Vengeance of the Zombies

And the winner for best "Death by small can" scene in a horror movie goes to "Vengeance of the Zombies." Not that there was a whole lot of competition outside of "Undead."

Anyways, there have been many a times in which horror movies seem to forgo anything resembling logic in their quest to scare or entertain. Sometimes this works (The films of Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci for example), sometimes it doesn't (the films of Dante Tomaselli), and then there are goes films that aren't good and make little sense, but you find yourself enjoying them anyway. Leon Klimovsky achieved this in 1973 with the Paul Naschy vehicle "Vengeance of the Zombies."

Indian Mystic Krisna (Naschy) has things going his way. He's pretty popular, the ladies love him (Yep, this is a Paul Naschy film alright!) and nothing bad seems to be happening. That is, until his girlfriend Elvire (Romy) starts having nightmares involving Satanic rites (with Naschy playing Satan), a masked killer being on the loose, and a group of vengeful female zombies roaming around. Oh, and Krisna's deformed brother (Naschy again.)

There are numerous flaws to be found here (plot holes, a completely inappropriate lounge score, mediocre direction and acting), but "Vengeance of the Zombies" manages to be pretty fun for what it is: dumb exploitation made for undemanding viewers. In a way, the ultimately silly nature of the whole thing works more than it doesn't. There's just something nice about a movie that has such a "let's put on a show" attitude, and the added nudity and gore (including a nifty decapitation) adds to the experience.

Another reason the thing works better than it should is because it basically throws in everything but the kitchen sink to entertain viewers. Satanic rituals? Check. Sexploitation? Check. Voodoo spells? Check. Zombies? Check. Black gloved killer? You get the point. It's like watching a smörgåsbord/greatest hits collection of Euro exploitation from the period, and it's hard not to smile at most of it. Plus, how many times to you see someone get killed with a small can in horror movies?

"Vengeance of the Zombies" is anything but a good movie, and more serious minded genre aficionados will probably cringe through most of it. Those who love dumb exploitation and "so-bad-it's-good" movies will be more forgiving, and probably enjoy the stupid enterprise on display.

Horror legend Paul Naschy stars as the Eastern mystic, Krisna. He's a laidback guru dude with a mellow groov-itude. Unfortunately, Krisna's eeevil twin brother (Naschy) isn't so meek. He's out to destroy those whom he believes have ruined his life. In this effort, he raises nubile women from the dead, outfitting them in sheer, black, granny nightgowns.

VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES is a rib-tickler from start to finish.

BEST SCENE: Naschy as Satan, complete with awesome antlers!

Another win for Mr. Naschy...

Spanish horror legend Paul Naschy wrote this minor zombie film, and stars in it, in no less than three roles: the Hindi mystic Krisna, the scar-faced antagonist, and Satan himself. It takes place in London, where Krisna offers comfort to a distraught young woman named Elvire (Romy), who's suffered the loss of a family member. More people are due to die thanks to the machinations of the power-mad villain, who indulges in elaborate voodoo rituals.

Naschy certainly did better than this during the 1970s (for example, this viewer holds "Horror Rises from the Tomb" and "Inquisition" in higher regard), yet "Vengeance of the Zombies" IS a fun flick. It's far more cheesy than scary, with an unfortunate lack of true atmosphere, a comparatively lightweight plot, and a music score that just doesn't work most of the time. It's much too jaunty and jazzy to fit this material.

Euro-horror aficionados will still enjoy the sex & violent quotient, and the cast is enjoyable. Romy is a rather stiff but not entirely unsympathetic lead, Victor Barrera is okay as her good friend, Mirta Miller and Maria Kosty are devilish fun, Luis Ciges is a hoot as a character named "MacMurdo", and Antonio Pica has a solid presence as a Scotland Yard superintendent named Hawkins. Naschy, of course, is great value as always: likeable as Krisna, nasty as the villain, and a typically grandiose Satan. The ladies playing the zombies do appear to be having a good time; they don't stalk around looking for human flesh to munch on, basically just doing our villains' bidding.

Overall, a diverting but largely forgettable feature.

Seven out of 10.

