Main Cast: Hugo Stiglitz, Laura Trotter, Francisco Rabal, Maria Rosaria Omaggio, Mel Ferrer
Release Year: 1980
Country: ES/IT
Run Time: 92 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Miller (Hugo Stiglitz) is a reporter on to something when he sees passengers disembark from a plane and start attacking and murdering whomever they come across -- no, they are not upset with their service, they are zombies -- or more accurately ghouls who need human blood to stay alive. While flight attendants may contend that more than one ghoul is on any flight, this group was contaminated by a man exposed to radiation that leaked from a nuclear plant, and they are hereafter identifiable by their black-face make-up, if not their eating habits. When Miller tries to notify the citizens that these monsters are on the loose, he is rudely stopped by a nasty general (Mel Ferrer) who does not want to make the public unnecessarily hysterical. The monsters have a molecular structure that is not affected by bullets, and so in imitation of the accepted code that zombies only die with a shot to the head, the general launches his attack "aiming for the control center" of each zombie head, before everyone is converted into the blood-thirsty monsters. With anemic acting, murky color, and other technical problems, this is simply another zombie film among the masses. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Review
Fans of psychotronic gorefests will rejoice when the doors of the cargo plane swing back and the marauding horde of hideously mutated zombies, armed with hand tools, plunges into a deliciously target-rich tarmac of helpless soldiers brandishing useless automatic weapons. There's a scene that follows that takes place in a TV studio during the filming of a dance show featuring women in Spandex -- and you know something hideously horrible is going to happen to that Spandex when they won't let reporter Miller (Hugo Stiglitz) break in the broadcast to warn the population about the rampaging zombies. But those are the highlights. After a half hour of the chase, the plot grows wearisome as does the viewer's patience. While there is tension, the horror elements have become comical and the froth falls flat. The ending is a bit of a cop-out, but you have to see the desperate corner director Umberto Lenzi has painted himself into. The makeup effects are okay, the gratuitous nudity is hilarious (Mel Ferrer is a lucky guy), and the low-budget production details are not necessarily distracting for a genre movie. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
