Killing birds - uccelli assassini (1987)

User Rating:

2.3/10   

Director:

Claudio Lattanzi

Writers:

Sheila Goldberg (dialogue)
Sheila Goldberg (story)

Release Date:

13 July 1988 (France)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

A group of students goes into the woods to study birds, and soon the dead begin to rise to devour the living.

Plot Keywords:

Ornithologist | Computer | Blind | Hanged Boy | Boy Strangling

Cast

Lara Wendel	...	Anne
Robert Vaughn	...	Dr. Fred Brown
Timothy W. Watts	...	Steve Porter
Leslie Cumming	...	Mary (as Leslie Cummins)
James Villemaire	...	Paul
Sal Maggiore	...	Brian (as Sal Maggiore Jr.)
James Sutterfield	...	Rob
Lin Gathright	...	Jennifer
Brigitte Paillet	...	Steve's Mother
Ellis Paillet	...	Steve's Grandfather
Nona Paillet	...	Steve's Grandmother
John H. Green	...	Dr. Green

Also Known As:

Dark Eyes of the Zombie
Killing Birds - Raptors (Italy) (video title)
Raptors
Zombie 5: Killing Birds (USA) (DVD box title)

Country:

Italy

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Belgium:16 (video rating) | USA:Not Rated | Italy:VM14 | France:-12

Filming Locations:

Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Filmirage S.r.l.

Trivia:

The house featured in the beginning of the film is the same used in E tu vivrai nel terrore - L'aldilà (1981) (aka 'The Beyond').

Movie Connections:

References E tu vivrai nel terrore - L'aldilà (1981)

It's OK

After returning home from service in Vietnam a soldier discovers his girlfriend in bed with another man. He kills the guy, the girl and her parents with the aid of his trusty knife in the matter of a few minuets. Basically he's an awesome dude who doesn't take no crap from no one. Anyway, after he's finished slaughtering everyone he's attacked by a bird who plucks out his eye. Years later he's still living in the house (he's not in jail because apparently the cops think she deserved it too) when a group of teenagers show up to snoop around and have sex. Soon the dead begins to rise and the birds begin to kill too.

Even though this movie is titled "Zombie 5: Killing Birds" it has absolutely nothing to do with Lucio Fulci's "Zombi 2" and even predates the official sequel "Zombi 3" by a year. It's not even remotely like "Zombi 2", but it is quite a bit like another Fulci zombie offering "The Beyond". Anyway, I'm pretty mixed on this one. First off, it's nowhere near as bad as its reputation suggests (the current rating of 2.2 is really ridiculous). I also really like the idea and the gore is quite good and it has some creative deaths to go with it. I also dug the surreal feel. Still, "Zombie 5" is flawed. It has really bad acting and a terrible script as one might expect as well as some inappropriate moments that distract from the film as a whole. It also has a few pacing problems with a few scenes dragging on unnecessarily. When it comes down to it it's an average movie with many elements I like and many I disliked. It's still worth checking out if you dig Italian zombie films.