Zombie Nightmare (1987)

Very Cool!!!

Disappointment for a huge fan!

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

As a boy, Tony Washington witnesses the fatal stabbing of his father after he goes to the rescue of a young black woman, Molly Mokembe, who is being sexually molested by two teenage thugs.Cut to the present day, and Tony (now played by heavy metal singer Jon Mikl Thor) is a musclebound, long-haired baseball player who, like his father, has no time for hoodlums: when his local grocery store is held up by armed robbers, Tony steps in and saves the day (the Italian shopkeeper is-a so-a grateful, he lets-a Tony have his-a groceries for-a nothing!).Unfortunately, as Tony crosses the road with his freebies, he is run down and killed by a gang of no-good punks, lead by psycho Jim Batten (played by Shaun Levy, now a successful Hollywood director). When Tony's mother sees her son's lifeless body, she calls for Molly (Manuska Rigaud), who uses her voodoo powers to resurrect Tony from the dead. Armed with his trusty metal baseball bat, shuffling zombie Tony goes looking for revenge.As I type, Zombie Nightmare is currently sitting at #53 on IMDb's bottom 100 movies (most likely thanks to being featured on MST3K); but while I cannot deny that the film is no classic of the zombie genre, and is sadly lacking in both the gore and nudity one expects from 80s trash (a blonde cutie in her underwear doesn't cut it), neither is it deserving of such contempt. I've seen hundreds of films that are tougher to endure than this one, which at least entertains with its 80s cheesiness and sheer silliness.Boasting a rocking metal soundtrack courtesy of Motorhead, Girlschool, Thor, Deathmask and Fist (no, I've never heard of the last two bands either), an early performance from Wayne's World babe Tia Carrere (schwing!), Adam 'Batman' West as a police captain with a dark secret, hilariously bad zombie make-up, terrible acting (Manuska's Haitian voodoo routine is a masterclass in over-acting), some really nasty 80s fashion, and a fun finale in a foggy cemetery (smoke machine on overdrive!) that sees West dragged to hell, Zombie Nightmare is definitely worth a go for fans of z-grade horror.

"Zombie Nightmare" is appallingly bad. I've seen plenty of low-budget productions and few compare with the complete misuse of resources here. There's one scene where a zombie chases a girl through a recreational facility with embarrassing cuts back and forth between the girl who is 'leisurely jogging' as the MST3k bots put it and the slowest and least menacing zombie in the history of film.This is one of few movies which is actually just about unbearable without either teaming up with a bunch of people to rip it apart or watching the MST3k version (which is hilarious, by the way, one of the best). The only things remotely entertaining about the movie are the laughably bad sexual innuendo and the obvious: Adam West. Let's face it, Adam West is just entertaining in any setting. Other than the sexual innuendo which really is laughable, there's not much here to enjoy even on a 'so bad it's good' level- it's just BAD.The film boasts one of the funniest and weirdest title sequences I've ever seen, and one which leads to a hilarious conversation about "Ace of Spades" in the MST3k version.Watching the non-MST3k version just results in seeing more of the sexual violence and hilariously bad gore cut out of the MST3k version. I can't see why anyone that isn't obsessive like myself would want to watch the original version of this film. It's torture.1/10

After writing back-to-back negative reviews for Werewolf (1996) and Track of the Moon Beast (1976), I almost hate to make it three in a row with Zombie Nightmare. I've thought about raising one of the ratings because I really hate to seem so negative. But if you've seen this trifecta of cinematic crap, you'll understand that I really have no choice. Zombie Nightmare deserves the 1/10 – just like Werewolf and Track of the Moon Beast. It's pretty much bad in every way a movie can be. It's got it all – bad acting, poor special effects, ridiculous plot, weak technical aspects, and unlikable characters. I've used this expression several times recently, but Gawd awful also applies to Zombie Nightmare.Actually, I do have one positive thing to write about the movie. Somehow, the makers of this garbage were able to secure the rights to (or possibly just had the good sense to use) Motörhead's "Ace of Spades" for the opening credits. Lemmy rocks!

Teenagers run-down a man in their car, a local voodoo woman turns him into a zombie, and said zombie then seeks revenge against the foolish teenagers.Cheap, 80's style horror cheese falls flat on every level. The story is unoriginal and has no suspense, the chase sequences are laughably awful. The production values are very low-grade. Much of the movie is a show case for some occasionally decent heavy rock music. You know it's all about the music when the bands take opening credit just after the stars.The cast, which only has Adam West for a known star, is pretty bad. The characters are generally moronic. The only interesting character is Shawn Levy as a big-haired teen thug (who throws noodles at his mom!), but he makes a rather premature exit from the movie.A lame entry in the 80's teen horror scene, but it's still not as bad as Rick Sloan's Hobgoblins (1987)!BOMB out of ****