Review #318: 'Zombie Creeping Flesh' (1980)

When two workers accidentally cause a chemical leak at a research facility, the staff are turned into flesh-eating zombies. After a hostage situation that calls for the research centres to be close, is contained, four commandos are dispatched to Papa New Guinea to investigate the zombie threat. Already there, is journalist Lia (Margit Evelyn Newton) and her cameraman, who are investigating recent strange murders and events amongst the tribes people who live on the island. They mix with the natives, only to come under attack from a hoard of zombies, and are forced to a nearby house to investigate further.

After the massive success of Lucio Fulci's Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979), there was a hunger (ho ho) for zombie films. Director Bruno Mattei was brought in based on his ability to work under a tight budget, but the shoot was sporadic and problematic, with uncredited director Claudio Fragasso shooting the gore scenes, and having to incorporate scenes from another mondo film to give the film some continuity. The result is a silly mess of a film that doesn't really make much sense, and even for an 80's zombie film, is pretty bad. For one, when the world faces the threat of global contagion and the human race possible extinction, why send four of the dumbest commandos in history to neutralise the threat? In a scene in the final third of the film when the group reaches the house after coming under attack, one of the commandos dresses up in women's clothes and prances in front of the mirror, clearly amusing himself. And this is one of the men they choose to save the planet?

The film does include buckets of enjoyable blood and guts. And there's plenty of it. Granted, it looks ridiculously fake and silly but it's all you can want and expect from a low-budget video nasty. They save the best for last, where a character has their eyes popped out from the inside by a zombie hand inserted through the mouth. It's certainly an amusing note to finish the film on. But the film is so fucking stupid and overlong that no amount of gore can save this film from being yet another uninspired zombie cash-in.


Directed by: Bruno Mattei
Starring: Margit Evelyn Newton, Franco Garofalo, Selan Karay
Country: Italy/Spain

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie