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To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

An unusual zombie film from Italian director Pupi Avati which receives mainly negative reviews due to the incorrect advertising of the American release, which markets it as a BURIAL GROUND-style Italian gut-muncher. Instead it's a deliberately slow-paced, action-free epic which weaves a complex, dark, and mysterious plot around the viewer and is indeed difficult to comprehend at moments. As for the zombies, well they pop up at the beginning and the end to offer some good scares, but the majority of the movie is simply an atmospheric and spooky detective-thriller as the lead investigates the mystery and becomes caught up in a conspiracy with lots of shady characters.The film begins as it means to go on with an apparently possessed girl attempting to dig up a basement. When investigating scientists dig in the earth they discover a coffin containing a skeleton, which has been wreaking havoc in the house in which it is situated. Avati makes good use of shadows and lighting for maximum atmospheric impact and his direction recalls the movies of the '40s that Val Lewton produced, and indeed there's a direct reference to CAT PEOPLE with a haunting scene set at a deserted swimming pool.It turns out that this is all a flashback and the film begins proper with the film's lead, Stefano, played by the greatly unappealing Gabriele Lavia (one of the movie's biggest flaws, it has to be said) receiving a decrepit typewriter. Reading strange text on the ribbon, he meets the previous owner, a priest at the local church. The priest denies all knowledge. When he returns later on that day to question the priest further, Stefano discovers that the man was an imitator and the real person he is looking for is dead. The plot becomes even more involved with the intervention of a shadow conspiracy who commit murder to cover up the secret of the K-Zones, geographical locations in which the dead can return to life. After a spooky interlude in a cemetery (which includes a fantastic shock in which he discovers birds living in a coffin), Stefano discovers the location of one of these K-Zones at a partially-built but as yet uninhabited hotel. The scene is set for encounters with the undead...Although with its very slow pacing and almost total lack of action or violence (a single stabbing is all the film can muster), ZEDER is definitely not a film for all tastes, viewers will be rewarded by the finale which includes some very frightening moments. The finest of these in my opinion is when the main character watches (via monitors linked up to a camera) a corpse wake up in its coffin and begin laughing in an eerie manner. This really sent the chills running down my spine. The sight of the dead pushing their way up from below the ground is also effective, as are hands emerging from walls, and the film's final downbeat twist may have possibly influenced Stephen King's PET SEMATARY.The actors are as poorly dubbed as usual and the cast is of unknowns (even for an Italian movie). Lavia is miscast as the boring lead and unable to breathe life into his role, although some of the supporting actors playing the bad guys aren't bad at all. The thing I liked most about this movie was the soundtrack, with emphatic music which recalls THE BEYOND and some very weird sound effects to add to the horror. These include distorted computer effects and heavy, distorted breathing. While I don't label this a masterpiece as some others have, I did find it to be a very unique and interesting film and watching it makes me want to check out more of Avati's directorial work.

