The Grim Cellar

1980, Italy/Spain, Directed by Bruno Mattei

Colour, Running Time: 96 minutes

DVD, Region 2, Vipco, Video: Letterbox 1.85:1, Audio: Dolby Digital Mono

Saving the world’s population in the wake of food shortage must have been something of a political topic back at the beginning of the eighties (I can‘t remember - was too busy playing with Action Man and, er, Cindy…). Not only was it the primary cause of all the mayhem in Alligator but similarly in Zombie Creeping Flesh scientists were trying to rid the world of starvation, instead creating a plague of bloodshed as corpses everywhere began waking and devouring the living following an accident at a scientific plant. Little time is wasted setting up the premise before we’re whisked off to a hold-up outside a building where some crazy ‘terrorists’ have taken siege with hostages captive, high demands, etc. The building is surrounded by police and a S.W.A.T team while music by Goblin pounds through the speakers (hang on, am I watching Dawn of the Dead here?) - following plenty of shooting, a small body-count, and an prophecy uttered by a dying terrorist that his killers will be ‘devoured by his brothers’ or something divinely perceptive like that, we cut to a jungle island where the same S.W.A.T team are now on a mission that even their incredibly intellectual minds can’t comprehend. They meet up with a couple of reporters whose holiday has gone drastically wrong when their friend’s child turns cannibalistic, and gradually team up in a fight they realise is with the walking dead, all making their way towards the very same plant where the world’s demise began not so long ago.

There’s no denying that Dawn of the Dead’s success was ‘responsible’ for a whole batch of imitations, mainly from Italy, and that Zombie Creeping Flesh is one of those shameless imitations, but actually using the exact same music that Romero used is taking homage a bit far I‘m sure. The result though is something oddly enticing - the music actually grants this film a suspenseful edge, a tangible air of impending doom with the apocalypse closing in around the characters. Those characters are stereotypes through and through, copying the actions of people from other movies to the point of near parody; this really adds to the enjoyment and keeps the viewer smiling sporadically between bouts of the mindless gore that originally got this film banned on video in Britain. While there are some classic lines and phrases throughout - “friggin’ ball breakers” (S.W.A.T team member threatening some zombies), “operation Sweet Death“, “they could be drunk or drugged… or maybe it’s a leper colony” (on first encounter with the undead), the list goes on - it’s mingled with elements that resemble something nastier just beneath the surface: the deterioration of the jungle tribe against their understanding, the shooting of the infected child (again, something pretty much airlifted from Dawn…), plus one character’s descent into madness as the world around him falls apart is effectively realised at one point as he struggles to keep control of his behaviour. Because most of the action takes place on an island of some kind there’s plenty of opportunity to splice in stock footage of jungle life to persuade the viewer that these people really are in the jungle, and Mattei takes this opportunity of course. If it wasn’t for some insanely over the top acting, amusingly derivative characters, and blatant ripping off of Romero’s film it’s possible to consider that on a technical level this movie isn’t actually the worst you‘ve ever seen, but of course those factors obscure anything that may be competent here with their overwhelming presence. As a bloody violent adventure through a world plagued by the walking dead this one is amusing, exciting, and gruesome in equal measures and therefore its aforementioned shortcomings can not only be easily overlooked, they actually work in the film’s favour to some extent. I’m sure, however, that opinions such as these would get me failed on any respectable Film Studies A’ Level course.

Known under a phenomenal plethora of titles over the years this was released on DVD in America as Night of the Zombies by Cydonia, in addition to Anchor Bay under its Hell of the Living Dead title (later put out again by Blue Underground). The latter is a superior version compared to the Vipco spinner that we got in the UK, being anamorphically enhanced and containing a nine minute interview, but the Vipco disc isn’t actually that bad relatively speaking. It’s widescreen (though not enhanced), completely uncut and, despite appearing a tad washed out and lacking in contrast, it’s in reasonable shape visually. Be warned: sometimes even genre fans hate this one but having seen this something like ten times myself, I consider it a guaranteed good time and, whilst it’s not really saying anything special, Mattei’s film is for me one of the more enjoyable of its kind produced in the wake of Romero’s 1978 success.