A madman seeks vengeance by setting an army of walking corpses to stalk the cemetery , streets and houses of London and surrounding . Jacinto Molina or Paul Naschy who habitually sprouts hair and fangs , actually doesn't turn into Wolfman . The film mingles esoteric philosophy , voodoo, intrigue , satanism , gore and romantic elements . The picture deals about a guru named Krisna (Paul Naschy) who reunites a group of friends in his mansion. He has knowledge in secret Antillan voodoo and Indian magic . Krisna is helped by another Indian woman named Kala (Mirta Miller). There appears Elvire Irwing (Rommy), an aristocrat young who is impressed for the peculiar personality of the Faquir . Meantime at a cemetery of a little village a gravedigger (Fernando Sanchez Polack) and his wife carry out the exhumation the tomb of Gloria Irwing , but them she is brought to life by means of voodoo and subsequently kills the couple . After that , an Inspector (Antonio Pica) from New Scotland Yard is investigating the grisly murders assisted by a psychiatry professor (Vic Winner) expert on voodoo , occultism and black magic . Later on , it happens amazing murders in the Kadoga,'s Cold Meat Industry and the Morgue. While at a countryside mansion Elvire falls in love with Krisna and she learns a curse that happened in 1947 during India Independence in which a young girl was raped and the subsequent revenge carried out against the rapist .

This is a Spanish Horror though partially filmed in England. It contains suspense , necromancy , witchery , tension , beheading and lots of blood and guts with abundant sensationalistic scenes and a Naif style. The movie has a bit of ridiculous gore with loads of blood similar to tomato . B-entertainment with a fairly suspenseful and horrifying story in which a killer and walking Zombies undergo a criminal spree by means of slitting , decapitation and other brutal executions . This is the third time that appears Zombies in Spanish cinema, exception to Amando De Ossorio's Templar living dead and ¨Horror rises from the tomb¨ .Surrealist images when Rommy dreams about a diabolic possession with characters painted in purple and a horned Naschy as devil . There appears Aurora Del Alba from ¨The Mark of Wolfman¨ as Zombie in slow-moving . As usual , Paul Naschy explains his knowledges with cheap erudition , as the voodoo and Zombie origin result to be the Antillas ; a magician called Minister by means of some malicious spirits prepares a Black Mass and appears a kind of devil named Baron Samedi , then the wizard dropping blood on a wax-toy and sacrificing a hen , the sorcerer helped by a medium turns into immortal slitting a woman and drinking his blood .

The late Naschy was a good professional , writing, filmmaking and acting about hundred titles , mainly in terror genre. ¨ Vengeance of Zombies¨ is written by Molina along with 21 screenplays as ¨A dragonfly for each corpse¨ , ¨Mark of Wolfman¨, ¨Night of Walpurgis¨, ¨Fury of Wolfman¨ ,¨Vengeance of the mummy¨, ¨Licantropo¨, among others . He directed 13 films as ¨The Cantabros¨, ¨Return of Wolfman¨, ¨The Beast and the magic sword¨ and many others. Filmed in London and at Ballesteros Studios and the mansion of the Naschy's parents . Packs an anti-climatic and unappropriated musical score by Juan Carlos Calderon . This is a production realized by Profilmes - the Spanish Hammer- whose chairmen , Ricardo Muñoz , Modesto Perez Redondo and Jose Antonio Perez Giner assigned to Jacinto Molina the writing a rapid screenplay . This strange motion picture is middlingly directed by Leon Klimovsky and plenty of flaws and gaps . Klimovsky was a slick craftsman who directed all kind of genres, as Terror for Paul Naschy (Marshall of hell,Rebellion of dead one,Orgy of vampires, Werewolf shadow,Dr Jekill vs. the werewolf), Warlike(June 44 attack force Normandy, A bullet for Rommel, Bridge over Elba) and Western (Badland drifter,Some dollars for Django,Death knows no time, Two thousand dollars for Coyote) . Rating : 4,5 , mediocre. The picture will appeal to Paul Naschy fans ; a must for Jacinto Molina/bad film buffs .

Uninteresting and unattractive main character, in fact, lack of any interesting characters and uninteresting plot and murders of random people for which you don't care, "La rebelión de las muertas" has a very hard time to make you care for what is happening during it's runtime. Bizarre plot talking about Indian using voodoo also doesn't help. All in all, "La rebelión de las muertas" will only interest you if you are hardcore horror movie fan who is in it for morbid curiosity or for the gore. While the movie resembles a movie, there is no tension, no scares, no really good nudity and nothing interesting to speak of. It's just your usual under average movie. 5/10!