Edinburgh Zombie Club

MARK OF THE DEVIL (1970, dir.Michael Armstrong)
In 17th-century England, sadistic witch hunter Count Cumberland (Herbert Lom) rapes, tortures, and murders young women in the name of the Church. The corrupt nobleman uses these witch hunts as a means to acquire money, land, and power and to terrorize the local populace, who despise him. After witnessing the Count commit a brutal murder, Cumberland’s idealistic young apprentice (Udo Kier) loses faith in his mentor and conspires to put an end to the sadist’s rampage of terror.

A piece of Witchfinder General inspired sleaze, it outperformed that film at the box office, possibly due to its inspired marketing campaign, which saw free sick bags handed out to audiences.

THE DEVIL’S RAIN (1975, dir. Robert Fuest)

Heaven Help Us When the Devil’s Rain!

Patriarch Steve Preston goes missing and worried mom Emma (Ida Lupino) sends eldest son Mark (William Shatner) in search of his father. Suddenly, a dying, eyeless Steve returns and demands that the family: “Give Corbis what belongs to him!” before dissolving into a gelatinous meltdown. Corbis (Ernest Borgnine) is a Satanic priest hell-bent on recovering a valuable book listing the names of those who sold their souls to the devil…a book that resides with the Preston family. Mark refuses to hand it over and puts up a brave fight, only to wind up an unwilling sacrifice. Occult expert, Dr. Richards (Eddie Albert) and Mark’s younger brother, Tom (Tom Skerritt) plot to free the Prestons and destroy The Devil’s Rain, a bottle containing the souls of those already damned. The battle rages as the elixir is released and a bloody rain of devilry and malevolence is loosed upon a screaming, melting world.

This film is a left hand path to sheer joy, with a notable cast which also includes John Travolta as a hooded cultist and a cameo by Anton La Vey (who acted as the adviser on Satanism, and made sure all the rituals and chants were authentic). Ave Satanas!

WEDNESDAY 25th AUGUST
SOFI’S
63-65 HENDERSON STREET
LEITH
7.00PM, FREE!

***PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A ONE-OFF AT SOFI’S, WE WILL RETURN TO THE BANSHEE LABYRINTH NEXT MONTH***

SAVE THE GREEN PLANET (2003, dir. Jang Jun-Hwan)

This is a jaw-droppingly bizarre movie from Korea that mixes scenes of gruesome torture and violence with comedy and heartbreaking profundity.

Perhaps as a result of too many amphetamines and violent incidents in his past, beekeeper Lee Byeong Gu (Sin Ha-Gyun) has become convinced that an unscrupulous business tycoon (Kan Man-Shik) is actually an alien from the planet Andromeda. Lee’s frumpy acrobat girlfriend (Hwang Jung-Min) helps him abduct the ‘alien’ and torture him into confessing. Meanwhile, a hangdog detective is following a trail leading to Lee’s hideout high in the mountains.

Let the timid be warned: this is not the antipollution comedy that the title might indicate. Man’s inhumanity to man is certainly depicted–as in events like Korea’s 1980 Kwangju riots–but there’s more going on here than any one summation could describe: bees attack, a pet dog named Earth dines on human remains, alternate theories of evolution are posited (ie Noah’s Ark was a deep submarine carrying DNA samples); an entire lifetime of films, political turmoil, anime and manga are boiled down and distilled into one profound, multi-textual allegory.

Adventurous viewers will be in for one hell of a ride, as this film dares go where few have gone before, yet it does so with heart and intellect to match its wicked humor and headlong momentum.

RUNAWAY(1984, dir. Michael Crichton)

A police sergeant goes up against an evil electronics whiz in this fast-paced, futuristic thriller.

Ramsey is a widowed cop trying to raise his young son, Bobby. Although he suffers from a fear of heights, this condition hasn’t stopped him from becoming one of the best officers on the force. His specialty is tracking down robots that have gone bad, rebelling against their owners. And because machines have taken over many regular tasks — even cooking — in this futuristic society, there’s always a need for Ramsey’s services. Now, however, he has his toughest assignment yet. Luther, a master criminal, is terrorizing the city by controlling robots everywhere to do his bidding. And, with the help of new, diabolical creations that include electronic spiders and heat-seeking, programmable bullets, Luther seems unstoppable. Will Ramsey and Thompson, his new, female partner, be able to stop the villain?

