Moral-Flexibility.Net

Children shouldn’t play with dead things (1972) directed by Bob Clark.
(MF Title: “Hex, hugs and grassy knolls.”)
Starring Alan Ormsby, Valerie Mamches, Jeff Gillen, Anya Ormsby and Paul Cronin.
Zombie Film Rating:

Summary:A group of kids sail a boat out to a relatively deserted island to film a movie (well, despite the absence of any filming equipment), and the director (a creepy little fella) decides that its a good idea to hire some extras for the film.

By hire I mean dig a dead person up, and use the corpse in the film. Our creepy little director is a bit of a prankster so he has sent a few co-conspirators ahead of the main party to dig up a corpse, and have one of conspirators hide in the coffin so as to scare the main party when they “dig” him up.

This of course involves the assault and restraint of the watchman/maintenance guy for the island (one wonders if the kids are acquainted with the “kidnapping” statutes in this region).

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Zombie Lake (1981) directed by Jean Rollin.
(MF Title: “The posthumous Iron Cross for gallantry in the face of nudism”)
Starring Howard Vernon, Pierre-Marie Escourrou, Antonio Mayans, Anouchka and Nadine Pascal.
Zombie Film Rating:

Summary: I swore I thought I had received the wrong movie in the mail. the first five minutes of the film shows a young woman stripping her clothes off, sunning herself and then swimming (with a startling number of underwater shots, that don’t leave so very much to the imagination).

Intrigued? Sure why not…. our young damsel, while swiming, is not so suddenly attacked by what appears to be a slimy member of the Wehrmacht. He is missing one eye, and despite 40 years of underwater upkeep his uniform seems in rather good shape. His clumbsily executed attack on the young nudist is assumed to succeed as we never see her demise, and instead find ourselves transported to a cafe inside the village where we learn the girl is missing through some badly dubbed dialogue (the first words spoken in the film, we’re seven minutes in for petes sake!)

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Dawn of the Dead (1978) directed by George Romero.
Starring Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross, David Emge and David Crawford.
Zombie Film Rating:

Summary: In the broad strokes this movie takes up roughly where “Night of the Living Dead” left off, we’re introduced to SWAT members (Roger and Peter) who are fighting what appears to be a losing battle against the zombie hordes. Tasked with the forcible removal of the dead from citizens that don’t want to see the remains of their loved ones unceremoniously burned, they find themselves fighting both the living and the dead.

Both are sickened with what they are doing, and despite having just met they decide to escape the city. Fortunately friends of Ron (Francine a journalist and Stephen, a helicopter pilot) have decided to flee in a helicopter, and a few experienced armed men is just what the situation calls for. The group boards the helicopter as we see scenes of assorted authority figures (cops and soldiers) fleeing the city in whatever mode of transportation they can find. None of these escapees has any specific destination in mind, just “away”.

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Zombie (1979) directed by Lucio Fulci.
Starring Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson, Al Cliver, Auretta Gay and Stefania D’Amario.
Zombie Film Rating:

Summary: On a remote island the dead have begun rising from their graves, some of the survivors board a boat and attempt to return to civilization, while a doctor and his (reduced) staff attempt to deal with the infestation taking place on the island.

A yacht arrives in (New York?) harbour, unattended and is boarded by police. One of the officers goes below decks and is attacked by a zombie, the other officer shoots the zombie, and it falls overboard (not having received the essential “head shot” needed to kill it).

A curious journalist pursuing a story boards the yacht, now under police guard, and finds the daughter of the yachts owner on board (also looking for answers as to the whereabouts of her father).

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Zombie 3 (1988) directed by Lucio Fulci.
Starring Deran Sarafian, Beatrice Ring, Ottaviano Dell’Acqua, Massimo Vanni and Ulli Reinthaler.
Zombie Film Rating:

Summary: In short this movie is about the theft, from a secret government facility, of an extremely dangerous nerve gas. The theft is of course violent, and during the running battle (and attempted escape) by the surviving thief, the gas escapes from its case.

Soon we have zombie’ish incidents occuring all over the island (whatever island it is, I was never 100% on that). We now flash to three soldiers on leave (in BDUs and in a military vehicle) who are busy goofing off, they come to the aid of a number of young women in a RV who have come under attack by zombie birds (Nope, not kidding!).

Seeking help they end up at an abandoned hotel (the source of the original outbreak of this zombie plague), and they try to come to terms with what is going on in their little world.

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“Nightmare City” (1980) directed by Umberto Lenzi.
Starring Hugo Stiglitz, Laura Trotter, Maria Rosaria Omaggio, Francisco Rabal and Sonia Viviani.
Zombie Film Rating:

Summary: The movie starts with a television broadcast advising of a nuclear catastrophe, details are uncertain but it is believed the situation is under control, and a noteable scientist has been dispatched to investigate and report his findings.

Journalist at large Dean Miller (Hugo Stiglitz) is given the assignment of attending the airport and interviewing this “Noteable scientist” in an effort to allay the fears of local residents. He is assigned a cameraman and off they go to the airport.

Meanwhile air traffic control has noticed an unidentified aircraft approaching the airport, the aircraft fails to identify itself, and instead makes an unauthorized landing. We learn it’s a Hercules with a military color scheme, but no markings.

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