Zombi (film series)

The Zombi series refers to a set of horror films that have been marketed, in various territories, as sequels to either George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978) or Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2 (1979). It has a confusing history of release, with entries in the series varying by different regions in the world. The British releases of the same movies are known as the Zombie Flesh Eaters series and the American releases, while not having a consistent name, could be known as simply the Zombie series.

The Zombi series started with George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead. The European release of that movie was re-edited and re-scored by Italians Dario Argento and Goblin, and released as Zombi. Because of its success, a zombie film by Lucio Fulci (already in production) was retitled Zombi 2 to appear as if it were a sequel. This was the first in a run of increasingly tenuous attempts by different producers to capitalize on the Zombi name.

Series by region

Official (Italian) Series

The Italian series starts with Dawn of the Dead and is followed by Zombi II and its officially released sequel

• Zombi (American Title: Dawn of the Dead) (1978)
• Zombi 2 (1979)
• Zombi 3 (1988)

British Series

In the UK the series is known as Zombie Flesh Eaters. While it follows the Italian series in proper order, it ignores Dawn of the Dead as the first entry, and instead starts with Zombi 2, adding the unrelated film Oltre la morte as a third installment.

• Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979) (Italian Title: Zombi 2)
• Zombie Flesh Eaters 2 (1988) (Italian Title: Zombi 3)
• Zombie Flesh Eaters 3 (1988) (Italian Title: Oltre la morte)

German Series

The German series, like the Italian series, starts off with Dawn of the Dead, but ignores Fulci's Zombi 2 (which was released separately as Woodoo), and instead properly follows up with Day of the Dead, but then follows after that with the Italian Zombi 3.

• Zombie (1979) (American Title: Dawn of the Dead)
• Zombie 2: Das Letzte Kapitel (1985) (American Title: Day of the Dead)
• Zombie III (1988) (Italian Title: Zombi 3)

American Series

The American series is the most confusing. Although it includes the original Italian series starting with Zombi 2 in order, the titles did not directly follow each other. Zombi II was renamed Zombie, but Zombi 3 kept its appropriate title. Then, Zombi 4 was released with the American title Zombie 4: After Death. To further confusion, two films were released on home video with titles that would imply they were sequels, but they had nothing to do with the Italian series.

• Zombie aka Night of the Zombies (1979) (Italian Title: Zombi 2)
• Zombie 3 (1988) (Italian Title: Zombi 3)
• Zombie 4: After Death (1988) (Italian Title: Oltre la morte)
• Zombie 5: Killing Birds (1987) (Italian Title: Uccelli assassini)

Even further confusion exists in the American series as in the late 1990s several unrelated titles were released as Zombie sequels by T-Z Video (aka Edde Entertainment) TZ titles were as follows:

• Zombie (1979)
• Zombie 2 (the same film as Zombie)
• Zombie 3: Return of the Zombies (1973) (original Spanish title: La orgía de los muertos) (starring Paul Naschy, directed by José Luis Merino)
• Zombie 4: A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973) (original French title: Christina, princesse de l'érotisme, directed by Jess Franco)
• Zombie 5: Revenge in the House of Usher (1982) (original title: Revenge in the House of Usher, directed by Jess Franco)
• Zombie 6: Monster Hunter (1981) (which is itself a pseudo-sequel to Joe D'Amato's Anthropophagus)

Other Films

• Zombi 1 (1995), also known as Zombie 1, is a short film by Dutch director Richard Raaphorst available on the film anthology Nether Horror Collection.
• Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974) has also been released as Zombi 3 – Da dove vieni?.
• Zombie Holocaust (1980), also known as Doctor Butcher, M.D. has also been released as Zombie 3, and it stars Ian McCulloch, who appeared in Zombi 2.
• Nightmare City (1980) has been released as Zombi 3.
• Another film to bear the name Zombie 3 is Andrea Bianchi's Le notti del terrore (1981).
• Panic (1982), aka Bakterion, is known as Zombi 4 in Greece, according to IMDb.
• Joe D'Amato's Antropophagus (1980) has been released as Zombie 7: Grim Reaper after the release of Absurd (1981), a loose sequel to Anthropophagus.
• Zombie '90: Extreme Pestilence (1991), also known as Zombie 2001: Battle Royale, has also been released as Zombi 7 and is directed by German director Andreas Schnaas.
• Amando de Ossorio's The Blind Dead 4: Night of the Seagulls (1975) has also been released as Zombi 8.

Danish Series

The Danish distributor company Another World Entertainment, formed in 2006, has issued a numbered "Zombie series" with Italian zombie movies on DVD, which so far includes:

1. Lucio Fulci's The Beyond (L'aldilà) (1981)
2. Lucio Fulci's City of the Living Dead (Paura nella città dei morti viventi) (1980)
3. Lucio Fulci's Zombie Flesh Eaters (Zombi 2) (1979)
4. Marino Girolami's Zombie Holocaust (Zombi holocaust) (1980)
5. Lucio Fulci's Zombie Flesh Eaters 2 (Zombi 3) (1988)
6. Umberto Lenzi's Nightmare City (Incubo sulla città contaminata) (1980)
7. Bruno Mattei's Hell of the Living Dead (Virus) (1980)
8. Andrea Bianchi's Burial Ground (aka Night of Terror) (Le notti del terrore) (1981)