Zombie Bloodbath 3: Zombie Armageddon (2000 Video) User Reviews

Terrible. Or, kind of cool if you watch it at 1.4X speed...

[amazing_sincodek · 2/10 · 30 December 2008]

I really liked ZB1. Really, I did. I have no problem with extremely low-budget movies, and I have enjoyed movies with worse production values than ZB3 (if you can imagine such a thing. check out 'wiseguys vs. zombies,' if you're interested). Indeed, I prefer lower budget zombie films, because I am suspicious that Hollywood directors do not understand what zombies are 'about.'

But ZB3 was just so bad. It was retarded. I don't want to bother being dignified in my criticism. I want my 90 minutes back, etc. Except that it really only took ~80 minutes, because partway through I put it into 1.4X fast forward.

Okay, here's some criticism.

1. The pacing was TERRIBLE. Everyone talked in monologues. Even when someone just had a single line, the camera work and the editing and the insertion of a bunch of F-bombs into every sentence made the line FEEL like a monologue. At first I was excited about the 90 minute running time compared to ZB1's 70 minutes, but there were actually fewer 'events' in ZB3. It's all talking.

2. The gore effects got stupider. Just glop rubbed around on people's tummies.

3. Despite the epic exposition, there really wasn't a plot. And the exposition is indeed epic! I won't spoil it, if you're going to watch it. (Don't watch it.) But then, it's just a bunch of lame characters walking around and bickering for ~80 minutes. or fewer, if you so choose.

Let's pray that it never becomes a 'quadrilogy'.

[BA_Harrison · 1/10 · 4 June 2008]

You've got to admire director Todd Sheets for his dedication, drive and enthusiasm when it comes to movie-making: between 1985 and 2000, he made a whopping 34 films. Unfortunately, if his Zombie Bloodbath trilogy is anything to go by, they're probably all crap (and a quick look at their IMDb ratings seems to verify my hunch).

Part 3 sees a group of obnoxious students finding detention a little more eventful than usual after they are attacked by hordes of the living dead, who have escaped from a top-secret army base located directly beneath their school. Working from a dreadful script by Brian Eklund (which relies heavily on liberal use of the f-bomb) director Sheets delivers yet another embarrassingly amateurish effort featuring some mind-numbingly awful performances from his talent-free cast, dreadful visual effects (some crap CGI and what looks like the front of a giant cardboard space-shuttle) and his trademark shoddy gore (handfuls of offal pulled from beneath his victims' clothing).

Finally, after what seems like an eternity watching irritating characters running for their lives, and unconvincing undead people fondling animal innards, Zombie Armageddon finishes with a time-travel/paradox twist ending which forces viewers to re-watch several torturous minutes from the beginning of the film. Honestly... once was enough, Mr. Sheets—what have we done to deserve having to watch it again?

Better than the previous entries, but still bad

[whammy666 · 5/10 · 25 November 2008]

In the final of Todd Sheet's unfortunate Zombie Bloodbath Trilogy, this time the zombie outbreak hits a school. A bunch of dumb kids are in detention when it happens, and they have to fight. This one is a bit more original than the other two, and has a little more of original and better gore effects. But the acting is still bad, and you still see some of the actors who died in the original Zombie Bloodbath. Nice to see Todd Sheets is improving a little, though. Basically, if you survived the other two films, you can survive this. This one is just a little but more fun, but still awful. And chances are, if you liked the first 2, you will really enjoy this one. Watch at your own risk.

How could a movie possibly be this bad!!!

[TOMNEL · 1/10 · 26 December 2007]

Why in the world would someone make this piece of trash movie? The first two Zombie Bloodbath movies were stupid enough, but this takes the cake for the worst of the trilogy (Perhaps of all time). Todd Sheets is still the director, but no longer the screenwriter, which isn't a negative or a positive, considering he's just as untalented as the guy who wrote this one. The writing is too heavily reliant on the f-word, which is used somewhere between 200 and 300 times at nausea. The acting is about on par with the last two Bloodbath movies, so naturally, it's some of the worst I've ever seen. The special effects are better than the last 2, but they still look godawful. The plot has become too complicated for it's own good, and was about some government experiment gone wrong and zombies being produced. Also featured is cryogenically frozen mutant zombie and school kids that know how to time travel, leading to one of the most idiotic endings I've ever seen. After the movie it goes to outtakes, which is strange because this whole movie is an outtake. Only see this to make fun of it, because if you go into this with a serious mind, you might possibly kill yourself.

My rating: BOMB/****. 95 mins.

