“Zombie 4: After Death” is a 1989 horror film starring George Romero’s daughter, Judith. The story follows a group of friends who go on vacation to an island in the Caribbean where they are terrorized by zombies.
Verdict
Summary
It’s enjoyable for what it is, and it’s better than Zombie 3, but don’t expect it to make any sense. The soundtrack CD that comes with Severin’s release is very nice.
Plot:
When a young lady returns to the island where her parents were eaten by zombies when she was a kid, she and her companions face disaster.
Review:
Jenny (Candice Daily) narrowly avoided death when her scientific parents were eaten by zombies in the forest just outside the laboratory where they were working on a life-rejuvenating serum when she was a kid. The live dead overran the tropical island, and Jenny returns to the island some 20 years later, bringing friends with her. Jenny feels uncomfortable about coming there, and she has no recollection of what occurred all those years ago. Her pals (a rowdy lot, all rough around the edges, which is odd given Jenny stands out from the others) simply want to have a good time on the island, unaware that Jenny has a history with it. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the island, three treasure hunters discover a “book of the dead” (the cover actually reads “Book of the Dead”) and read some cursed lines, bringing to life all the zombies that had been asleep in the jungle for decades. Chuck (gay cinema superstar “Jeff Stryker” a.k.a. Chuck Peyton) is the only one of the three explorers who makes it out alive. By the time Chuck comes upon Jenny and her pals, they are in the midst of a life-or-death battle against an assault of zombies, and many of Jenny’s companions have already been bitten and transformed into gut-munching zombies. When Chuck and Jenny are the only ones left, they must escape for their lives, but it may be too late to make it off the island alive.
After Death is a crazy one in the annals of Italian zombie flicks, directed by Claudio Fragasso. It has talking zombies, voodoo rites that result in pits of hell opening up, a rock and roll soundtrack (actually, one song that plays over and over), and a conclusion that makes no sense. It’s enjoyable for what it is, and it’s better than Zombie 3, but don’t expect it to make any sense. The gore effects are sloppy and abundant, and Daily (who died in an alleged murder in 2004) and Peyton work well together onscreen. Filmed on the same settings as Strike Commando 2 with Brent Huff at the same time.
After Death was released on Blu-ray and CD in a limited edition package by Severin Films, and the HD transfer is excellent and sharp with lots of warmth and grain. It looks and sounds better than any other home video release, considerably outperforming the Shriek Show DVD from more than a decade ago. A fresh on-camera interview with Peyton, an archive interview with Daily, interviews with Fragasso and the scriptwriter, behind-the-scenes video, and the trailer are among the special features.
