This is part 2 of the reviews for Shriek Show’s Zombie Pack 2, which includes Flesh Eater: Revenge of the Living Dead, Burial Ground and Zombie Holocaust.

After my first viewing of Burial Ground (also commonly known as Nights of Terror), I really wasn’t that into it. But for some reason, I thought I needed to watch it again. So I did, and I must say, I really love this film. It starts with an archaeologist working on a dig, where he accidentally, and unknowingly, releases a group of zombie monks! He is in turn eaten by these zombies and the fun begins. This film is basically about a group of friends, one whom happens to own the mansion where the before mentioned archaeological dig is located, who are just looking for some good romp time. Uncomfortably stuck in this mix is “young” Michael, the son of the mansion owning fellow’s girlfriend. Michael, played by Peter Bark (aka Pietro Barcella), was suppose to be around 12-13 years old, but was actually 25 at the time of the shooting because of the adult nature of the film and especially one of the scenes between him and his “mother”. As the film progresses, many more zombies appear and the death toll rises.

There really isn’t a lot to the story in Burial Ground, but the pure absurdity of some of the scenes, the great European style zombies, and the gore really does make this a great film to watch for an zombie film fan. Some highlights for me included a decapitation scene involving the slowest ever beheading with a rusty old sickle (and the most impossible at that), the creepy son Michael and his oddly placed one liners (“It smells of death…” while standing in a sculptor’s studio), the pick ax wielding gang of zombies, awesome exploding head shots, the “bear trap” scene with the one-eyed zombie who resembles Boris Karloff, and really great scenes of zombie head crushing, complete with giant clouds of dust coming from the head wounds. And of course, the “scenes” with Michael and his mother are pretty well known to fans of these films.

I don’t want to say to much and ruin it for anybody, but it is mildly uncomfortable, but what do you expect from an exploitation zombie film? I’ll just leave you with this “thought of the day”: Never ever try to breastfeed your young teen zombie child, especially after he begins to smell and feel you up. Never a good idea. I’m glad I decided to watch this a second time. Well worth it.

A few notes on this DVD edition of the film: Includes the original theatrical trailer, Gallery of the Undead (with photos, posters, etc.), two very interesting interviews with Gabriele Crisanti & Marianela Giordano, and trailers for the films Zombie Holocaust, Last House On the Edge of the Park, Spasmo and Eaten Alive.

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