the negativity stems from the ballyhoo surrounding the Zombie series.

For some reason, the Shriek Show version I watched was listed at only 85mins long. The Shriek Show (subdivision of Media Blasters) US DVD release in 2002 has a running time of 90mins. I also read one description stating there was gratuitous nudity, but there was no sex at all in this. Not sure where the differences come into play, but I know After Death was the original title, but when Shriek Show picked it up, they changed it to Zombie 4 to tie in with the series. Possibly a simple misprint on some sites are to blame.

DVD Extras: Fragasso's Bio, Interviews with Daly, Guy, & Fragasso, and Trailers for Eaten Alive, House on the Edge of the Park, Zombie 3, and Zombi (Hidden).

Favorite Quote: Machismo man, "Those are the times when it really counts in a mans life. When you discover if you've got any balls. When a man is afraid he's going to die, there's nothing he wants more than a woman by his side. And I want you." (She turns him down) Bottom Line: One of the better cheesy 80s zombie flicks with some fast paced action and good gore shots.

Rating: 6.5/10

by Molly Celaschi www.HorrorYearbook.com

After "ZOMBIE 3", did we really think that the "ZOMBIE" series could get any worse? Upon watching the laugh-riot that is "ZOMBIE 4", I can happily answer that question with a "Yes".

The opening credits are probably the best thing about this movie that screams "straight-to-video", red block credits against a black background that slide off-screen to the soundtrack of some 80's "Survivor"-wannabes singing about something to do with the 'nightlife'.

Anyway, the opening scenes of "ZOMBIE 4" will set the laugh meter right off. We have some high-school production set that is supposed to resemble a 'cave' with some black guy chanting incantations from "The Book Of The Dead" (how do we know this? It says it right there on the front cover in black permanent marker!). In the background, we have some black woman with long frizzy hair running around doing jazz-ballet moves from "CATS" in some weird "new wave"-type dance. She pauses every few minutes to shriek, which is supposed to infer that she's gone bonkers.

Suddenly, an 'animated' light (the bulk of the special effects budget went into this one scene) appears and floats into her open mouth as she screams and the next thing you know, she's floating down some hole that opens up in the floor, "slow-motion"-style (LOL). A group of white people appear brandishing guns who start accusing the black priest of bringing death and destruction to the people of the island. The priest blames the white people (who are apparently Doctors) of killing his wife and daughter and that they will now face their wrath when they come back from the dead as 'flesh eating' demons.

One gun happy white man shoots the priest, and before you know it, the black girl who just went down the hole is back, as a demon! With huge white plastic fangs (they look like Halloween props) and green juice that she dribbles freely from her ridiculously over-stuffed mouth, she chases the white folk around the caves where she kills them one by one in hilarious fashions. She throws one guy, face-first into the wall, another guy, she slowly rips his face off. Two guys, she corners in front of a locked gate where the camera pans away so we can hear screams and see red paint being splashed onto the wall.

In another unrelated scene, we see a couple and their daughter running around in the forest, pausing to look back every few seconds while the camera dogs them from behind. The fog machine has been set on "MAX" as they scurry under palm fronds and jump logs. When they pause for a breather, the father tells them to wait there (that's right, it's the perfect moment to split up!) while he checks out the surroundings. A zombie in a habit shows up and takes a bite out of the father's neck. The mother gives some amulet to the daughter and makes her run off while she grabs a yardstick to 'take care of business'. (Check out the serious look on her face as she turns around to seek revenge! - LOL)

Needless to say, her 'helping the situation' is pretty useless and she too is pulled down and eaten alive by several more zombies.

Flash-forward twenty years, and the little girl (who somehow escaped the island!) is back with a boatload of "Soldiers of Fortune" and her girlfriend. Their boat is 'sucked' towards the island (the motor goes out and they lose control of the steering) where they are grounded on zombie island. Also on the island are three backpackers (where did they come from again?) who wander right into the cave where the original slaughter took place. Gay porn star Jeff Stryker tries his hand at 'serious acting' where he walks around the entire time in an open shirt that reveals his sweaty pecs and a clueless look on his face. After Stryker gets the brilliant idea to read from "The Book Of The Dead", zombies appear and his two friends are butchered by zombies inside the cave while he manages to escape.

