Blu-ray Review: Zombi 4: After Death (1989)

Scientists on a remote island, working on a cure for cancer, inadvertently piss off the local voodoo priest who raises the dead to rid his land of the “evil” science (he also performs one hell of a spell involving laser energy, vomit, and a pit to hell conveniently located within his temple hideaway…all of which results in his wife being resurrected as a toothy demoness). Flash forward many years and the daughter of some of the scientists mentioned previous returns to scene of the creepy crime along with a handful of hard ass mercenaries to make sure the evil stays buried. Speaking of “hard” and “ass” there are also a group of researchers on the island whose ranks include a dude named Chuck (played by gay porn actor Jeff Stryker) who are attempting to ascertain what happened to the scientists that disappeared (good luck making sense of that mystery my lovelies). Anyway, it’s that exact brain trust that causes the zombie hordes to arise once more leaving our mangy money lovin’ mercenaries to pick up the pieces!
While not as flat out fun as it’s predecessor (Zombi 3 for those of you that can’t perform basic math) Zombi 4: After Death is still a hoot and a fuckin’ half! This flick is loaded with over-the-top machismo, dubious voodoo rites, grizzly gore, and some hard rockin’ tunes which all add up to a heady concoction of horror biz good times! Speaking of voodoo, that angle was a welcome change from the normal chemical induced zombies we normally get in these affairs, as was the more action film inspired approach…both add an air of comic book cool that makes things unique…which being created by Troll 2 and Monster Dog auteur Claudio Fragasso (with an able assist by the ever awesome Rossella Drudi on screen writing duties) should come as zero surprise!
As with their recent release of Zombi 3, Severin have included some great extras. Featured are: interviews with Fragasso, Drudi, Actor Stryker (an amazingly entertaining interview subject if ever there was one), an archival inteerview with late Actress Candace Daly, a collection of behind-the-scenes footage and the film’s trailer. Also as with Zombi 3, the film’s soundtrack is included on a separate disc and is a fantastic listen filled with synth craziness and hard drivin’ rock tunes!
Zombi 4: After Death is a must own for fans of spaghetti gut munchers, the surreal work of Claudio Fragasso, or those that love having one hell of an insane time in front of the ol’ beastly boob tube!