Erotic Nights of the Living Dead (1980)

 

 

Warning: this review contains graphic descriptions of sex

 

 

 

AKA: Sexy Nights of the Living Dead, Queen of the Zombies

 

 

Dir: Joe D'Amato

 

 

Starring: Laura Gemser, George Eastman, Dirce Funari, Mark Shannon

 

 



 

What’s this? Mark Shannon, George Eastman and Dirce Funari fucking on a Caribbean island and then being attacked by zombies? Sound familiar? Well it should, ‘Erotic Nights of the Living Dead’ shares the same cast and setting as Porno Holocaust, with pretty much the same plot too. One of the differences between the two, though, is an appearance in this movie by the resplendent form of Laura Gemser – which gives it some major brownie points in my book.

 The third instalment in my Joe D’Amato series, Erotic Nights was shot back-to-back with Porno Holocaust and the two aren’t exactly worlds apart as a result. I won’t bother discussing the plot because I’d just be repeating myself.

 

That’s not to say this movie doesn’t mix things up a bit. After a bit part in Holocaust, George Eastman (Antropophagus and this films writer) takes the lead this time with Mark Shannon in support.  It’s quite funny, because both Eastman and LauraGemser were evidently not comfortable having real sex on camera. D’Amato doesn’t even try to hide the fact: in the scenes where their characters get intimate, Eastman keeps his trousers on the whole time! No such hesitation from the rest of the cast though as we’re treated to more endless scenes of penetrative sex on camera, warts and all (literally – looking at you Mark Shannon!)

The problem with being so similar to Holocaust is that Erotic Nights shares a lot of that film’s shortcomings. Like its predecessor this film is also at least 30 minutes too long with very little to show for it. Whereas on first viewing Porno Holocaust, I could just about tolerate the running time. During this movie I kept anxiously looking at my watch, begging for the thing to end.

However, like this films predecessor the horror portion of the film keeps things interesting.  The zombie effects are decent and the gore, though brief, is well-done. What’s more there’s a whole graveyard full of zombies instead of just one this time.

So out of the two films, which one is better? Personally, I prefer Porno Holocaust – it’s piles on more of the sleaze. But that’s just my own personal preference. Like I say, they pretty much run together, so your favourite may depend on which one you watch first.