WEDNESDAY 28th JULY
THE BANSHEE LABYRINTH
NIDDRIE STREET
EDINBURGH
7.00PM, FREE!

JUST BEFORE DAWN (1981, dir Jeff Lieberman)

1981′s Just Before Dawn is one of the best tales of wilderness horror out there. It’s one of the finest-made slashers of the 80′s and it easily blows movies like The Final Terror, Don’t Go in the Woods, or The Prey out of the water.

A group of young adults come to check out the mountain property that one of the group has just bought. However they are not alone in the wild. A hulking in-bred murderer, who seems to be in two places at once, is lurking and apparently hates trespassers.
Director Lieberman, who gave us such great B films as Squirm (1976) and Blue Sunshine (1977), does an excellent job with this smart thriller as well. The movie is nicely atmospheric, with a creeping sense of tension and some strong suspense. This film makes even the open wilderness seem frighteningly claustrophobic. The Oregon locations are beautiful and well captured by the crafty cinematography. The music score is a true original and awesome in contrast with the scenic visuals.

Deborah Benson makes for a great lead, her presence was captivating. Gregg Henry delivers a good performance as Benson’s lover and Chris Lemon provides some occasional charisma. The supporting cast, especially veteran actor Kennedy, also does quite well.
A true gem of the slasher genre, that needs no gore to thrill

NIGHT OF THE DEMON (1980, dir James C Wasson)
An anthropology professer takes his class into the woods to seek the legendary Bigfoot, and boy, do they find him! This is one pissed off mystery primate, who proceeds to off a succession of campers in a variety of gruesome ways.

Not to be confused with the classic 1950s British film with the same name, this is possibly THE greatest killer Bigfoot film ever made, delivering on what The Legend Of Boggy Creek II promised on its cover but failed to deliver on celluoid. Banned in the UK on its inital release, crammed full of all the usual EZC staples; bad acting, over the top gore and a truly bizarre plot twist, plus a creature costume that would shame 1970s Doctor Who.

This film will make you scared to pee in the woods ever again.

WEDNESDAY 30TH JUNE
BANSHEE LABYRINTH
29-35 NIDDRY ST
EDINBURGH
7.00PM, FREE!

This will also be EZC’s second birthday, so I dare say some of us will be hanging back for a drink after the films to celebrate, so feel free to join us.

Don’t forget to get your tickets for the all day event as well.

Rome Armed To The Teeth (aka Roma a mano armata) – dir. Umberto Lenzi, 1976

Inspector Leonardo Tanzi is a tough detective working the dangerous streets of Rome. His violent method of dealing with criminals is brutal but very effective. He becomes enraged that most of the criminals he catches are released within only a few hours, only to repeat their crimes shortly afterward. Soon Tanzi is taken off the gang-control squad and placed at a desk job by his boss who is not happy with Tanzi’s violent procedures. Consequently, with Tanzi off the streets the gangsters start a wild crime wave, causing widespread corruption and anarchy in the streets. Banks are robbed, children are kidnapped, people are killed, and it’s all up to Tanzi to set things straight. Super charismatic Tomas Milian is stupendous as the wisecracking hunchback psycho villain who occasionally likes to gratuitously machine gun innocent bystanders.

A true Eurocrime classic, Rome Armed To The Teeth delivers everything you could want from this sort of film- endless car chases, brutal violence and moustaches.

Contraband (aka Luca il Contrabbandiere) – dir. Lucio Fulci, 1980

Luca Di Angelo is an idealistic family man and dockside worker whom works for a shady underworld smuggler in hauling illegal merchandise, imported cigarettes and booze, down the coastal waterways of Naples, Italy. Things in his life become complicated when his brother and a number of fellow smugglers are murdered by a rival smuggler from France, known as the Marsigliese, whom is determined to become drug kingpin of Italy and wipe out all competition. Luca must join forces with rival Naples smugglers, a powerful Italian Mafia, as well as the local police to track down the French sadist when he abducts Luca’s wife.

What marks Contraband out from other films in the genre is its level of violence and gore. Like any good 70s crime flick, there are countless bullet wounds, bloody beatings and funky fistfights but Fulci ratchets the action up to an almost absurd level. Bullets rip out throats, shower the street with guts, punch big holes in peoples’ faces, and send brains rocketing out the back of skulls. It takes its time to get going, but once it does, there’s no let up, right up until the final, blood soaked shoot out.

