Zeder

Plot synopsis:
In 1956, Gabriella (Veronica Moriconi)—a girl with apparent psychic powers—is brought to the enormous house of Dr. Meyer (Cesare Barbetti) in Chartres, France. Meyer intends to conduct an experiment testing her abilities. He takes her into his basement, where the youngster abruptly falls to her knees and begins digging into the dirt. "This is where you're hiding, isn't it?" Meyer yells. He rushes upstairs for help from his assistants and leaves Gabriella by herself. She is attacked by something unseen and is taken to the hospital. In the basement, further digging reveals a rotted corpse, with a nearby wallet identifying the dead man as Paolo Zeder. Dr. Meyer realizes that the earth in which Zeder was buried was a 'K-Zone'.
In present day Bologna, Stefano (Gabriele Lavia), a novelist, is given an old typewriter as a birthday present by his wife Alessandra (Anne Canovas). One night, after Alessandra has gone to bed, he discovers a series of typed letters on the typewriter's ribbon. As he reads the ribbon, he finds it is an essay written by scientist Paolo Zeder discussing the existence of K-Zones—areas where death ceases to exist. According to Zeder's essay, bodies buried in these zones can return from the dead.
Stefano investigates the message left on the typewriter ribbon. He encounters people who make it clear that they do not appreciate any questions relating to Paolo Zeder or K-Zones. However, the resistance he experiences intrigues him even more. He becomes obsessed with getting answers to the mystery and temporarily abandons his wife. His investigation leads him to a huge old property, ostensibly abandoned but protected by electrified fences. A nearby service station attendant tells Stefano that French investors are building a gigantic hotel on the property, but no work is ever seen being done.
Stefano sneaks onto the property, and discovers surveillance equipment with numerous monitors showing the dead face of a man buried in a coffin. Stefano watches the monitors. The dead man is Don Luigi Costa, an ex-priest who abandoned his vows after contracting an incurable disease. Continuing Zeder's work, Costa had himself buried on the property, a suspected K-Zone, and his rebirth from the dead is caught on camera. Stefano manages to elude the conspirators involved in the experimental work, but finds his wife has been murdered by them. At night, Stefano buries her in a K-Zone located on the abandoned property. She revives and approaches her husband. In the darkness, Stefano begins screaming horribly.

Tags: paranormal

Review:
To my knowledge this was not supposed to be a zombie film nor was it marketed as a gory zombie, living-dead-type picture as some people may think.
Great movie but definitely a thinking man's horror,not for teenage zombie addicts..
More of a horror-mystery than anything else, a writer follows a trail of strange events that lead him to a secret society of occultists who are experimenting with some ancient, highly secret ways of returning the dead to life.
A young journalist buys a second hand typewriter and finds that he can read the imprints on the ribbon,revealing what was last typed on the machine.He pieces together the story of the scientist Paolo Zeder,who discovered K-Zones,areas in which the dead are restored to life.Stefano later encounters a group of scientists who are trying to prove Zeder's theories."Zeder" was directed and co-written by Italian maestro Pupi Avati,whose "House with the Windows That Laugh" is often regarded as one of the masterpieces of Italian horror.In "Zeder" Avati masterfully mixes a genuinely creepy atmosphere with intriguing metaphysical concepts.Unlike Lucio Fulci's gorefests it features little if any gore.There is plenty of an ominous atmosphere of unsettling dread throughout,even when not much is happening.You seldom see zombies,except in occasional glimpses.Overall,"Zeder" is weird and unusual enough to hold interest.A must-see for fans of Italian horror.8 out of 10..
Ignore Grade Z,he gave Blair Witch a good rating,any true genre fan didn't even waste their time w/ that dreck.But if yer big into Bava,Argento,Soavi,Baino and the like this film will knock you out.Genuinely creepy in a Very Italian way.American directors just can't get the atomosphere like these guys can.An incredible film that deserves to be Much more widely seen!!!So if Deep Red,Blood and Black Lace,House w/the windows that laughed and Cemetery Man are yer thing,ya gotta check this out!.
I bought this movie as "Revenge of the Dead", the cover had zombies rising out of the ground.
If you were referred to this movie via a search for a classic 'zombie' action/gore-er and are expecting something fast paced with a lot of cool deaths that border on action over drama and mystery - you've been misled by the title.
