Killing Birds (1987): Italy’s Feathered Zombie Nightmare Unleashed
Plucked straight from the gore-drenched swamps of 1980s Italian horror, a Vietnam vet’s vengeful birds turn the undead loose in a frenzy of pecking pandemonium.
Deep in the annals of Eurohorror excess, few films capture the unhinged spirit of the era quite like Killing Birds. Released in 1987 and often dubbed Zombie 5 for its loose ties to Lucio Fulci’s seminal undead saga, this Aristide Massaccesi opus under his Joe D’Amato pseudonym blends avian terror with zombie resurrection in a bayou-set bloodbath that defies logic and embraces splatter. What begins as a straightforward revenge tale spirals into a chaotic feast for fans of practical effects and atmospheric dread, cementing its place among the unsung gems of Italian genre cinema.
- The film’s audacious premise fuses a Vietnam veteran’s curse with killer crows and shambling zombies, delivering a unique twist on familiar horror tropes.
- Joe D’Amato’s mastery of low-budget gore and atmospheric tension elevates the absurdity into memorable, visceral entertainment.
- Its cult following endures through VHS nostalgia, rare restorations, and influence on modern creature features.
Vietnam’s Shadow: The Curse Takes Flight
The story kicks off with a harrowing prologue set amid the jungles of Vietnam, where American soldier Steve, haunted by wartime atrocities, commits an unthinkable act against a flock of birds. Blinded in one eye during a skirmish, he unleashes a profane curse that promises vengeance through his feathered victims. Flash forward to the Louisiana bayous of modern day, and Steve returns, now a dishevelled wanderer portrayed with grizzled intensity by the late Massimo Vanni. His arrival coincides with a group of birdwatchers, including sultry student Anne (Lara Wendel) and her professor father, who stumble into a nightmare of pecking attacks and rising corpses.
This setup immediately sets Killing Birds apart from its zombie brethren. While Fulci revelled in gore for gore’s sake, D’Amato layers in a supernatural revenge motif reminiscent of Hitchcock’s The Birds, but filtered through Italy’s love for the grotesque. The Vietnam angle adds a layer of psychological trauma, rare for these films, echoing the era’s fascination with post-war guilt seen in American slashers like First Blood. Steve’s monocular gaze becomes a recurring motif, symbolising fractured perception as characters fail to see the horror encroaching until beaks tear into flesh.
As the birdwatchers camp by the murky waters, tension builds through subtle omens: unnatural bird calls piercing the night, shadows flitting across the campfire. D’Amato, ever the pragmatist, shoots on location in the Italian countryside standing in for Louisiana, imbuing the proceedings with a tangible, swampy authenticity. The group’s dynamics fracture under pressure, with petty jealousies and flirtations providing human drama amid the encroaching terror.
Beaks and Bullets: The Avian Onslaught Begins
Once the birds strike, Killing Birds erupts into chaos. Crows descend in swarms, their attacks rendered with a mix of trained birds, mechanical puppets, and clever editing. A standout sequence sees Anne menaced in a boat, feathers and blood spraying as she fends off the flock with an oar. The practical nature of these effects, overseen by D’Amato’s reliable gore team, lends a gritty realism that CGI could never replicate. Viewers feel the frenzy, the claustrophobia of being overwhelmed by nature’s wrath.
These assaults culminate in some of the film’s most inventive kills. One victim has his eyes pecked out in a nod to the director’s own blindness motif, while another meets a watery end as birds drag him underwater. The sound design amplifies the horror, with amplified caws and squawks creating an auditory assault that lingers. Claudio Simonetti’s score, fresh from his Goblin days on classics like Dawn of the Dead, weaves synth pulses and eerie melodies, heightening the sense of impending doom.
Beyond the birds, the film introduces its zombie element gradually. Corpses rise from graves and swamps, shambling with the familiar lethargy of Italian undead but driven by the avian curse. A pivotal scene in an abandoned house sees the group barricaded as both birds and zombies batter the doors, blending siege horror with creature rampage. D’Amato’s camera prowls restlessly, capturing the frenzy in wide shots that emphasise the overwhelming numbers.
