Zombi 3 (1988)

Gojirosan · #1 7th May 2010, 10:25 AM

So everyone claims that the majority of this film was shot and arranged by Lucio Fulci...does anyone else find that very hard to believe? Aside from one of two shot constructions I found nothing resembling Fulci's style at all. Total Fragasso/Mattei!

Just how sick was Fulci? It is nothing like any of his other films at all.

Can anyone else identify reasons why it should be credited to Fulci other than marketing?

bdc · #2 7th May 2010, 12:34 PM

There are many different stories about the making of Zombie 3.

Apparently Fulci shot 40-70(?) mins before quitting (or being fired?) due to several reasons (his worsening health is often given as the main reason/a possible dislike of the project as an other).
Mattei (or Fragasso who apparently stept in as a director with Mattei keeping an eye on things?) not only added footage but also re-shot scenes(?).
Fact is Fulci wasn't happy with Fragasso's script and even tried to change it during shooting with Fragasso protesting.
Btw I know Fragasso (who I like as a director btw) is very much into action and action scenes.

It's not unthinkable the producer wanted to credit Fulci as the director to insure a "bigger name" was attached to the film.

"Fragasso also says Mattei did not like shooting gore scenes and they were shot by Fragasso in this and all there other collaborations"

"Mattei also finished ZOMBIE 3 when original director Lucio Fulci fell ill. According to many conflicting stories (the actual story may never be known) Fulci was disatisfied with the footage he already had and walked away from the film as he did not want to do the film in the first place. Fragasso says Fulci was sick and thought he had shot a full feature when in actuality he only had around 45 minutes. So Fragasso got Mattei to finish the film."
(Il Commisario/Lovelockandload)

Philleh · #3 7th May 2010, 01:01 PM

For my money, and like Bruno actually really enjoy Fragasso's work, it smacks of his work. I'm sure Mattei was on hand to wind him in when it came to designing action scenes and gore set-pieces, but I think it's safe to say it's more of a Fragaao movie than either of the other directors.

Gojirosan · #4 7th May 2010, 02:51 PM

It's a very strange film with an involved history!

I'll whack a review up in a minute...

tris thompson · #5 8th May 2010, 05:02 PM

I remember when this was announced in the late 80s/early 90s...originally meant to be in 3D!

I've always had a soft touch for this sappy sucker!

The fast motion zombie with the machete is demented!

Daemonia · #6 9th May 2010, 11:15 AM

The English dub is hysterical. When all the scientists are trying to come up with a solution and their conversation goes something like this....

'So what's the solution?'
'Hmmmm...I know...why don't we attach this molecule to that molecule...'
'That might just work!'

Priceless!

gnorthcott · #7 19th May 2010, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tris thompson

I remember when this was announced in the late 80s/early 90s...originally meant to be in 3D!

I've always had a soft touch for this sappy sucker!

The fast motion zombie with the machete is demented!

my favourite is the flying zombie head,does it come out of a fridge or am i confused,mattei films have that effect on me

bdc · #8 19th May 2010, 02:39 PM

I needed to look up the flying head,thought it was in Zombie 4.
I watched them back to back some time ago and seems I got the scene mixed up...

Will have to watch this again soon.

It does come out of a fridge!

42ndStreetFreak · #9 19th May 2010, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdc

I needed to look up the flying head,thought it was in Zombie 4.
I watched them back to back some time ago and seems I got the scene mixed up...

Will have to watch this again soon.

It does come out of a fridge!

Supposedly the only proven scene in the film shot by Fulci. If so...perhaps it was never going to be good anyway.

evilzombie20 · #10 7th September 2010, 05:47 PM

I remember seeing it this for the first time on a bootleg of the Japanese DVD and actually liking it a lot. I got this and AFTER DEATH from the same site, despised AFTER DEATH by the way, and showed a few friends ZOMBI 3. Most of them enjoyed it, but didn't actually like it.

One of my friends summed it up best, "It's like watching a lower budget version of THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD with a dash of THE BIRDS thrown in. Sounds like a great combination...but yeah - it didn't work."

The more I watched the film, the less I liked it, or it might have been the older I got the more I saw wrong with it. Now I have it in the same boat as most do, a dismissible piece of 80s cheese with some marinara sauce tossed on top.

It's a very disjointed film, you can tell there were problems with the production and the Fulci might have had less to do with it than the producers would like to have people think.