The Zombi Conundrum (aka Why My Head Always Hurts)

The entertainment industry loves to rename things in order to cash in on past successes. This is a fact. We all have dealt with the paradox this creates at one time or another.Video game fans know all about the madness of the Final Fantasy series. Horror fans at least have a basic understanding of this. It seems that the horror and exploitation scene has dealt with this more than anything. Mario Bava's "Twitch of the Death Nerve" (aka "Bay of Blood") is one example. It was reissued in the US as "Last House on the Left: Part 2", even though it was made the same year as "Last House...". "Hitch-Hike", a sleazy little rape/revenge film from Italy, also gained the moniker "Hitchhike: Last House on the Left". At least this film had David Hess playing a character that was obviously a copy of "Krug", the character he played in "Last House"...but that's a whole different post.

Now, most horror fans can tell you at least a bit about the "Zombi" conundrum. That's what brought me to writing this. It could be the most mind-blowing list of unofficial sequels ever created. The more I checked into it, the more ridiculous it got. So, I figured I needed to list these films here. Hopefully, you'll find this as amazing as I did.

To start, you have to realize (and I know a lot of people out there already do) that the first "Zombi" film was actually Romero's "Dawn of the Dead". "Zombi" was the Italian title for the film and it was released in 1978. A year later, an unofficial sequel was made in Italy, by a certain Lucio Fulci. This film was titled "Zombi 2" in Italy, "Zombie" in the US, and "Zombie Flesh-Eaters" in the UK. So, now that that's been stated, let's dive into the madness!

Films known as...

Zombi 3:
- La Orgía de los muertos (1973) aka Orgy of the Dead; The Hanging Woman; Beyond the Living Dead
- Non si deve profanare il sonno dei morti (1974) aka Breakfast at the Manchester Morgue; Let Sleeping Corpses Lie; The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue.
- Incubo sulla città contaminata (1980) aka Nightmare City; City of the Walking Dead
- Zombi Holocaust (1980) aka Zombie Holocaust; Dr. Butcher MD
- Le Notti del terrore (1981) aka Burial Ground; The Nights of Terror
- Zombi 3 (1988) the actual sequel

Zombi 4:
- Christina, princesse de l'érotisme (1973) aka A Virgin Among the Living Dead
- Bakterion (1976) aka Panic
- Inferno dei morti viventi (1980) aka Virus; Zombie Creeping Flesh; Hell of the Living Dead
- Oltre la morte (1988) aka After Death

Zombi 5:
- Inferno dei morti viventi (1980) aka Virus; Zombie Creeping Flesh; Hell of the Living Dead
- El Hundimiento de la casa Usher (1982) aka Neurosis; Revenge in the House of Usher
- Uccelli assassini (1987) aka Killing Birds; Dark Eyes of the Zombie; Raptors

Zombi 6:
- Rosso Sangue (1981) aka Absurd; Antropophagus 2; The Grim Reaper 2; Monster Hunter

Okay...now, based on this list, 4 of the films listed as sequels came out before the original film! Not to mention that "Absurd" was also "Antropophagus 2", and had nothing to do with zombies; "Killing Birds" came out before both "Zombi 3" and "After Death"; and "Absurd" actually came out before all three of those!

By the way, yes...I know "Hell of the Living Dead" is listed twice. It was known as both "Zombi 4" and "Zombi 5: Ultimate Nightmare".

I have nothing more to say about this...you probably need time to wrap your head around it.