BURIAL GROUND (1979)
(aka. "Zombie Horror", "Zombie III")

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Starring: Karin Well, Gianluigi Chirizzi, Mariangela Giordano, Simone Mattioli, Peter Bark, Antonella Antinori. Written by Piero Regnoli. Directed by Andrea Bianchi. Italy.

SHRRRRRRRRIP! Yow! This reeking piece of Euro-trash FILTH is one of the sickest, most depraved and consistently entertaining zombie movies the Baron has ever set his glowing red eyes on (and believe me, I've practically seen 'em all). Yet another rip-off of Romero's "Dead" films, this one wastes NO TIME with trivialities such as plot or character development, getting right into the grue. After a brief pre-title sequence in which we see a bearded archeologist dicking around in some catacombs and accidentally setting a horde of flesh-eating zombies free, there are about five obligatory minutes or so spent setting up the prospective victims in the archaeologists old house.

Yeah, it becomes obvious pretty quickly that these aren't characters -- they're ZOMBIE FOOD. }:)

The special effects are endearingly crude: paper-mache' zombies garnished with live worms chomping down on fresh animal guts (no doubt harvested from the local abattoir or butcher). But these shambling revenants  (who rather refreshingly  appear in broad daylight when making their initial assault) aren't your typical dopey ghouls. Oh no. The zombies of
Burial Ground are TOOL USERS big time - quick to pick up axes, hammers and even a battering ram to use against the pesky doors keeping them from their munchies. In one unbelievable sequence, a tree-climbing zombie pins a female servants hand to a second story window sill with a throwing knife while his rotting homies below sloooowly shear her head off with a scythe! I say good Gawd ya'all!

Oh, and I should mention that this picture is funny as shit. Admittedly, yours truly was high as a kite on pot and Jim Beam when he first viewed it (which, when you think of it, is the only real way to watch this stuff), but I haven't laughed this hard since Reagan was shot! Certainly,
Burial Ground is about as cerebral as a Three Stooges short on nitrous oxide, but if you've got a hard-on for slimey European Trash Horror the way that the Baron does, this one is not to be missed. Just make sure to lay off the pepperoni pizza while watching it.

Final Baron rating: *** Three Exploding Zombie Heads Out of Four.

* Dead meat, ripe and reeking.
** Moribund, but showing a slight flicker of life.
*** Good and healthy.
**** Brimming with vitality.

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