I'm not sure the director intended us to receive this as a 'Dead/Zombi' type title, but it seems that it was marketed over here that way (and who can blame them?)It's a pretty moderate to slow paced mystery that borrows a lot and innovates a tad (can't expect any more.) There are some cool sequences of discovering various types of secret doors inside dated structures etc.
Pupi Avati (of The House with Laughing Windows fame) opts for a story-driven piece here and thus forgoes all the gruesome (and much beloved) trademarks of early 80's Italian horror and instead focuses on atmosphere and suspense.
The Avati brothers cleverly combine this theory with a living dead subplot and in the process craft a very unique take on the zombie mythos.However Zeder is far from your typical flesh eating romp.
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.
Avati isn't normally a director of mystery films, but in his career he did two or three of them ("The House with the Windows that laugh" and another one, pretty grotesque), always set in the same area (the Emilia region, near Bologna).I think that many Americans who saw this film were disappointed, but it's their premise that is mistaken: they criticise this film chiefly because it's not what they expected, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't have its merits (to me, it sure does)..
With the title "Revenge of the Dead" and the zombie-heavy box cover art, this flick is presented as a zombie attack movie, but it's not.
It's actually a bizarre mystery movie with an interesting plot about a far-reaching conspiracy to revive the dead by burying them in "K Zones" (not to be confused with "K-Y Zones", which are naughty).
The film is a fairly interesting mystery about a man who gets a typewriter from his woman and happens to look at the used ribbon and stumble upon something which bears amateur investigation.
As a die hard zombiphile, I rate this film as the worst zombie movie of all time.
Please check out films directed by George Romero, Lucio Fulci, Lamberto Bava, or Jorge Grau for movies that actually have zombies in them..
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.
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!
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.
A good synthesizer score cannot make up for the fact that this anemic horror film is dull as the dirt the dead rise out of.
Its a creepy little thriller.The plot of this film has a guy running down what was previously typed on a typewriter (he looked at the ribbon to see what the person before typed) and ends up dropped in the middle of a rather strange mystery about places where time stops and the dead come back...I had read about this in the Italian Zombie movie book and was intrigued.
Trust me, as some one some what versed in and tired of what is called typical Italian horror, ie films that make no sense and which are very gory, Zeder is a breath of fresh air.If you're in the mood for something off beat and unexpected in your horror films I'd say rent Zeder, you could do a hell of a lot worse...And for those pondering the Pet Semetary angle...both this film and Stephen King's book appeared at about the same time.
Hours later (as in film time) of boring and pointless dialouge and scenes he goes to the place and finds the researchers killed with some of the worst gore and blood i've ever seen since I was 9 and I went to a halloween party.
Why anyone , anyone at all (and I thank you people who gave it the review it deserves a bad one) would praise this film or even dare say its scary must haven't seen any horror movies or atleast real ones by Dario Argento , George Romero , etc.
Unlike most other contemporary horror directors from Italy, Pupi Avati always attempted to make his films rely on more than just graphic gore and gratuitous sex.
"Zeder" regretfully isn't as good as "House", but you can still clearly notice that Avati wanted to approach the popular zombie sub genre in an entirely different and innovating way.
I won't go into further detail because A) the plot twists are numberless and impossible to summarize and B) I'm not even sure I fully understood everything.In all honesty, "Zeder" is too talkative and the entire lack of zombie action is pretty difficult to forgive, even if you like horror that is mainly story-driven.
Fulci gets a lot of credit for "atmosphere", and I have to agree: Even when his films lacked a plot or a point, movies like Gates of Hell were just amazing because they gave off this weird, uncomforting feeling.
I think that perhaps this film is some kind of experiment to make the viewer feel like a zombie.
I watched the version that had the title "Zeder" on the box, and described it as a serious horror film.
Half-way through you realize that once again you've been suckered into another Italian thriller about some guy who for no reason sets out on a complicated investigation, which throws in the occasional macabre scene to try to convince you that it is a horror film.
I like good horror like the next guy,I don't ask for a whole lot but I do expect a decent film to keep me entertained for 90 minutes.
See this film plays out more like a mystery about a priest who walked away from God to choose a higher power,that being to rise from the dead.
So on that account I must say that director and writer Pupi Avati didn't really deliver where it mattered.I gave up on "Zeder" (aka "Revenge of the Dead") after an hour of suffering and sitting through what felt like a mixture of random nothingness.