Three Times The Thrills in Zombie Bloodbath 3

[ShockSinema · 10/10 · 12 July 2007]

Just got my copy of this DVD two disc set and I am finally writing about the third epic in the Zombie Bloodbath Trilogy, I am talking Zombie Armageddon is here, folks! And what a major surprise this no budget gem of a title was to me! It's like two of my favorite movies slammed together. "Breakfast Club" and "Return Of The Living Dead." It's like Peanut Butter and Jelly. A perfect mix! One thing I was really blown away by was how different each film was in the trilogy and this one is no different. The first time around it was a total homage to Fulci, Romero, Raimi, Mattei, etc. Then part two was just off the wall, crazy and stylish as hell. But this one kind of had me on the edge, I couldn't wait to see what was next and it delivered everything that I could have possibly wanted. Hilarious dialog, great music, gore galore, and AFRO Zombie Kung Fu!!! This film is filled with zombie goodness that no self respecting fan of the undead would miss! You want award winning art, then go to France. This is raw, no buedget cinema at it's most creative. Sure, it's cheapo. Sure it lacks polish. but I seriously feel like not only did I get three great gore films, I got to watch a young director grow and evolve with each film to become a better artist. Beginning DV guys should check this out too! The Zombie Bloodbath Trilogy delivers.

A fair climax to the splatter trilogy

[Bloodwank · 6/10 · 28 November 2011]

In what has sadly proved the last so far of the Zombie Bloodbath series, Todd Sheets switches up the gears yet again with the most ambitious story of the trilogy. Leaping right in with a zombies versus military prologue, a bizarre turn of events then moves the action to its main location, a school after hours inhabited by detention students, a pervy principal a couple of radio heads, drama students and two visiting actors. Inevitably zombies get loose and a bloodbath of sorts commences, although by this stage in the game I can't say as all the flesh rending and gut chewing had much of an effect for me. Whats more interesting is how the film builds on its predecessors in its take on characters. The first had families coming together to face the menace with little friction, the second was a harrowing reminder that the worst of horrors are sometimes all human, and this one is a take on youth. It has been said that the film is Todd Sheets' (though perhaps more new writer Brian Eklund's) take on The Breakfast Club. I've never seen that apparently classic film, but I suspect it has neither zombies nor characters constantly shouting abuse at each other, and hence probably isn't as good. From what I've read the films do share an optimism though, the notion that disparate high school cliques can come together in pursuit of a common goal and in doing so reveal their hidden depths and talents. Its the most upbeat of the Zombie Bloodbath series, which oddly enough comes off rather charming. The acting does the heavy lifting where charm is concerned, whilst no one comes close to giving what might be considered a good performance everyone acts their socks off and the result is at times a barely controlled maelstrom of profanity and frayed, zapping nerves. Blake Washer comes off strongest as the token rebel, obnoxious to everyone without any kind of a filter he brings an odd likability to his ass hole character. Abe Dyer makes for a good highly strung heroic nerd, Ruth Gordon suitably snappy as the token bitch and Byron Nichodemus convincingly grimy and grouchy as the principal. The pacing is very lopsided with most of the action in the final 40 minutes so the cast being amusing really helps, but there are definitely passages where the film drags. On a plus side, the unnecessary editing tricks of the second have been abandoned so the grue comes off better, and the soundtrack has variation from the generic death metal of the first two, taking in punk, alternative and even some Chili Peppers rip off sounding band. Not that any of it is actually good music mind, more that its nice to have a bit of variety. Not much more to add, well its probably worth noting that the ending is rubbish. Still, if you like this sort of thing this is a worthy watch, its got zombies, gore, ridiculous dialogue, crazy sci fi trappings, talking zombies and even a cyber zombie. Not as good as part 2 but still a fitting end to the trilogy, 6/10.

Great film with a surprising twist or two

[Amanda-Girl · 14 January 2007]

I am not sure why people come here and simply INSULT the people who make the films. One of the reviews on here is just mean spirited and nasty and there is no need for it. To attack someone personally is ridiculous. It's a movie, and in my opinion a damned good one. I for one want these people to grab any camera they can and keep making movies. This one is fun, wildly energetic and gory. Good use of simple CGI effects (this was made before so many PC movies were being done) and some amazing camera-work and lighting really bring this one up a notch or two from other no budget efforts. This movie is NOT to be confused with Zombiegeddon - also known as Zombie Armageddon and shot by people AFTER this movie was done (three years after) from the same general area in Kansas. Oh, and that movie was awful.

This movie is kind of like an undead tribute to the Breakfast Club only with new twists and turns and I really never knew where it would go next. The acting is a tad uneven, with some good acting tossed in along some campy, bad acting. There's a few cameos from popular B-Movie vets and a standout performance from Abe Dyer. You will probably love this one as much as I do if you like fun party movies. Zombies ahoy!

