hwg1957-102-265704 An author in Bologna is given an electric typewriter by his wife and information on the ribbon leads him to find out about K zones, the wok of Dr Zeder and a group bringing the dead back to life. The film is strong on atmosphere with good cinematography, evocative locations and a sizzling music score by Riz Ortolani but overall doesn't make much sense. The beginning is confusing, the middle throws up unanswered questions and the ending is weak. (Indeed, what does happen at the end?) The cast are adequate but not outstanding. Given a clearer narrative it would have been more engrossing. The director Pupi Avati has made better films.

Michael_Elliott Zeder (1983) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Stefano (Gabriele Lavia) is given a typewriter as a gift from his girlfriend and one night he begins to read the ribbon in it. He learns about a doctor who might know a burial ground where the dead can rise up so Stefano begins an investigation.ZEDER is an Italian horror movie that is hated by many but not because of the film's fault. The film was released in America as REVENGE OF THE DEAD with one of the greatest posters that you're ever going to see. The poster featured a great looking zombie creature with rotting flesh and a tagline warning "The Dead Shall Rise." Well, that led a lot of people to believe they were about to see something like a Lucio Fulci zombie film and simply put, that's not what ZEDER is.If you're expecting any type of graphic violence or gore then it's best you forget about that because you're not going to find any of that. In fact, the film is quite tame in its story, which is basically a mystery with a journalist setting out to uncover a secret. The film has a very slow pace to it and to say the film is a slow burn would be an understatement but that's exactly what it is. The film features a very rich and thick atmosphere, which is certainly the best thing about it. Director Pupi Avati does a very good job at building up the atmosphere and this here makes the film quite memorable.There's one major flaw with the picture and that's the fact that there's really not too much that happens. I don't mind the slow pacing but I thought the story was rather lacking and especially in the middle portion where the journalist grows a bit closer when he is left in a small town with some secrets. I honestly thought there were twenty-minutes that could have been removed from the film and you wouldn't have lost anything in the story. I wish something more had been done but sadly that wasn't to happen.Performances are good for what they are and for the most part there's an interesting story here but one just wishes something more had been done with it. With that being said, ZEDER is an interesting horror film that is quite different from the rest of what Italy was giving us during this era.

schism101 Pupi Avati's ZEDER, is a different take on the undead genre, but is not a zombie film outright. Rather than being all out 'dead rising from the graves and feeding on the flesh of the living' the film takes its time to build up tension and atmosphere, that adds a genuine sense of creepiness to the films tone. A young journalist, given a typewriter as a present from his girlfriend discovers some text written on the ink ribbon, and threw this mysterious text he uncovers a past story of a scientist called Paolo Zeder, who discovered areas of terrain that can revive the dead. The journalists investigations lead him to a group of outlaw scientists who are attempting to reconstruct these experiments in the present day. Avati clearly goes for atmosphere over gore, though there are a few scenes where we see the aftermath of some murders, the film doesn't show any bodily mutilation, and instead the films builds up tension and dread through suggestion and use of sound, and characters reactions. It's a clever and excellent choice of direction that makes ZEDER stand out as an intelligent and if slightly obscure and offbeat entry into the living dead cycle.

The_Void The general consensus of Italian filmmakers seems to be that they specialise in making trashy, gory and derivative horror films in a number of set and overpopulated genres. This view is not exactly unfounded as a lot of Italian films are cheap and trashy, and often rip-offs of successful American films. However, Pupa Avati can't be pigeon holed in the same way; despite making films in popular Italian genres such as zombies and Giallo, his films are by no means cheap and trashy and certainly not rip-offs either. Anyone going into this film expecting a zombie movie along the same lines as 'The Beyond' will be sorely disappointed, as Avati's film prefers to take the slow and thoughtful approach. The plot focuses on a journalist named Stefano. He is bought an old typewriter by his girlfriend. He soon notices that there's something written on the ribbon and after deciphering it, he uncovers the story of Paulo Zeder; a scientist from the 1950's who discovered that certain types of ground, which he calls "K-Zones', have the power to resurrect the dead...A lot of people have called this film "thinking mans horror" and while that could be said of it, the argument that the film is boring does carry a little bit of weight also - needless to say, this film is not what springs to mind when one thinks of an Italian zombie film! The film is very slow and the plot is very strung out over the ninety seven minute running time. There are moments in the film that are boring, and this is problem; but Pupa Avati, as he proved with his earlier film The House With the Windows that Laugh, certainly has a penchant for slow burn horror and the overall film does manage to remain interesting for the duration. There are some good ideas on display, although I'm not sure if this really should be called a "zombie movie" as it's more along the lines of a mystery thriller. There are a few good moments of horror, though the zombies aren't flesh eating. The best idea of the whole film doesn't come until almost at the end - and by then it's a bit late as there isn't time to explore it, which is a shame. Anyway, Zeder is an interesting horror flick and while it won't appeal to all tastes, I can still recommend it.