Don't be fooled by the fairly high 6.2 average. Non-American (horror) films nearly always get higher ratings than they deserve. Besides, as of this writing, only about 800+ people voted, and that's a small hence unreliable sample. (IF you care what the masses think – and you generally shouldn't.) Most of these 800+ consist anyway most likely of patriotic Italians (much the way British IMDb users overrate bad British horror films), and the occasional non-horror fan who gets scared by his own shadow, let alone a cheesy-looking Italian-flick zombie which does in fact have more blood on him than a shadow. The eeriness level - unlike what is bafflingly claimed here by many reviewers - is at absolute zero, and we're talking -273 here. There isn't one scene that is even remotely scary or even vaguely spooky, much like "City of the Living Dead" for example (in spite of its abundant gore). In fact, this lack of scariness is a common disease, a regular characteristic of Italian movies and one can only guess why that is. (Sloppiness and laziness might be the key.) People who described this movie as "scary" or "spooky" in their reviews most probably hadn't seen anything scarier than "Vertigo" – or even "Dumbo" – prior to renting this out. When the scariest thing you've ever seen is a blood-donor's bag of fresh blood or a broken finger-nail or a Marilyn Manson video, then it's no wonder you find "Zeder" to be a "scary, atmospheric ghost story". There is more atmosphere on the Moon.But for us jaded horror fans who have witnessed stuff such as "Hostel" and "L'interieur", this little zombie flick comes off as an almost cute Mickey Mouse effort. You could almost let little kids watch it.There is very little going on here horror-wise. "Zeder" is essentially a complex mystery with a supernatural premise and just a few zombie/horror scenes thrown in at the very beginning and the very end. Speaking of which, it was predictable both that the journalist would bury his girlfriend – and that he would get attacked by her a little later. This is the mark of some truly naïve writing. Again, not naïve but ideal writing for film fans that have seen only 3 horror films (including "Monster House") prior to this one.The setting up of the mystery isn't bad, i.e. the movie is not dull, but the story ultimately makes little sense, the ending being incomplete and leaving a few loose ends. What happens with this mystery organization that investigates resurrection? Is their boss – who's been funding the experiments for many years - still having qualms about resurrecting the dead? (Especially when they always wake up grumpy, re-joining the world of the living with only one goal: to butcher and devastate. This "little" flaw seems to have eluded the attention of these "brilliant" scientists.) Not to mention the logic holes and other absurdities (so typical of Italian horror films). How could the journalist possibly FORGET that he left all that important stuff with the fake priest, and then blame his friend for it having gone missing? How is it possible that the doctor they visited in that other city actually KNOWS the journalist's girlfriend from when she was still a small girl? (Is Italy just a collection of 5-6 small villages in which everyone knows everybody? 50 million people, and these two bump into each other - and the doctor JUST HAPPENS to be one of the key bad guys. Duh.) This was a huge coincidence, far too absurd to be anywhere near acceptable; an almost brian-de-palmian/dario-argentian moronic plot-device used just to throw the viewer into further confusion – which is in essence OK to do, but not at the expense of logic.Even the alternate title, "Revenge of the Dead" makes no sense at all. What have these zombies got to be angry about? What's this revenge related to? If anything, the move should be called "Ungratefulness of the Dead" or "Extreme Confusion of the Dead"; just look at how the journalist's girlfriend "thanks" her man for bringing her back to life. She tears off half the ligaments in his shoulder-neck area, in what can best be described as a very ungrateful and highly absurd vampiric attack.

Pupi Avati is doubtlessly a one-of-a-kind director, and while his contributions to Italian Horror cinema are not at all typical for their sub-genres, they are highly memorable. Avati's 1976 Giallo "La Casa Dalle Finestre Che Ridono" ("The House With Laughing Windows") must be one of the greatest Gialli ever made, even though very atypical, and low on sleaze and murders. If one wants to refer to "Zeder" of 1983 as an Italian Zombie Film, then it is even less typical for its sub-genre, as the film almost completely lacks the gore that Italian Zombie flicks such as Lucio Fulci's films are so famous and notorious for. However, it is a highly atmospheric and original cinematic experience, and a film that my fellow fans of Italian Horror definitely should not miss.The writer Stefano (Gabriele Lavia) gets an old typewriter as a gift from his wife Alessandra (Anne Canovas). By accident, he finds out that it used to belong to Paolo Zeder, a scientist who had been researching a gateway from the beyond in the 1950s...The film is sometimes said to have inspired Stephen King when he wrote his famous novel "Pet Sematary". And while I am not quite sure whether this is true (the film was released in Italy only months before King's novel) there doubtlessly are certain parallels. Avati's film is rather slow-paced, but it oozes atmosphere from the beginning to the end, and the plot is fascinating. Avati understands how to create genuine eeriness without constantly employing gore-effects. The beautiful cinematography, picturesque settings and wonderful Score by Riz Ortolani fortify the gloomy atmosphere. Gabriele Lavia, who is maybe most widely known for playing supporting roles in Dario Argento's films (most notably in "Profondo Rosso"), is a fantastic actor and he is once again great in his role here. Anne Canovas is drop-dead gorgeous and fits greatly in the role of his wife; the typically sleaze-loving Eurohorror audiences might be disappointed that she keeps her clothes on throughout the movie. Overall, it should be said that "Zeder" is not a film that should be approached expecting a gore-drenched Zombie massacre. However, those familiar with some of Pupi Avati's work wouldn't anyway. While the pace may be a little slow, the film is an intelligent, eerie and highly atmospheric wholesome that no true lover of Italian Horror cinema should miss. My rating: 7.5/10

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.