Wednesday 28th April, Banshee Labyrinth, 29-35 Niddrie St, Edinburgh. Doors 7pm, first film starts 7.30pm. NOTE NEW VENUE!

2019, After The Fall Of New York (aka. 2019 – Dopo la caduta di New York) – Dir. Sergio Martino, 1983

Sergio Martino’s wonderful Italian rip off has to be seen in all it’s leather studded glory and will no doubt become an EZC favourite, you’ll recognise blatant nods to Planet of Apes, Road Warrior, Logan’s Run, Death Race and Escape From New York through out, but there’s enough camp hijinx and fun to get away with it all. It’s certainly the apex in Italian plagiarist sci-fi and easily one of the better films to come out that era, alongside the likes of Enzo Castellari’s Bronx Warriors and New Barbarians. Filled with ridiculous costumes, car chases, bad model skyscrapers, a bizarre fertility subplot and the usual script inconsistencies – “2019” is a real treat for both Post Apocalyptic aficionados and new jacks alike, it also has some of best VHS artwork of the 80’s era, hands down.

Endgame (aka. Bronx lotta finale) – Dir. Joe D’Amato, 1983

Mr. Sleaze bag himself, Joe D’Amato, had a crack at the Post Apocalyptic genre with this ditty. Made up of an inept cast more famous for their porn credits than acting ability – “Endgame” depicts the a post nuclear fall out New York in 2025 where a Running Man-esque TV programme rules the roost and our lead character (the very expressionless) Al Civer is the bait for a plethora of end level boss types. It’s completely daft and predictable, but keep an eye for the rapey fish men which have to be seen to be believed – a nice mutant twist on the sub-genre. A lot of it appears to have been filmed on location in an abandoned quarry too, so nil point for originality, but it makes up for it with some pretty cool fights and weird SS Officer types strutting about like they own the place.

Wednesday 31st March from 7pm onwards. Upstairs in the top floor studio of the GRV, Guthrie Street, Edinburgh. Just head straight up the staircase on your left hand side after entering the front door. Free entry as always!

Zombie Creeping Flesh (1981) aka. Night of the Zombies, Virus, Cannibal Virus, Zombie Inferno, Zombies of the Savannah and Hell of the Living Dead, etc! – Directed by Bruno Mattei

It’s been a little while since we’ve had a proper ZOMBIE night so kicking off will be the shlocker-cum-Romero rip-off of Zombie Creeping Flesh, to use one out of the dozens of alternative title’s its had over the years. It’s truly an enjoyable stinker; you’ll see blatant plagiarisms from Dawn of The Dead and Zombi 2, to Cannibal Holocaust/Ferox and the Mondo Cane films, even to the extent of using stock footage and stealing some of Goblin’s soundtrack. The army is sent out to a remote part of Papa New Guinea to investigate a chemical accident, before stumbling upon a film crew in the jungle who have discovered a sinister plot which has turned the natives into hungry flesh rippers – you can see where this is going. Despite lacking in originality, it has enough going for it to tick the usual EZC boxes with loads of entertaining deaths, unintelligible dialogue and some decent enough set pieces.

Followed by…

Hard Rock Zombies (1985) – Directed by Krishna Shah

Here’s some real B-movie stupidity which just oozes of the mid-1980’s. Imagine if the mulleted metal kids of “Heavy Metal Parking Lot” were employed to star in a nonsensical romp regarding a hair metal band with a penchant for incredibly young looking girls, who have to battle the walking corpses of dead rockers, a Zombie version of Hitler and his werewolf madame, Eva Braun. Throw in some horrendous musical and dance montages, midgets, statutory rape, skateboards, plenty of nudity and inept special effects – and you’ve got Hard Rock Zombies. The over-used expression of “they don’t make em like they used to” can honestly be applied here, it’s totally moronic and utterly entertaining. This might outdo “Hausu” on the WTF-o-meter, a dubious VHS classic.

Wednesday 27th January from 7pm onwards. Upstairs in the top floor studio of the GRV, Guthrie Street, Edinburgh. Just head straight up the staircase on your left hand side after entering the front door. Free entry!