Rarely do you hear of a legendary zombie rising from their grave and wanting to direct. But it happened once. At the opening of George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, Barbara and Johnny go to the cemetery to visit the grave of her father. The don’t have a chance to remember the dearly departed. A stranger stumbles around the tombstones towards them. The stranger isn’t a drunk mourner, but an undead zombie that attacks Johnny. The ghoul was played by Bill Hinzman and became iconic in zombie cinema. Hinzman wasn’t merely a local Pittsburgh actor. He was a camera guy for George Romero’s production company who would go on to direct documentaries, industrial films and commercials. Nearly 20 years after the film debuted, Hinzman would return to the role that had terrified America. He made his own low budget zombie film. FleshEater allowed Hinzman to attack the living on his own terms.
A group of college kids are ready to celebrate Halloween out in the woods of Western Pennsylvania. They’re ready to party without worrying about neighbors or the cops shutting down the fun. What they don’t count on is a worker in a nearby field uncovering a hidden grave and breaking a mysterious seal. This action unleashes a zombie (Bill Hinzman) that’s all action. He immediately claims his first victim. This peaceful area is not ready to deal with a zombie who turns his victims into fellow undead ghouls. There are plenty of victims in the sleepy urban area since it is Halloween. He as he roams around, he blends in with the trick or treaters. He goes after the college kids who think it’s just a prank. He attacks a family that thinks he’s trick or treating. Can anything stop this cursed undead zombie?
FleshEater is remarkable since Hinzman resurrect his old character with enough of a twist that it is more than the previous film. Why does he rise from the grave? Turns out there were Satanists in the area that were up to no good. The FleshEater was the result of their dark magic and not George Romero’s movie magic. This element makes its own movie even if it had been released on VHS as Revenge of the Living Dead. Although if you enjoy the other Living Dead films, you’ll want to grab a copy of FleshEater.
Around this time in the ’80s, Night of the Living Dead was hot property. George Romero had returned to the zombie nightmare with Day of the Dead. Co-screenwriter John Russo created Return of the Living Dead. Tom Savini remade Night of the Living Dead. All three of those films had “healthy” budgets of a few million dollars each. FleshEater was made with the same barebones budget as the original Night of the Living Dead. Most of Hinzman’s money went toward fabricating stomach-churning special effects. Quite a few of the victims get chewed up so they’re just muscle, bones and eyeballs. Hinzman doesn’t tease the audience by skimping on the blood. There are buckets of blood pouring when the zombie bite down on neck. A great effect involves a zombie punches his fist through a victim’s torso. The acting isn’t great, but the actors know how to die and come back to life. FleshEater is better than Halloween Kills with its ability to slightly introduce us to characters that get eaten alive in a few minutes. You even get to see another character return from Night of The Living Dead to recreate their special moment. The film is more fun that horrific. FleshEater gives a zombie a second life.
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. You get to see the complete frame from the original 16mm camera negative. The gruesome effects are more vivid than ever. The audio is DTS-HD Mono. There seems to be a lot of ADR so the lips are off in a few scenes. The movie is subtitled.
Audio commentary track with cinematographer Simon Manses, composer Erica Portnoy, and producer Andrew Sands. They go into the details of putting the film together. They point out numerous people that worked on this and Night of the Living Dead. Manses and Portnoy are married. Bill Hinzman passed away in 2012.
Zombie Nosh LLC (19:35) sits down with producer Andrew Sands. He enjoyed the experience. The film came out from colorization of Night of the Living Dead. Bill Hinzman realized kids knew him from the film and figured why not make another zombie film. He talks how worked at a magazine that was in the same building as George Romero’s company.
All Roads Lead Back to FleshEater (18:32) catches up with cinematographer Simon Manses. He talks about watching Night of the Living Dead on Chiller Theater as a kid. He was excited to work with people who made the film. He worked on Amusement Park with George Romero and Bill Hinzman. He started on the camera crew because of Bill so it seems fitting he shot the film for Hinzman.
The Family Continues (7:27) has Bonnie Hinzman widow talk about her time with her husband. She mentions Bill started directing when George Romero had to run off the set for the birth of his child. George Romero was the best man at their wedding. There’s a bust of Bill for Night of the Living Dead. Bill made a documentary with Orson Welles as the narrator. She talks about how Bill got a natural reaction from an actor walking in on a body. She also was a victim in the film. She points out who is the rifleman at the end of the film.
Carnage in Compositions (7:30) has composer Erica Portnoy admit she’s still married to one of the zombie hunters. Portnoy had just graduated from college and teaching a music store. She made a demo at her music store to land the gig.
Family of FleshEaters (9:25) lets actress Heidi Hinzman describe being an angel on the set and turned into a zombie by her dad. She talks about going to conventions with the cast of Night of the Living Dead. She talks about being shot.
Crushed Pink Grapefruit Brain (14:40) gets into the gory details with special makeup effects artist Jerry Gergely. He learned from Tom Savini’s book and eventually worked for Tom Savini. He’d previously worked with Bill Hinzman on The Majorettes. Jerry Gergely knew how to work on a low budget. He mentioned Bill tossed the script and would come up with ideas for the various zombie kills during the three week shoot that was interrupted by winter.
To Live and Die in PA (8:57) meets up with actor John Mowod. He was originally working at his family’s restaurant after college. His dad to audition for a local play about making bad life choices that was directed by Bill Hinzman. The play was adapted into an educational film and Bill kept Mowod in the cast. He then brought Mowod on FleshEater. He goes into how Bill worked with him as an actor.
Meatballs and Missing Actors (8:01) gets into the production details with unit manager Paul Giorgi. He had just worked on U2’s Rattle And Hum documentary and Doom Asylum. They didn’t shoot long days because Bill wasn’t up for them. The shot until sundown. He was happy working with Bill. He’s not sure how low the budget the film really was. There’s a fine story about what happened to the zombie farmer.
Minor Budget Majorette (7:05) gets an appointment with hair stylist / makeup artist Terrie Godfrey. She was fresh out of hairdressing school when she heard about the film being made. Not only did she get the hair stylist gig but was cast in a role. She played Terry, the dispatcher in FleshEater. Terry also helped make the gore.
Extensive behind-the-scenes still gallery (9:05) is a montage of behind the scene stills, press photos, special effects tests and the VHS box art.
Vinegar Syndrome presents FleshEater. Directed by Bill Hinzman. Screenplay by Bill Hinzman. Starring Bill Hinzman, John Mowod, Leslie Ann Wick, Kevin Kindlin, Lisa Smith & Heidi Hinzman. Running Time: 89 minutes. Rated: Unrated. Release Date: May 31, 2022.
