A must for Naschy fans
Zoveck | Los Angeles, CA United States | 05/04/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Though not my favorite Paul Naschy film (Hunchback of the Morgue takes that prize), Vengeance of the Zombies is still a fun 1972 Spanish origin horror movie, given the most respectful treatment yet on DVD.
Highlights include some awesome music, hip London locations, Naschy in 3 different roles (Indian mystic Krishna (?!), his scarred evil brother, and Satan), cheesy (but effective) makeup and topless scenes from both Mirta Miller (Dracula's Great Love) and Aurora De Alba (Frankenstein's Bloody Terror).
The HD image transfer is absolutely flawless and looks like it was filmed yesterday, not 35 years ago. Really, it's amazing. Amazon says the image is widescreen, but it's fullscreen. There doesn't seem to be a loss of visual information, but I can't say for sure. Audio boasts a selection of Spanish w/ subtitles or dubbed English with a choice of mono or surround stereo.
I hope Deimos follows through with their plan to release Spanish horror classics Night of the Sorcerers and The Loreley's Grasp later in the year-they have done a real standup job here and deserve much praise and success for their efforts.
Buy it!"
Naschy!
Brett W. Moore | Kentucky | 06/09/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have to say this is the wildest Naschy movie I have seen yet.
The 'dream scene' where Naschy is Satan is a real hoot.
Plus the DVD itself is excellent quality and at a good price.
"
An average Zombie movie, worth checking out
Melkor | San Diego, CA USA | 03/12/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
""La Rebelión de las Muertas" (a.k.a. "Vengeance of the Zombies" - 1972) is the latest film I've seen in my attempt to review every zombie/vampire/undead movie. "Vengeance of the Zombies" is a little plodding, yet enjoyable, Zombie movie. The plot is a bit convoluted, and I wouldn't even know how to begin to summarize it without confusing the reader. Simplifying it, a bunch of dead people are brought back to life by a vengeance seeking deformed Indian man living in London.
What strain of zombie are those seeking vengeance? These are voodoo zombie women with teased or bouffant hairdos. They are raised from the dead by burning blood covered plastic dolls, and they walk around in see-through cloaks. The make-up is basically different shades of gray grease-paint. These are slow moving zombies. Since they are voodoo-style, they are not infectious meat-eaters. Instead they are assassins sent to kill people, usually be choking them. They are brought to life and controlled by a guy in a really bad "V for Vendetta" costume. I give the vengeance zombies a slightly above average 6/10 rating.
The gore mostly consists of bright red fake blood. Most of the killings are from victims being choked or stabbed. There are a lot of fish-eye lens close-ups of zombie faces, which are kind of creepy since the zombie some of the women are not very easy on the eyes. Vengeance rates a medium gore/violence score of 5/10.
Of course, there is a fare share of the required zombie film gratuitous sexism and nudity. There are a couple of half-hearted sex scenes, and the zombie women walk around in transparent black nightgowns. Most of the movie the viewer will probably find themselves wishing that people would put on a few more clothes. Vengeance gets a gratuitous sexism and nudity score of 6/10.
Vengeance of the Zombies is very slow and plodding. The plot is not very consistent, and subplots pop in and out of the movie without meaning or context. At a certain point I began to wonder why they even bothered with a story. There was a really great dream sequences a third of the way into the film, and the finale was entertaining. On the boredom scale (0 being insomnia curing, 10 being '78 Dawn of the Dead) Vengeance of the Zombies gets a 5/10.
I didn't watch the film in the original Castilian, but the dialogue gets a 4/10 for being pretty standard European zombie movie dialog. +1 for a terrible overdub into English (that's a good thing) and +1 for the funky pre-disco free-jazz soundtrack. Overall, Vengeance of the Zombies gets an average 5/10 in my Zombie movie scale. It might be worth buying for the hardcore zombie fiend. Definitely worth renting for the more casual undead movie fan."