Zombi 3

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Zombi 3 is a 1988 film and the sequel to Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2. The film was directed by Fulci with the assistance of schlockmeisters Bruno Mattei and Claudio Fragasso.

Dr. Holder, a scientist stationed in the Philippines, is working on a virus called Death One with the hopes of bringing the dead back to life. Little does he know, the virus does more than that: it kills the living in addition to reanimating the dead. Horrified at how his work could have such killing potential, he volunteers to turn in his resignation and turn in what samples he has left.

Just before the samples can reach their intended destination, two nutjobs driving a Ford Econoline show up to steal the box containing Death One. One is killed in the resulting shootout, but the other manages to escape with the box. Then he trips, and the box breaks. While trying to pick it back up, he accidentally touches the liquid and flees to the nearest hotel. No matter what he tries, the infection spreads and he dies.

A decontamination squad is sent to comb the area, and the blood samples left by the nutjob are traced to the hotel. The decontamination squad rounds up everyone inside and kills them after recovering their quarry. General Morton orders the hotel patrons and staff buried in a mass grave and the nutjob burned. As Dr. Holder unsuccessfully tries to warn the General to let the corpse out of the oven, what he fears happens: the nutjob's ashes infect the air and turn the living into the living dead.

Meanwhile, a trio of GIs and a group of tourists unite against the ever-growing threat of the living dead...

Tropes used in Zombi 3 include:
  • 3D Movie
  • Affably Evil: General Morton, though in his case he's more Affably Antagonistic, though he has his moments of stress and urgency, particularly when he and Dr. Holder butt heads as the zombie problem escalates. He's noticeably calm as Dr. Holder finishes Chewing the Scenery at the climax of a Kirk Summation.
  • Artifact of Doom: Death One, the virus that infects virtually an entire island.
  • Bolivian Army Ending: GI Ken and Patricia flee the island as GI Roger is gunned down. As Blue Heart dedicates the next song to "all the undead around the world", Patricia worries that there may be nothing to return to. Ken assures her that they're not just going back down there to fight the zombies, they're going back down there to win.
  • Cassandra Truth: The military doesn't seem to listen to Dr. Holder and his assistant when they warn them that burning the Death One victim that contaminated the hotel could have serious consequences for the island's air quality and its population.

Dr. Holder's Assistant: Hadn't it ever occurred to you that the ashes, assimilated into the air, could fall back to Earth again?
General Morton: That's ridiculous, pure Science Fiction!

  • Catch Phrase: "Now you're talking Science Fiction." Spoken three times, sometimes with a variation, by General Morton. Each time it's spoken when the scientists let him know that burning the nutjob wasn't a very bright idea due to environmental concerns.
  • Face Heel Turn: Blue Heart, as revealed when his face is shown horribly mutated, almost like those of the other zombies.
  • Flat Earth Atheist: General Morton.
  • For Want of a Nail: For want of a high IQ, a body was lost; for want of a body, some birds were lost; for want of some birds, a bus was lost; for want of a bus, some people were lost; for want of some people, a country was lost; for want of a country, the whole world may have been lost. And all for the want of a decent IQ.
  • Four Is Death: The infected nutjob spends his last moments in Room 4 at the Sweet River Resort; it only gets worse from there.
  • Genre Blind: General Morton and Those Two Guys burn an infected body over warnings from the scientists and constantly accuses said scientists of watching too much Science Fiction films. Little does he know that he is in a Science Fiction film at the moment.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Dr. Holder intended Death One to simply reanimate the dead. Just not the way his test subject came back to life.
  • How We Got Here: According to Dr. Holder, Death One was mutated by the fire that consumed the nutjob's corpse, to the point where it actually resists oxygen and could potentially infect anywhere in the world if it so much as rains. Does General Morton give a shit? "Now you're talking science fiction."
  • Karma Houdini: General Morton. Also an Idiot Houdini.
  • Kill It with Fire: The military takes this approach toward the zombies, as seen early on when a corpse infected with Death One is burned and in a later scene where the military throws dead zombies onto a massive funeral pyre. Zombies are also incinerated here and there by the main characters in creative ways, be it with gasoline or a flamethrower. Knowing the effects heat has on Death One (i.e. it mutates the virus into an oxygen-resistant killer), Dr. Holder is completely adverse to this method of corpse disposal:

Dr. Holder: And what are you going to do with the bodies? Burn them?

  • Kirk Summation: Dr. Holder delivers one to General Morton shortly before the climax. At first, he sounds perfectly calm, but as the summation goes on, his Large Ham side starts to show itself, culminating in a declaration that he doesn't wish to be remembered as the unwitting architect of armageddon:

Dr. Holder: I DON'T WANT TO BRING ABOUT THE END OF HUMANITY!

  • Large Ham: Several of the characters, but Dr. Holder takes the cake, particularly when General Morton says or does something that greatly upsets him. From the German trailer:

General Morton: We have to cut off the epidemic area.
Dr. Holder: Cut it off!? How? By continuing to kill thousands of innocent victims!?

    • Large Ham Radio: "I'll dedicate my next number to all the undead around the world." Indeed, Blue Heart is like this when he's not being serious.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Dr. Holder decides to resign from the Death One project due to the virus's lethal potential; he ultimately stays on, if only to lead the team in working on an antidote.
  • Noble Demon: General Morton.
    • The Noble Demon Wins: General Morton boasts to the scientists in his final scene that they've got the zombie problem under control without having to resort to science.

General Morton: Nice philosophical sentiment. But the truth of the matter is, the virus has been blocked by the course of action we have taken.

  • No Export for You: The prologue has only been seen in a few countries, including Japan and the United States.
  • Painting the Fourth Wall: Here's an incomplete list of ways the 3D is used effectively:
    • A maid being impaled to the bathroom door after being killed by the nutjob.
    • Tracy and Cheney slowly sliding the nutjob's corpse, inside a clear plastic body bag, into a burning oven; the camera itself is positioned at the far end of the retort.
    • The avian assault on the bus.
    • The zombie head flying out of the freezer.
  • Rule of Cool: The "zombie head in the freezer" scene, which makes clever use of the 3D medium.
  • Shout-Out: To Alien, The Crazies, Day of the Dead, and Return of the Living Dead, among others.
  • Third Is 3D: Technically; as Zombi 2 is basically a fanmade sequel to Dawn of the Dead, this film should count, as it was originally filmed in 3D.
    • It was only released this way in Italy. Poor box office there led the international release to be shown flat (and cropped to 1.85:1 from the original scope aspect ratio). Depending on who you believe, it's also possible that either only Fulci's scenes or portions thereof were filmed in 3D.
  • Those Two Guys: Tracey (played by Bruno Mattei) and Cheney (played by Claudio Fragasso).
  • Throw It In: Lucio Fulci himself ordered an unscripted scene shot featuring the zombie head in the freezer; no wonder, since that's the only scene of the film he ever admitted to liking.
  • Too Dumb to Live: General Morton and Those Two Guys burn a corpse tainted with a virus that could be let loose in the process, and the soldiers (particularly General Morton) never bothered to listen to a scientist's warnings. This turns out to be the Inciting Incident of the film as the ashes infect the air and a flock of birds catch it, accosting a bus some time later.
  • Villainy Discretion Shot: The anti-contamination squad following General Morton's orders after discovering the nutjob's rotten corpse:

General Morton: Evacuate the premises... and eliminate everyone there. Bury them in a mass grave.

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