Video Nasty #12: Zombie Creeping Flesh AKA Hell of the Living Dead AKA Night of the Zombies

Synopsis: The HOPE project have been secretly working on a solution to the rapid growth of the third world - a well controlled zombie apocalypse. When something goes wrong a bumbling SWAT team is sent into the Zombie infested jungle to investigate, unwillingly teaming up with a TV reporter and her cameraman.

Zombies. They are by far my favourite movie monster. More terrifying than Vampires, Werewolfs, Frankenstein and Rob Schneider. And the reason is simple, literally. Zombies don't have gimmicks; they'll come into your house without invitation, they can eat after midnight and garlic only improves the smell of their rotting flesh. They have one function, to eat and subsequently infect. Like the proverbial rice on the chess board one zombie spawns two over breakfast, its offspring creates four over brunch and by dinner the population of a small town looks like the queue outside the post office on pension day, stumbling, dead eyed, stiff-jointed coffin dodgers.

Zombies are universally scary because they play on the most ubiquitous of fears, dying. They are a walking reminder of our mortality, that all we have to look forward to is decomposition and, if the outbreak affords us resurrection, chewing on some unlucky bastard's guts. They're Aesop for adults, no matter how fast you run you'll always need to sleep, and the zombie will catch up. You can't rationalise with a Zombie, they'll just stare at you blankly and then bite your nose off.


In Romero's Dawn of the Dead a priest declares that 'when there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth'. Although I don't buy the heaven/hell system, I like the idea that Zombie's are the inevitable response to man's sins on earth. Mother nature always finds a way, and when it can't reduce our bourgeoning population with Swine Flu what better solution than a new type of virus, turning us on ourselves?

I think that the simplicity of Zombies can also be their undoing. All you need to make a Zombie film is a few willing friends, some blue face paint and a gallon of fake blood. Therefore, when Romero had success with Dawn of the Dead studios were falling over themselves to buy up Zombie films, regardless of quality. Zombie Creeping Flesh is one of the films rushed out to cash in on Dawn's success, and it shows. Like Dawn the main characters are a SWAT team and a TV reporter. Like Dawn the film is soundtracked by Zombi. Like Dawn it has moments of (attempted) humour amongst the blood shed. Unlike Dawn, it is rubbish. In fact, Zombie Creeping Flesh is a cinematic perfect storm, a film that is so bad it's good. It is an awful yet strangely entertaining mess.


The script is laugh a minute, especially the forced and unnatural macho banter between the members of the SWAT team. I struggle to believe that a member of an elite military unit would say 'When did you start worrying about our balls daddy?' to his commander. The dialog is made all the more comical by the poor dubbing and the voices clearly not belonging to the actors on the screen. The story isn't much better either - it's never really explained what the SWAT team are doing, why the scientists working on the genocidal virus are surprised by what happened when it leaked, and how the reporter worked out the truth with absolutely no evidence.

The SWAT team really do put the special in 'special forces'. They wear a navy blue uniform throughout the film, even though most of the time they are on stealth operations in the jungle. Despite the 'one in the chest, one in the head' mantra, the team seem to think pounding a body full of semi-automatic fire will do, even after one them points out that the only way to kill the undead is a head shot. When they split up to explore a mysteriously deserted house one decides to put on a tutu, top hat and dance around with a cane, only to end up as an extra in Thriller. Another jumps in an elevator full of zombies, presumably because it was quicker than the stairs.


The film is notable for the shameless amount of incongruous stock footage it recycles. In between shots of the SWAT team driving around the jungle we see grainy footage of wolfs, bats, elephants, pelicans, cranes and monkeys, not once aligning with the shots of the SWAT team. If this isn't bad enough the producers sink to a new low by exploiting footage of natives. Real footage of tribal burial ceremonies are used a precursor to the dead rising and celebrations are repurposed as tribes running away from hordes of the undead. If this wasn't exploitative enough, the film has the funniest and most blatant piece of titilation i've ever seen. When the reporter and SWAT team arrive at a native village the reporter tells them she'll go in first, as she's familiar with their customs. Cut to a perfectly framed shot of the women's norks as she takes her top off and then stands there, boobs aplenty for at least five seconds.

But as I said before, these flaws make the film watchable and ultimately enjoyable. The gore is quite impressive, the finale seeing the female reporter's tongue being ripped out and her eyes poked out of their sockets from the inside. If you want a silly gorey movie, Zombie Flesh Eaters is it. If you want something you can really get your teeth into, stick with Dawn of the Dead, its far superior inspiration.