Zombie Flesh Eaters 2 (1988)

Interesting facts

Zombi 3 is a 1988 Italian horror film directed by Lucio Fulci and Bruno Mattei and starring Deran Sarafian, Beatrice Ring, and Ottaviano Dell'acqua. The film is an in-name-only sequel to Fulci's Zombi 2, and the only official sequel to Zombi 2. The film is about a group of scientists at a top-secret research facility who are working on a biological weapon called Death One, which mutates and kills the living creatures and reanimates the dead. The weapon is leaked out of the facility, which leads to a spread of infection among soldiers and tourists in the area.

Production

Rossella Drudi developed most of the script of Zombi 3 without credit. The film only credits Drudi's husband, Claudio Fragasso, who co-authored the screenplay. Their script set the film in the Philippines, as it was a cheap and convenient location to shoot. Zombi 3 was originally announced as a 3D film, but the film was never released in this format.

Fulci left the production partway through and opposing views were given for his departure, the first being an illness that left him unable to film and the second being that he was having disputes with producers. Fulci would later state that he "didn't finish making Zombie 3, but the reason wasn't anything to do with illness [...] there were arguments and so, I finished off an hour and a quarter of the film".

Producer Gaudenzi was worried about the film and had second unit director Bruno Mattei brought in to work on the production with Fragasso in order to complete it. Mattei had been in the Philippines at the time filming Strike Commando 2, went home to spend Christmas with his family and later returned in January 1988 to film more scenes for Zombi 3.

In a 2002 interview, Mattei claimed that he shot about 40% of the film, including all the early scenes in the film and all of the subsequent scenes which feature the soldiers dressed in white anti-contamination suits. He elaborated that this included the entire beginning with the stolen suitcase, the helicopter scene, the scenes involving security guards storming a hotel room and the scenes where the zombies start to burn.

When asked if the film should be credited solely to Fulci, Mattei responded that it was "hard to say" and that "the film's soul is from Fulci. It was his object, not mine. I only took it over after the main production was finally finished. Fulci was informed about everything and there was little discussion about it."

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