He teams up with the other people who are taking refuge inside some hospital shack (I guess it's the original settlement where the Doctors from the opening scene of the movie are from). One of their group have already been munched on by a zombie. He slowly deteriorates and before you know it, has become a zombie himself. Outside of the building stand another group of zombies who don't move because there is some sort of candle arrangement inside that prevents them from attacking. Of course, one of the guys gets the brilliant idea to blow them out, and the zombies start their bloodshed!

The guy that got bitten bites the girlfriend who turns into a zombie. She then bites another guy who runs outside and hides behind a tree. He too becomes a zombie. He attacks another man inside a church by biting his arm. (Do these zombies not even eat people? All they do is take one bite and then walk off!) That guy too turns into a zombie. Before you know it, there are only three people left, Jeff Stryker, the girl from the beginning of the movie and some black guy who you just know is going to die. He in turn sacrifices himself by blowing up the hospital shack with a hand grenade, along with all of their zombie friends.

Stryker and the girl run back to the cave where they try to turn around the chain of events by 'closing the door to Hell'. The cave has now become some sort of a prop set with green spotlights and a red smoke-filled hole. The girl looks into a mirror where she starts peeling chunks of flesh off her face, followed by the plucking out of her eyeball. Stryker meanwhile gets a zombie hand driven through his torso from behind that thrusts in and out (for no apparent reason). As Stryker sinks to the ground with a dramatic look of horror on his face, the camera pans on the girl whose face has fully been removed (complete with a new hairstyle) and now resembles that of a zombie.

Closing credits appear and you're glad that the hurting has stopped. The zombies in this movie were quick-moving like those in "ZOMBIE 3". Except instead of wearing Asian martial-arts garb, these ones wear habits, usually with a strip of material hanging over their face to skimp on the make-up budget. The definition of "zombies" in this movie isn't the fact that they are "flesh eating creatures re-animated from the dead", they are just people who run around trying to kill people. While most run after their targets, there is also the occasional 'slow-rising' zombie (check out the one near the end that comes out of the floor boards).

As some of the zombies rise from their shallow graves (why are all of the 'dead people' buried in one-inch dirt graves?), the sound of 'crumpling paper' can be heard as they make their way out of the dirt. I think the funniest scene was when "Tommy" turns into a zombie and suddenly grows 'black claws' when he grabs one of the girls' faces from behind a wall.

How are movies like this trash even considered for a DVD release? They were best when they were only available as 'hard-to-find' videos that were left-over in the dusty Horror section from the 1980's at the local video store. Regardless, "ZOMBIE 4" is a miss. It's not even worth it just for the opening scene, which is in fact one of the funniest things I've ever seen in a long time.

My Rating - 1 out of 10

The boatload

You know going into a film like this that it's going to be a complete waste of time...but Zombi 3 wasn't bad, and even though it's obvious that this instalment of the 'Zombi' series is even more a cash in than the last one, I knew I'd be happy if I just enjoyed watching it. As you might expect, the plot doesn't follow on from the last film and the only similarity between this and the rest of the series is the fact that they all feature zombies in a Caribbean setting. The plot here is based on the controversial idea of science versus religion...but don't be expecting a resolution to any debates. We've got a bunch of corny scientists on one side researching ways to cure cancer, and on the other there's a cheesy voodoo priest, who doesn't like their scientific ways (or something) and so, naturally, decides to raise the dead. Around the same time (I think), a woman and a group of mercenaries go to the island (which also happens to be the same place her parents were killed), and of course; it's not long before all hell breaks loose!

The main reason I can't give a very definite plot description is not because this film is such a complex work of art that I wasn't able to fully grasp everything; but rather because the way that the plot is presented is extremely choppy, and despite not being much of it; it's not always easy to fully grasp what's going on. The plot isn't the most important element in an eighties Italian zombie movie, however, and this is shown here by the fact that more emphasis is placed on showing as much blood, gore and zombie action as possible. After Death is actually quite strong in the gore department; most of it is stupid and hard to take seriously, but I always enjoy a bit of splatter. The film features one of the cheesiest songs over the credits that I've ever heard, and it's extremely fitting to the rest of the film. I have a strong suspicion that I won't remember much, if anything, of this film come next week - but I will say that if all you want is a silly zombie movie to waste your time on, this one isn't boring and you could do a hell of a lot worse.