Undead Bayou: Zombies Claw Their Way In
The zombie makeup, courtesy of effects artist Daniele Budelli, favours realism over exaggeration: pallid flesh, milky eyes, and tattered clothing evoking drowned victims. These ghouls move with purpose, pecking at wounds like their winged masters, creating a unified threat. A brutal highlight involves a zombie bursting from the soil to grapple a fleeing character, mud and entrails flying in glorious 35mm detail.
D’Amato draws from his extensive horror resume here, echoing the atmospheric dread of Anthropophagus or the visceral guts of Absurd. Yet Killing Birds innovates by tying the undead to the birds, suggesting a symbiotic curse where nature and the grave conspire. This ecological horror angle, subtle but present, critiques humanity’s disregard for the wild, a theme resonant in 80s environmental anxieties.
The finale ramps up the insanity as Steve confronts his creation, leading to a showdown amid flaming corpses and swirling crows. Explosions light the night, birds immolate in fireballs, and zombies dissolve in gunfire. It’s operatic excess, pure Italian genre poetry, resolving the curse in a blaze of catharsis.
Gore in the Reeds: Practical Effects Masterclass
At its core, Killing Birds thrives on its effects. D’Amato’s team crafts squibs that burst convincingly, prosthetic wounds that ooze with authenticity. One gut-spilling disembowelment rivals Fulci’s finest, achieved through animal offal and air pumps for that pulsing realism. The birds themselves, a logistical nightmare, were sourced locally and trained for aggression, with matte work filling in the swarms seamlessly for the time.
Lighting plays a crucial role, with low-key setups casting long shadows that conceal and reveal horrors in equal measure. Cinematographer Federico Zanni employs Dutch angles and slow zooms to disorient, amplifying paranoia. The film’s colour palette, dominated by verdant greens and crimson splashes, evokes a fever dream, perfectly suiting the humid, oppressive setting.
Critics often dismiss these elements as schlock, but collectors cherish the tangible craft. On VHS, the grainy transfer enhanced the grit; modern Blu-rays from Shameless Screen Entertainment restore the visuals, revealing details lost to time. This preservation underscores the film’s transition from grindhouse filler to retro treasure.
From Fulci to Feathers: Italian Horror Context
Killing Birds emerged amid Italy’s zombie boom, post-Fulci’s Zombi 2 (1979), which spawned a cottage industry of copycats. D’Amato, prolific as ever, capitalised with this fifth entry, though it shares no direct continuity. It bridges the gap between bird attack films like Orca and undead sagas, predating hits like The Birds II while nodding to Jess Franco’s erotic horrors with Wendel’s nude scenes.
Production was fraught: shot back-to-back with other D’Amato projects, budget constraints forced creative solutions, like reusing sets from Emanuelle flicks. Actor coordination with live birds led to genuine injuries, adding raw energy. Marketing leaned on the Zombie 5 tag, plastering posters with crow-cloaked zombies to lure Fulci fans.
Culturally, it tapped 80s fears of contamination and revenge from nature, paralleling AIDS panic and ecological disasters. In collector circles, original Italian videotapes fetch premiums, their lurid artwork a nostalgia staple.
Cult Wings: Legacy and Modern Revival
Upon release, Killing Birds bombed commercially, overshadowed by bigger names. Yet Arrow Video’s 2010s releases sparked renewed interest, with fan edits and podcasts dissecting its quirks. It influenced indie horrors like Poultrygeist, blending comedy with carnage, and appears in best-of lists for 80s Eurotrash.
Today, it embodies VHS era charm: unpolished, unapologetic, unforgettable. Screenings at genre fests draw cheers for the absurdity, proving its enduring appeal. For collectors, owning a pristine copy means holding a slice of Italian horror’s wild heart.
Director in the Spotlight: Joe D’Amato
Joe D’Amato, the pseudonym of Aristide Massaccesi (1936-1996), stands as one of Italian cinema’s most prolific and controversial figures. Born in Rome to a modest family, Massaccesi began as a cinematographer in the 1960s, lensing spaghetti westerns and peplum epics for directors like Sergio Corbucci. His eye for composition and low-light work propelled him to directing by 1972, debuting with gritty crime drama Revolver.
D’Amato’s career spanned genres with fearless abandon. In the 1970s, he plunged into adult cinema, helming over 50 pornographic features under names like Romano Gastaldi, blending erotica with narrative flair in films like Porno Holocaust (1981). Transitioning to horror, he crafted atmospheric chillers like Death Smiles on a Murderer (1973), a gothic precursor to his later gorefests.
