MovieChat Forums > Virus (1983) Discussion > Does anyone remember seeing this in the ...

Does anyone remember seeing this in the theater?

posted 11 years ago by bigrudedude87
15 replies | jump to latest

Does anyone remember seeing this in the theater or drive-in when
it very first came out in the United States as Night of the Zombies?
According to IMDB, this was given a theatrical released on January
20th 1984 if that's true.

I know this a bad movie rip off of Dawn of the Dead but I enjoy it alot and
this is coming from a major fan of the original Dawn. Anyway I don't remember
if Bruno Mattei said it was a hit or flop in Europe, pretty sure might of been
a flop. But what was the reaction to this film? Did this flop bad in America
during it's release?

[–] lianzantoro 11 years ago

I saw this with some friends at a midnight showing in the fall of 1984. To the best of my memory the theater was fairly crowded.
Considering it's low budget, I'd bet it turned a profit. I believe Siskel & Ebert featured it as their dog of the week, so it must have had a wide release.

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[–] bigrudedude87 11 years ago

That's awesome. I like to hear people's stories about how they
saw these Italian horror movies when they were first released
in the United States. Must of been a different time.

Would of liked to experienced that but unfortunately was
born too late.

[–] Aylmer (416) 2 days ago

An older friend of mine told me that he saw GATES OF HELL in 1983 when it played at the Egyptian Theater in LA. He said that some Italian filmmaker from the movie (he didnt remember if it was Fulci himself or some producer) came onstage after it was over to take questions and he was literally boo'd off the stage. I wish I had more information about the event but 4 decades later all we have is apocryphal evidence.

[–] sirfunnyboy 11 years ago

No, because I was born 14 years after it came out. But it is a great zombie movie, better than some of the crap nowadays.

[–] vanity6fan 11 years ago

I saw this when I was about 12 years old at the drive-in theater, the best way there was to watch these kinds of movies. I remember the drive-in was pretty packed. A pick -up truck with a bunch of drunk teens/guys started howling when Lia runs through the jungle nearly naked. I have loved this movie ever since! It's like a piece of my demented childhood. Loved the cheap gore and dubbing. I always loved horror movies. The second feature they played was called Bloodeaters also from 1980 (aka Toxic Zombies). Going to the movies isn't fun anymore. For me these kind of movie experiences were already fizzing out by the late 1980s as fewer of these movies were made and the Hollywood big studios started taking over everything.

[–] Rolling-action 11 years ago

As a Dawn of the dead enthusiast, my friends went opening weekend to see it at the Woodbridge mall that cold evening and that 9 o'clock showing was PACKED!

Most people were laughing and howling and it was got applause and some kids in the front lighting their bics when Margret has her tounge ripped out lol.
Those were the days.

Anyway I'm sure it made a couple million at least. It had a big release here in Chicago. I recall Bruno Mattei saying they sold it all over the world

[–] bigrudedude87 11 years ago

That is freaking awesome wish times like that was today.

[–] Hal_Bowman 10 years ago

I did... saw it at Tower Plaza in Phoenix, Arizona. It was within walking distance of the house. It was our version of a Grindhouse Theater. Tons of horror movies, from Hell of the Living Dead, to Mausoleum, the Beast Within and the Gates of Hell. If it was off kilter, they showed it at Tower Plaza. I miss those days. $1.50 for a double feature.

This one was the most egregious of the Dawn of the Dead rip-off's, down to uniforms, stilted action scenes and even the music (all Goblin, no Gonk). Very (unintentionally) funny, if I remember correctly.

[–] mr_magnetism_himself 9 years ago

That must be where I saw it, Hal, double-billed with Gates of Hell.

Might be where I caught Pieces, too. And Maniac.

[–] boinnng 10 years ago

I saw this at the UA Cinema 4 in Fresno, Ca. I remember ditching school (I was in college at the time) to see this during a weekday matinee. I was so worried I'd be caught. My car at the time was an orange 1966 Mustang--easy to spot in a parking lot in 1984. I like the movie okay, but was a bit disappointed with it. It was no "Dawn of the Dead"or "Zombie".

Ironically, I had originally seen "Dawn of the Dead" in the same theater in 1979. Again, I was ditching school to see it. I was in the 8th grade then and it was towards the end of the year. I had done well all year so I was allowed to ditch as a reward. My grandmother had to take me to see "Dawn" as I was only 14 at the time. The local theater was treating it as an "R". My poor grandmother. Ha! It was the only film she ever walked out on with me (I dragged her to a lot of horror crap just so I could get in). She spent most of the movie in the lobby waiting for me.

But that was "Dawn" and you're talking about "Night of the Zombies". I do also recall getting the poster from somewhere (eBay?) years later. It has a cool poster, if nothing else. And no, no one spotted my car that day either.

Cheers!

[–] MtxMind 9 years ago

Me & a buddy saw this in a theater in '84,& we both agreed that it was THE worst Zombie movie we had ever seen.We stuck with it to the end,but I think more than half the audience had long since walked out(the theater wasn't really packed though-we went to a weekday afternoon showing; was probably less than 30 people all together)

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[–] CHIGWHIG 9 years ago

theres only one good bit, when that annoying woman finally gets killed near the end, hand in mouth and pop out the eyes...should have that on a loop :), almost as memorable as city of the dead's vomiting guts scene

[–] MtxMind 9 years ago

theres only one good bit, when that annoying woman finally gets killed near the end, hand in mouth and pop out the eyes...

Me & my buddy high-five'd each other!  Everybody in the audience (that was left) clapped & cheered!!

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[–] gasmaskproductionsbooks 9 years ago

I never saw it in the theater, but while I was living in Cape Breton my friend recorded a copy of it and we watched it projected on a white bedsheet outside. It was a pretty good film considering its budget, and even though it's a rip-off film it was still really fun to watch.

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