The zombie classic celebrated by Quentin Tarantino is now available in home theater: after more than 30 years on the Index, it is now uncut with FSK 18

What actually turns zombies into zombies or a zombie movie into a zombie movie? Expert cinephiles have argued about this since the beginning of the genre’s history – right up to the highest circles: Quentin Tarantino, for example, even had cult director Umberto Lenzi make a declaration of love for his iconic genre classic “Grand Attack of the Zombies”. However, he was not at all happy that the “Pulp Fiction” maker called his film a “zombie film”. He is not, despite the German title. In the original Italian the film is also called “Incubo sulla città contaminata which translates to “Nightmare in the Infested City”.

What makes the genre-revered cult classic (not a) zombie film and to what extent did Tarantino even take the film to heart that he picked it up in his own films? We’ll get into that later. First of all, the main things this article should be about in the first place: Indexed in 1982 and later even confiscated, the uncut version of “Grand Attack of the Zombies” was re-examined by the FSK in 2019 and approved for ages 18+ – and will finally be released on DVD and Blu-ray 3rd in March , 2023:

After the film had already undergone numerous German-language uncut evaluations over time in Austria, official German releases followed in 2021 – all of which, however, were strictly limited and therefore quickly sold out.

More than a year later, LEONINE is now making a comeback with an unabridged new edition DVD* and Blu-ray as a cheap standard version, a remedy for all those who have not received anything until now. If you want to get your hands on one of the many Mediabook editions today, you have to pay 40 euros or more for it. The new editions are already available for less than 20 euros.

Zombie classic without zombies: this is “Zombie Grand Attack”

Umberto Lenzi, with his film, was something of a pioneer for later hits like “28 Days Later” or the “Dawn Of The Dead” remake, as he showed in 1980 that lightning-fast moving zombies can be a little more menacing than the aimlessly wandering undead. It’s no coincidence that his monsters are so different from the creatures of George A. Romero and Co. who crave human flesh. Than Strictly speaking, in “Grand Zombie Attack” you will not find zombies at all, but infected ones.

Quentin Tarantino loves the movie, Along with Robert Rodriguez, he not only took inspiration from it for the “Grindhouse” double-film “Death Proof” and “Planet Terror”, but also named Til Schweiger’s character in the Nazi hunter adventure “Inglourious Basterds” to “Grand Zombie Attack”. – Protagonist Hugo Stiglitz.

liking him in this video told, his declaration of love was only partly well received by Lenzi – because he described the film in it as a “zombie movie”. Like “The Sadness”, which was celebrated in 2022 as one of the most brutal horror films in recent memory, Lenzi’s film also infected people to mischief – not dead people come to life.

Unsurprisingly, however, “Grand Zombie Attack” was pigeonholed internationally. Because not only in Germany did he promise classic zombie fare with his translated title. Be it “Zombi 3”, “Invasion De Los Zombies Atómicos” or “City Of The Walking Dead” – many other titles in different languages ​​also suggested that this is classic undead entertainment.

Nowadays it hardly matters. Regardless, “Grand Attack of the Zombies” is still very popular among genre fans as an atmospheric, moody, and sometimes gory classic. – which an 18 release will certainly do justice to. Indexing or even confiscation is therefore long overdue.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for material that still shocks you decades later, you can look forward to the upcoming unabridged Blu-ray release of “Ebola Syndrome.” But beware, this punch to the stomach should torment even die-hard horror fans long after the credits have ended…