Le notti erotiche dei morti viventi (1980)

User Rating:

3.1/10   

Director:

Joe D'Amato

Writer:

George Eastman (writer)

Release Date:

18 November 1980 (Italy)

Genre:

Horror | Adult

Plot:

A sailor takes an American businessman and his girlfriend to an island where the businessman wants to build a resort...

Plot Keywords:

Island | Human Flesh | Sex | Living Dead | Lesbian

Cast

Laura Gemser	...	Luna
George Eastman	...	Larry O'Hara
Dirce Funari	...	Fiona
Mark Shannon	...	John Wilson (as Mark Shanon)

Also Known As:

Erotic Nights of the Living Dead (USA) (DVD box title)
La notte degli zombies (Italy) (alternative title)
La regina degli zombi (Italy) (working title)
Le notti erotiche (Italy) (video box title)
Nite of the Zombies (USA) (promotional title)
Queen of the Zombies (USA) (video title)
Sexy Nights of the Living Dead (USA)

Runtime:

104 min | Germany:88 min | 112 min (uncut version)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Italy:VM18 | West Germany:18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Cine International, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Stefano Film

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the three first leave for Cat Island, the boat engine is running and the 'captain' asks the other guy to take the wheel. The boat isn't even moving. The ship in the background is moving and the background (the land and building) behind them isn't. After a minute, they do seem to have moved just a few feet as if just drifting in the water.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Carmen, Baby (1967)

How sexy are your zombies?

For a film to have 'erotic' in the title, the film should have erotic scenes. If a film has 'living dead' in the title, there should be some good gut munching. And finally, if a film has 'night of' in the title, the film should be shot at night. But then again, this is a Joe D'Amato flick.

Story: people go to investigate an island,come across some creepy natives, have lots of sex and get eaten.

There is plenty of nudity and hard-core sexual escapades on display (if you have the uncut version), but not a bit of it is erotic or arousing. Some male/female, female/female, pick your poison. Matters are further complicated by the obvious fact that some of the actors are not at all comfortable with bearing it all, taking the blandly shot scenes and making them all the more dull.

For a film like this, violence is the answer, or should have been. D'amato is unusually thin-skinned about laying on the gore. There are a couple of choice bits, but nothing spectacular. If it weren't bad enough that the zombies don't do a whole hell of a lot, it's worse that they take forever to finally start reeking havoc. I suppose the intention was to build suspense, but with a film like this what's the point.

So how well is it made then? For a film supposedly occurring mostly at night it is readily apparent that most all of the movie was shot during then day then given the day-for-night treatment. The dubbing is dubious and the limited effects some what suspect.

A mid-range rating for a bad movie that will undoubtedly find a niche audience; you know who you are.

5/10