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 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.
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.
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..
Still, a recommended movie for everyone that likes a horror-themed mystery.To all the zombie apocalypse fans giving this movie bad reviews: Stop punishing this film for not being what you expected based on the misleading advertising of its American distributor!.
There are some genuinely creepy moments (the dead priest, Don Luigi, seen coming back to life from a camera in his coffin is probably the film's most chilling moment) and, surprisingly, very few of the cheap scares usually seen in this kind of movie.That being said, the story does get slow in spots and watching the whole thing requires a little patience.
I'd recommend this for those who in general enjoy Italian horror films but, again, don't go into it expecting lots of blood and gore and armies of the walking dead.
*Plot/ending analyzed*This is a very un-typical horror film which makes it quite refreshing and interesting.
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).
Avati's film is rather slow-paced, but it oozes atmosphere from the beginning to the end, and the plot is fascinating.
Overall, it should be said that "Zeder" is not a film that should be approached expecting a gore-drenched Zombie massacre.
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.
...in an historical period like the end of the 70's/beginning of the 80's when the Italian horror panorama was dominated by gore and splatter cannibal/zombie B movies Avatu chose to make very different movie, not based on gruesome and cheap FXs, but on Gothic atmospheres and darkness.Surely the result was light years far away from Fulci's Zombie 2 or worse trash like Zombi Holocaust, not just in "philosofical" terms but also as final result: Zeder (I refuse to use the silly title used by the American distribution) is one of those rare movie that effectively creates a sensation of tension and a climax of fear and emotional cliffhanger from the beginning to the final scene, showing in front of the camera very, very, few.
Less is more.From certain points of view the movie shows the typical weaknesses of the Italian production (especially Argento's) of that time: the series of unfortunate events that leads Stefano little by little to the central theme of the movie doesn't work well and it's totally unrealistic, performance of the two main characters, Stefano and Alessandra, not really persuading to be at the required level (Stefano is quite wooden and looks lunatic, I wonder why a "light" woman should be able to live with a man of this kind, while Alessandra never seems to realize what's happening and the dangers of their situation so she always reacts in a silly way), the music sometimes is disturbing but contributes to build up thrilling little by little.The most amazing fact behind this movie is without doubt the "coincidences" (not to use a stronger term) between Avati's plot and Stephen Kingìs "Pet Semetary", later in 1989 a movie but published in 1984.
Atmosphere 9 - With no music and with the protagonists often left alone, the movie surely makes your flesh creep.Story 3 - The movie begins with witty dialogue and Stefano (Gabriele Lavia) discovering an obscure message inside the typewriter (which leads him to investigate on the K-zones, grounds in which the dead are said to come back and drag the living to their world).
Not a zombie movie but very close, we never get to see the formula the revives the dead, but i assume they bury them in a sacred ground and they come back to life like zombies.The movie is more a thriller, about scientist who try to hide the secret, and kill anyone who comes close to it, the movie ends like the old fashion Italian movie like you would expect.All in all it was a long but good movie, do not expect lots of action, gore, horror because its really not that kind of movie there are all parts of this in the movie but they are space to far apart..
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.
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).
(The off camera screaming we hear at several points in the story is in some ways the most upsetting part of the film.Still, the movie is a little too slow for my American tastes.
But if you are a fan of horror and want to see something different from your run of the mill zombie/ghost story, you owe it to yourself to see this..
I've seen HOUSE WITH THE LAUGHING WINDOWS and liked that one enough-but although ZEDER has a decent concept (which as others have noted, Stephen King almost definitely stole for Pet Cemetery...)-what actually happened in the film just wasn't enough to hold my interest.
Like so many others I smiled when I looked at the cool box cover and thought "Cool, another gory Italian zombie flick." Creature Features had previously released The Gates of Hell and Night of the Zombies and I enjoyed them and that led me to think I would enjoy Revenge of the Dead.
Unlike those films, Revenge of the Dead is only a zombie movie in the last 2 or 3 minutes of it's 100 minute running time...and believe me, the trip to the end is no fun AT ALL!!!!POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!A writer gets a typewriter as a gift from his wife and discovers a message on it talking about K-Zones.
Maybe it really wasn't meant to be a gory zombie movie, but it sure didn't have to be extremely dull.Boring, terrible story, and acting, but a good beginning and ending.
"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.
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.