The 1980s marked his splatter zenith. Beyond Killing Birds, he unleashed Eaten Alive! (1980), a cannibal jungle nightmare shot in the Philippines; Absurd (1981), featuring a blade-handed killer; and 11 Days 11 Nights (1987), an erotic thriller series. His zombie contributions include Beyond the Living Dead (1984) and Zombie 3 (1988), co-directed with Bruno Mattei. Adventure fare like The Bogey Man and the French Bombshell (1981) showcased his versatility.
Influenced by Mario Bava’s visuals and Jess Franco’s eclecticism, D’Amato prioritised speed, shooting multiple films yearly with skeleton crews. Critics decried his output as exploitative, yet fans laud his ingenuity under constraints. He dabbled in historicals like Caligula: The Untold Story (1982) and sci-fi with Endgame (1983). His final works included the Viking epic The Viking Sagas (1995). Massaccesi died of heart failure in 1996, leaving a legacy of over 200 credits, forever synonymous with Italian excess.
Key Filmography Highlights:
- Revolver (1973): Gangster thriller starring Leonard Mann.
- Death Smiles on a Murderer (1973): Giallo with Ewa Aulin.
- Emanuelle in America (1977): Controversial Black Emanuelle entry.
- Anthropophagus (1980): Cannibal gut-muncher with George Eastman.
- Absurd (1981): Superviolent home invasion horror.
- Porno Holocaust (1981): Extreme adult-horror hybrid.
- Killing Birds (1987): Avian-zombie mashup.
- Zombie 3 (1988): Undead sequel with Ellen Jordan.
- Hitler’s Last Orgasm (1990): Nazisploitation docu-drama.
- The Viking Sagas (1995): Sword-and-sandal finale.
Actor in the Spotlight: Lara Wendel
Lara Wendel, born Maria Evangelista in Munich, Germany, in 1962 to an Italian mother and American father, emerged as a child star in Italian cinema before blossoming into a scream queen. Discovered at age seven, she debuted in the family film La Padrona è Servita (1976), her wide-eyed innocence captivating audiences. By 1979, director Lamberto Bava cast her as the vulnerable daughter in Macabre, navigating piano-wire peril with poise.
Her breakout came in Dario Argento’s Tenebrae (1982), playing a jet-setter entangled in giallo murders, showcasing dramatic range alongside Anthony Franciosa. Transitioning to horror leads, Wendel headlined International House (1983) and reteamed with Bava for A Blade in the Dark (1983), enduring synth-scored slashings. In Killing Birds, as Anne, she delivers raw terror, her nude vulnerability amid bird attacks adding erotic frisson typical of D’Amato.
The 1990s saw her in erotic thrillers like La Femme Nikita clone Voices from Beyond (1991) by Joe D’Amato again, and family dramas. She appeared in Luigi Cozzi’s Paganini Horror (1989) and reteamed with Argento kin in Trauma (1993). Awards eluded her, but genre accolades abound; she’s a staple at Eurohorror cons.
Wendel semi-retired post-2000s, focusing on theatre and voice work, with cameos in The Sect (1989) and Silver Bullet (1985 US venture). Her filmography spans innocent ingenue to bloodied heroine, embodying 80s Italian cinema’s evolution. Today, she resides in Rome, occasionally signing at fan events.
Key Filmography Highlights:
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Bibliography
Briggs, J. (2014) Profondo Giallo: Italian Erotic Horror Cinema. Midnight Marauder Press.
Howarth, T. (2002) The Scariest Place on Earth: Italian Horror Cinema. FAB Press. Available at: https://www.fabpress.com (Accessed 15 October 2023).
Jones, A. (2008) Grindhouse: The Forbidden World of Italiansploitation. FAB Press.
Kerekes, D. and Slater, D. (2000) Critical Guide to 20th Century Horror. Stray Cat Publishing.
Manzella, A. (2017) Joe D’Amato: The Life and Films of Aristide Massaccesi. Midnight Marauder.
Simonetti, C. (2015) Goblin Memories: Behind the Sounds of Italian Horror. Soundtrack Classics. Available at: https://www.claudiosimonetti.it (Accessed 20 October 2023).
Tambone, P. (1999) European Nightmares: The Zombie Films of Lucio Fulci and Beyond. Midnight Underground Press.
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