With a soundtrack by progressive rock gods Goblin which is lifted from the films “Dawn of the Dead” and Luigi Cozzi’s “Contamination” as well as endless stock footage inserts, it’s easy to see why this is considered one of the absolute worst movies by many of those in the world of fandom.  The stock footage truly is an odd fit, as characters will be driving down a dirt road deep within a forest and exclaim and point off camera- followed by scenes of grainy and weathered shots of animals frolicking in large bodies of water or monkeys jumping from tree to tree.  These scenes are inserted arbitrarily in the narrative only serving to pad out the already sparse run time.

There seems to be no real sense of pacing to the film, with aimless scenes of jungle wandering punctuated by the occasional gory set piece.  Our characters stop at a native village where the reporter played by Margit Evelyn Newton disrobes and adorns herself with tribal paint all over her face and breasts in one of the films most well known moments.  Then we are treated by truly repulsive scenes of native burial rites with more stock footage lifted from the documentary “Of the Dead” (Des Mortes) right before another zombie attack.  Many of the  heavily madeup zombies consist of bemused- looking white men barely containing their laughter; strange when you consider this is taking place within the deepest, darkest jungle.   When a rural estate is discovered and a SWAT member dons a found tutu and dances a weird little jig before being consumed by the dead, you’ll barely give it a second thought since the rest of the team is bravely fighting off the partially eaten members of the household.

The movie has a strong sense of playfulness and, considering the original somber ideals for the script, there couldn’t be a farther finished product from an initial concept.  There are scenes of extreme carnage with gory outbursts propelling the narrative forward.  The scene where a zombie child is found feasting on his parent was heavily censored upon the film’s initial release.  The mean-spirited gore scenes even have a certain innocent quality to them, adding a surrealism to the whole picture as if the gross outs and intense bodily harm somehow are the most casual things in the world you could see.  The effects are not especially proficient but they are suitably disgusting where they lack any technical polish.  I have said in the past that this is one of the most disgusting and vulgar zombie movies that has ever come out of Italy and that is reinforced every time I watch this.  Yet, it is one movie I can pop on any time I feel the need to relax and let go and I will always be thoroughly entertained.