After Death (1989)
- Cody Iden
- Nov 6, 2021
- 2 min read
Release Date - June 21, 1989
Synopsis:
A boat full of explorers makes an emergency docking on a remote island that is home to the undead and they soon discover that a young woman's pendant is their only protection against the zombies.
Directed by - Claudio Fragasso
Screenplay by - Rossella Drudi
Story by - Rossella Drudi and Maurizio Baglivo
Produced by - Franco Gaudenzi
Cinematography - Luigi Ciccarese
Music by - Al Festa
Distribution Company - Variety Film
Cast:
Chuck Peyton - Chuck
Candice Daly - Jenny
Alex McBride - David
Don Wilson - Tommy
Jim Gaines - Dan
Adrianne Joseph - Louise
Jim Moss - Mad
Nick Nicholson - Rod
Run Time - 1 hr. 27 min. Rated - Unrated
Budget - Unknown Gross - Unknown
Review:
A low-budget Italian horror film, After Death is, regardless, an enjoyable and atmospheric affair. The film has a really great and memorable opening sequence that takes up the first third or so of the movie but after that the story is paper thin and we get a bunch of random people wandering around this island until the zombies show up. The acting is also pretty poor and many of the characters have been dubbed, though this isn't too terrible surprisingly. Despite all this there is plenty of action and enough dumb and ludicrous character moments to keep things memorable and interesting. The cinematography is surprisingly good considering the budget and the special effects are pretty great as well even if this zombie film doesn't go for any crazy over-the-top gore that was common in Italian horror flicks of the time. The score is very memorable but a little repetitive at times and the film's theme song, "Living After Death" by Maurizio Cerantola is pretty catchy and upbeat. While the story is paper thin and the acting pretty dull the movie still manages to come across as enjoyably mediocre and has a lot of "so bad it's good" elements.
My Score: 65
Plot - 5 Cinematography - 7
Attraction - 6 Editing & Special Effects - 8
Theme - 6 Sound & Music - 8
Acting - 5 Directing - 8
Dialogue - 5 Enjoyability – 7
Trivia:
Jeff Stryker, credited in the film as Chuck Peyton, was better known as a pornographic actor. Director Claudio Fragasso was unaware of Stryker's adult film career when casting him.
Maurizio Cerantola, who sings the film's theme song "Living After Death", was later part of the Led Zeppelin cover band, Custard Pie from 1993-1997. He then joined a Whitesnake cover band named Cover-Dale in 2006. He later performed with Snake's Shadow, another Whitesnake cover band and as of 2019 he is a member of the band Pantheon.
Released as Zombie 4 in some territories and some home video releases.
Availability:
Watched November 5, 2021
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