A group of rough'n'tumble marines led by Captain Jurgens (stiffly essayed with topmost cardboard aplomb by James Gregory Paolleli) are sent by the powerful company Tyler Inc. to investigate reports of a zombie outbreak on a remote pacific island where a series of secret medical experiments are being conducted. Dr. Sharon Dimao (woodenly played by the pretty Yvette Yzon), who's the traumatized lone survivor of a previous zombie rampage, accompanies the team on their desperate rescue mission.Boy, does this hilariously horrendous honey cover all the essential endearingly atrocious bases to rate highly as a real four-star stinkeroonie: Ham-fisted (mis)direction by legendary hack sleazemeister Bruno Mattei (his last film no less -- and no more, either!), laughably lousy dubbing, tacky excessive gore, terrible acting from a lame no-name cast, cheesy nightmare flashbacks, tin-eared dialogue (sample line: "You mean zombies like George Romero?"), erratic pacing, and ineptly staged zombie attack set pieces. The derivative script by Antonio Tentori and Giovanni Paolucci not only blatantly (and shamelessly) rips off "Aliens" right down to an annoying wisecracking jerk ala Hudson, but also tosses in a zombie midget, topless zombie women, hideous naked zombie kids with creepy big'n'black bug eyes, a giant talking brain, and even a grotesque zombie newborn baby (!) for extra supremely tasteless good measure. Ray de Leon's sharp cinematography offers a few neatly atmospheric compositions and makes occasional clumsy use of strenuous slow motion. The robust marital score does the rousing trick. An absolute schlocky hoot and a half.

The influence of ALIENS (which Mattei had already ripped-off years ago with SHOCKING DARK) is still strong in this direct sequel to ISLAND OF THE LIVING DEAD. Survivor Yvette Yzon is rescued at sea, and (after being a monk for a bit) is later called upon to help escort a military team to another remote island (or, an old disused factory somewhere in the Philippines) where zombie samples from the original isalnd were taken to study. They encounter horrible medical experiments, zombie kids, a dwarf dressed as an overgrown mutant foetus zombie and, at the end a big pulsating brain that controls everything (Yzon goes all Sigouney on it with a flamethrower). A zombie baby bursts from it's mother's womb like in ZOMBIE 3. The more expensive submarine footage is from CRIMSON TIDE(!), and the climatic exploding oil refinery is obviously from somewhere else too. It's much more boring than it's predecessor though. Jim Gaines (who appears as a zombie) was Production Co-ordinator. It was the late Mattei's final film, and is dedicated to him.Movie reviews at: spinegrinderweb.com

Zombies: The Beginning (2007) * 1/2 (out of 4)Italian director Mattei ended his career with this sequel to ISLAND OF THE LIVING DEAD but don't expect a typical zombie flick. This film picks up right where the previous left as the sole survivor is asked by the government to head back to the island where her crew was killed by the zombies. That's pretty much all you need to know in terms of story as you really don't even need that considering this movie completely ignores what happened at the very end of the previous one. Yes, Mattei's final flick has a lot of zombies but it's actually just a direct rip off of ALIENS. This isn't the first time Mattei has ripped ALIENS and even though this movie is extremely bad, you can't help but somewhat admire how much ripping this guy can do. Not only do we get dialogue and scenes ripped from the Cameron flick but we get the typical stock footage stolen from other movies and this time it's CRIMSON TIDE. How Mattei got away with doing this his entire career is beyond me but quite a few of the sub scenes from that movie are lifted and used here. The movie actually looks like it had a fairly decent budget as the set design is actually pretty good and this is especially true at the end when we visit the alien/zombie tombs. Fans of gore will get quite a bit of that here as the red stuff is constantly flowing with various heads being shot off and parts being ripped or eaten. The CGI effects are quite poor but it adds a somewhat campy feel to the film. The performances, like the previous film, are hard to judge considering how bad the dubbing is but most people don't come to movies like this for the acting. The film doesn't mind ripping off other movies including dialogue from DAY OF THE DEAD and Mattei even rips off his own RATS: NIGHT OF TERROR. Fans of exploitation will probably want to check this out just for the cheese but the biggest problem is that it runs way too long and there's just not enough here to warrant the long running time. Mattei certainly went out with his comeback and this film contains all the bad stuff he'll always be remembered for.

Bruno Mattei's final film picks up directly after ISLAND OF THE LIVING DEAD with Sharon (Yvette Yzon), the lone survivor, being rescued at sea. Back on the mainland, Sharon is having nightmares and execs at Tyler, Inc. don't buy her story on how the ship and crew disappeared. Six months later, Sharon is a monk but is contacted by Tyler, Inc. to participate in a rescue mission after contact with a colony on a nearby island is lost. Sound familiar? Yup, ol' Bruno gets his James Cameron on in his pumped up sequel. Actually, I should say Mattei is getting his James Cameron on again as this is his second film to rip off ALIENS nearly scene-for-scene (after 1990's equally amazing SHOCKING DARK).This is truly a high note for Bruno to go out in for his long career of xerox cinema. Why? Is it a technical masterpiece? Does it contain amazing acting? Hell no! It is because Bruno has the gall to lift tons of scenes from CRIMSON TIDE and shamelessly steal the TERMINATOR 2 theme. There is also stolen footage of an oil plant blowing up, but I couldn't place it. I was equally disappointed and impressed that Mattei didn't steal anything in the previous ISLAND, so this was a welcome return. Plus, you have to love a direct sequel titled ZOMBIES: THE BEGINNING. What? The mimicking of the plot of ALIENS, 21 years after the fact, is just hilarious. Every major scene is here, just with 1/50th of the budget. Yzon gets all tough like Sigourney Weaver's Ripley and the film's bloody finale has her in a big breeding chamber where there is a huge talking brain (no, it is never explained).In terms of entertainment, I would rate this one above ISLAND, for the sheer ripoff factor. But they both need to be seen together. I did them back-to-back and that might be the best way as you feel like you are getting a 3-hour zombie mini-series. The flick ends with a short clip of Bruno saying something on the set and the words, "Ciao Bruno..." on screen. Indeed, many thanks for all of your fine films. And also many thanks to Cameron, Romero, Stallone, Spielberg and all of the other director's who have given Mattei "inspiration" over the years.