Zombie Death House (1987)

After being framed for murder, a Vietnam vet ends up on death row. He soon learns that the military is testing a new drug on the inmates. The results are disastrous, creating an army of zombie-like madmen. The market has been flooded with living dead films as of late, with no signs of slowing down. We've seen the dead rise from the grave, come back to life after some kind of exposure or ritual. And then there are films featuring zombie-like characters, but that don't quite fit into the sub-genre.

The 2002 international hit 28 Days Later involved people going postal after contracting a virus. They share certain characteristics with walking corpses, but are still a different animal. This however is not the first time we've seen this in a movie. The people in 1988s Zombi 3 were also infected by something and became like zombies. A year before that a little b horror film called Death House was released and with little fanfare. To get more people to check it out, the word zombie was added to the title.

Directed by John Saxon, who also stars in the film, Zombie Death House isn't a forgotten classic. It was an attempt to blend prison and zombie movies. However, though not a total success the film does have some merit. None of the actors were going to win awards, but the performances are better than expected. The late Dennis Cole does well as the hero and making us care about his plight. And for those who find kids in these movies annoying, the two here are the exact opposite.

The score is actually a lot better than this film deserves. It's more suited to an action film, but here it works well enough. One of the film's greatest strengths though is it's gritty atmosphere. The prison is nice and drab looking, not to mention dark and ominous. Though not on par with the work of Tom Savini or Stan Winston, the effects here are pretty good. There's some nice nasty make-up to show the effects of the drug and a few good gore gags.

Unlike The Return of the Living Dead, this film takes itself totally seriously. That doesn't change the fact that at times it's unintentionally hilarious. The scene with the infected chef near the end is a particularly amusing bit. The film is also quick paced and quite entertaining, especially after the opening fifteen minutes. That section of the film is so choppy that you may need to watch it again to pick up on it all. It doesn't help that there are too many characters to keep track of.

Apart from having "zombies" in a prison, there's not much novelty here. You've seen much of this before in other, better films. Also damning are the loose ends like the relationship between John Saxon and Tane McClure. Word has it that the producers were more interested in the action and violence than a good script. There was also no good reason for the film to go over 90 minutes. But with as many faults as the movie has, it's still worth a look for b movie junkies.

5/10