Vengeance of the Zombies (DVD)

The 1972 Spanish "euro-cult" shocker Vengeance of the Zombies may contain a triple threat performance by Paul Naschy (aka, Jacinto Molina) playing a Hindu holy man, his burned and possessive brother, and a blood-guzzling Satanic figure, but the only real threat here is to your attention span.

 
This uncut, newly remastered (and featuring an intro by Naschy himself) DVD movie starts off with a zombie-attack and murder in a mausoleum, then progresses into an intro to our heroine — the beautiful, vulnerable redheaded vixen, Elvire (Rommy). Heartsick over death and murder in her immediate family, the nubile young thing seeks some solace in the ancient religion practiced by her trusted guru, Krisna (Naschy). As it turns out, he's not so trustworthy and as she gets drawn deeper into his cult, Elvire learns that blood is indeed thicker than water.

Somewhat reminiscent of the sex-and-death fueled giallo medium, Vengeance of the Zombies doesn't quite reach that esteemed echelon of bad movie goodness. While there are several clumsily-directed scenes of heatless sex that lead to the characters' bloody yet dry murder moments, just going through the motions does not a horror movie make.

In between the throat-slashings (using every implement from ceremonial daggers to sharp soda cans) and scenes depicting slow, dazed undead women is lots of seemingly endless supposition (my favorite forced dialogue moment is prompted by one of the characters asking, "In layman's terms, what exactly is voodoo?" — or words to that effect, which are followed by a textbook monologue).   

I will admit to enjoying a few chuckles as the DVD spun in my player. The zombie-women are especially amusing — they're mainly clad in sheer nighttime negligees, but in some scenes they're wearing clunky summer sandals and one presumably shy actress seems to have been particularly fond of wearing big white granny underwear beneath her black lace garment. The face makeup is to the level of a Halloween kit bought and the local five-and-dime, and the actors who portray the baddies have all the charisma of a parking ticket. The kitschy "swinging 70s" score is hilariously slipshod and shoehorned in at the most wildly inappropriate moments.

The DVD itself is beautifully presented with a nice cover, heavy duty double slipcase, and detailed liner notes. The extra include the aforementioned new introduction by Naschy, who says this is his scariest and most haunting film ever, plus there are some trailers and choice of languages and dubbing options.

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