More amusingly crummy zombie horror splatter junk from Todd Sheets

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 4 December 2008]

Tireless and irrepressible Do-It-Yourself indie schlock horror blunder wonder Todd Sheets works his cinematic (anti)magic once again with this third delightfully dreadful installment in this perfectly pathetic series of cheap'n'cheesy micro-budget shot-on-video horror zombie gorefests. This time a bunch of zombies that were used by the government in the near future to fight in a major war are shot into space. Naturally, the space shuttle gets caught in a time warp and comes back to Earth in the present. Of course, the ravenous horde of flesh-eating fiends proceed to terrorize a motley assortment of wholly hateful and unappealing folks who are trapped inside a high school. Besides the needlessly convoluted and ludicrous premise that's essentially an godly blend of "The Breakfast Club" and your standard zombie fright feature, other choice cruddy stuff to relish in this goodie are rough, ugly and unpolished shot-on-smeary-video cinematography, a headache-inducing roaring hard thrash metal rock soundtrack, an excruciatingly sluggish and drawn-out opening third (the so-called "action" doesn't really kick in until the 40 minute mark!), poor acting from a lame no-name cast, awful, pun-ridden, ridiculously profane dialogue (the almighty "F" bomb gets dropped with appalling frequency in practically every other line!), terrible CGI (far from) special effects, and a frustrating circular non-ending. However, Sheets does deliver on his customary gleefully excessive and over-the-top unflinching in-your-face graphic splatter: blood squirts all over the place, guts are torn out, and entrails are devoured with appropriately disgusting gusto. A hilariously horrible howler.

It's Three times the fun in Zombieland

[ghosthunter-3 · 9/10 · 9 July 2007]

I had been through the first two Zombie Bloodbath films the day before on this amazing DVD set and finally it was time to tackle Part Three in the series, Zombie Armageddon. The Zombie Bloodbath series appeals to me not just on the level of splatter, but also on the level of creativity it must have taken to make these work on any level, ad to make them all entertaining seems like an impossible task with budgets this low, yet I am always shocked at how much they kind of worked, even though they shouldn't. Part two had some really original ideas and part three really had me rolling for one simple fact. If Lucio Fulci made the Breakfast Club on 150 dollars budget, this may have been the end result. This one is easily the best in the series from a technical level, and it does have some pretty fun CGI effects here and there. Knowing when the film was made, I kind of expected the CGI to be worse than it was. The kind of effects that DV films can utilize today are much more advanced than they were when this film was made. But it adds to the charm in a way, of this low budget effort. This time, the script is pretty tight and even with all the twists and turns, makes sense and has some humor and more heart than most DV films. The final twist as a matter of fact, was done quite well, and could have been super confusing, but turns out to be a cool idea and makes perfect sense. This is probably due to Todd Sheets growing even more as a director between the two films. His style, pacing and direction all seem more solid and it is fun to look back on all three and watch a guy grow and evolve as a moviemaker. The story involves time travel, zombies, government conspiracies and more, and I would tell more about it, but it really is better to leave the surprises intact. I would love to have seen this script done on a bigger budget. Basically, in the future, the military needs more bodies for the war and create zombies to basically fight and win the battle. Well, they win like they were suppose to but then the question becomes, what do we do with all of them now? So the Government loads them all on a space shuttle and sends them into space. Of course, they end up hitting some sort of black hole and going back I time to present day and the Government intercepts them and takes them to a secret underground base. A nearby school is above ground but has some old tunnels under it that still lead to the base and when to science nerd types find a signal belonging to the old shuttle, they trace it, thus finding the undead. Now, this sounds kind of far fetched, but in reality there is an air force base in Missouri that I know of, my uncle was stationed there, and it was next to schools and shopping areas and did have underground areas. Not only is Whiteman Airforce Base there, also an Army / military ammunitions Plant is there as well. Kind of cool to bring that local edge to the script. Though not as gory as the previous entries in this series, Zombie Bloodbath 3 does have some over the top gore moments and one standout scene involving a zombie fetus that had me both grossed out and rolling out of my chair. It still has more gore than a typical Hollywood film, but there was so MUCH splatter in the other two that this one does seem a bit mild in that area, but the film makes up for it with better acting, a good story and better style. Another fun ride in Zombieland for me, I would say that I look forward to more films from Todd Sheets. There was no commentary on this one but the behind the scenes featurette was cool and I enjoyed all of the interviews.

There is a raw short film that I found fun on a warped level, though VERY low budget, and some cool trailers to round out the collection. Overall, this is a solid, if a bit flawed, release with plenty of extras and TONS of gore and splatter. While not breaking any grand rules of move making, I found the series to be fun and always a laugh, so I give this set a solid recommendation. Todd Sheets was not trying to make award winning art here folks, he was trying, sometimes against all odds it seems, to make fun zero budget, splattery horror and to that end, he has succeeded in spades. And really, when looking back at the time these films were being made, he was one of the first to grab a camera and follow his dreams and the fact that I am reviewing a film made almost 20 years ago, shot on video with unknowns in the middle of nowhere, proves that in some way, he is successful and an innovator in the area of low budget DV movies. Knowing very little going into this set, from the commentary, the films and the behind the scenes features I learned a lot about this director and his crew and his films, and I actually am pleased to say that I hope to learn more and find more of his films in the future.