The Zombi series refers collectively to horror films that have been marketed, in various territories, as sequels to either George A. Romero's Italian-American film Dawn of the Dead (1978) or Lucio Fulci's Italian film Zombi 2 (1979). The latter was itself marketed by Italian distributors as a sequel to the former. A confusing history has emerged from the practice of reworking films as Zombi movies for release in different countries, a process during which a film may be given a different title in each country where it is released. In Britain and Thailand, these films were released as the Zombie Flesh Eaters series. In North America and Germany, the films became known as the Zombie series. The films maintained their original spelling, Zombi, when released in Australia and other select countries.
The Zombi series began when Romero's Dawn of the Dead film (released in European countries as Zombi) was re-edited by Dario Argento and re-scored by Goblin for its Italian and wider European releases. Following the film's success, a zombie film by Lucio Fulci was commissioned and titled Zombi 2, to appear as a sequel. A series of increasingly tenuous efforts by various producers to capitalize on the Zombi name in multiple countries ensued.[1]
Series by region
Italian series
The Italian series starts with Dawn of the Dead and is followed by Zombi 2 and its officially-released sequels.
In the U.K., the series is known as Zombie Flesh Eaters. While it follows the Italian series in proper order, it ignores Dawn of the Dead as the first entry, and instead starts with Zombi 2, adding the unrelated film Oltre la morte as a third installment.
Zombie Flesh Eaters 3 (1989) (Italian title: Oltre la morte, a.k.a. After Death)
German series
The German series, like the Italian series, starts off with Dawn of the Dead, but ignores Fulci's Zombi 2 (which was released separately as Woodoo), and instead continues with Day of the Dead and the Italian Zombi 3.
Zombie (1979) (original title: Dawn of the Dead)
Zombie 2: Das Letzte Kapitel (1985) (original title: Day of the Dead)
Zombie III (1988) (Italian title: Zombi 3)
Thai series
The Thai Zombi series follows the titling and numbering of the British series, but adds the unrelated film Killing Birds with the new title, Zombie Flesh Eaters 4.[2]
The Australian version of the series uses roman numerals and is composed of sequels only, most of which are re-titled Italian films. However, one exclusive installment was produced titled Zombi VIII: Urban Decay in 2020. The series starts off with Zombi IV: Bakterion and concludes with Zombi VIII: Urban Decay.
Although the American series begins with Zombi 2 and continues in the established sequence, some of the films were re-titled again and the titles do not follow in numerical order. Zombi 2 was renamed Zombie, but Zombi 3 was renamed Zombie 3 rather than Zombie 2. Two additional films were released on home video with titles that would imply that they were sequels, but which had nothing to do with the Italian series.
Zombie (1979) (Italian title: Zombi 2)
Zombie 3 (1988) (Italian title: Zombi 3)
Zombie 4: After Death (1989) (Italian title: Oltre la morte, a.k.a. After Death)
Zombie 4: A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973) (original French title: Christina, princesse de l'érotisme, directed by Jesús Franco, with additional scenes, directed by Jean Rollin, added for re-release in 1981)
Zombie 5: Revenge in the House of Usher (1982) (original Spanish title: El Hundimiento de la Casa Usher a.k.a. Revenge in the House of Usher, directed by Jesús Franco. The words "Zombie 5" were added to the video box only and were not included on the film print itself.)
