An unusual zombie film from Italian director Pupi Avati which receives mainly negative reviews due to the incorrect advertising of the American release, which markets it as a BURIAL GROUND-style Italian gut-muncher. Instead it's a deliberately slow-paced, action-free epic which weaves a complex, dark, and mysterious plot around the viewer and is indeed difficult to comprehend at moments. As for the zombies, well they pop up at the beginning and the end to offer some good scares, but the majority of the movie is simply an atmospheric and spooky detective-thriller as the lead investigates the mystery and becomes caught up in a conspiracy with lots of shady characters.The film begins as it means to go on with an apparently possessed girl attempting to dig up a basement. When investigating scientists dig in the earth they discover a coffin containing a skeleton, which has been wreaking havoc in the house in which it is situated. Avati makes good use of shadows and lighting for maximum atmospheric impact and his direction recalls the movies of the '40s that Val Lewton produced, and indeed there's a direct reference to CAT PEOPLE with a haunting scene set at a deserted swimming pool.It turns out that this is all a flashback and the film begins proper with the film's lead, Stefano, played by the greatly unappealing Gabriele Lavia (one of the movie's biggest flaws, it has to be said) receiving a decrepit typewriter. Reading strange text on the ribbon, he meets the previous owner, a priest at the local church. The priest denies all knowledge. When he returns later on that day to question the priest further, Stefano discovers that the man was an imitator and the real person he is looking for is dead. The plot becomes even more involved with the intervention of a shadow conspiracy who commit murder to cover up the secret of the K-Zones, geographical locations in which the dead can return to life. After a spooky interlude in a cemetery (which includes a fantastic shock in which he discovers birds living in a coffin), Stefano discovers the location of one of these K-Zones at a partially-built but as yet uninhabited hotel. The scene is set for encounters with the undead...Although with its very slow pacing and almost total lack of action or violence (a single stabbing is all the film can muster), ZEDER is definitely not a film for all tastes, viewers will be rewarded by the finale which includes some very frightening moments. The finest of these in my opinion is when the main character watches (via monitors linked up to a camera) a corpse wake up in its coffin and begin laughing in an eerie manner. This really sent the chills running down my spine. The sight of the dead pushing their way up from below the ground is also effective, as are hands emerging from walls, and the film's final downbeat twist may have possibly influenced Stephen King's PET SEMATARY.The actors are as poorly dubbed as usual and the cast is of unknowns (even for an Italian movie). Lavia is miscast as the boring lead and unable to breathe life into his role, although some of the supporting actors playing the bad guys aren't bad at all. The thing I liked most about this movie was the soundtrack, with emphatic music which recalls THE BEYOND and some very weird sound effects to add to the horror. These include distorted computer effects and heavy, distorted breathing. While I don't label this a masterpiece as some others have, I did find it to be a very unique and interesting film and watching it makes me want to check out more of Avati's directorial work.

I like this movie a lot, and don't regret the effort it took to track down a copy. It's different enough from the Romero/Fulci sort of zombie movie that you don't feel as if you are watching the "same old, same old". In fact, it's actually more of a ghost story, with a bunch of "Old, Dark House" elements expertly integrated. Tons of atmosphere, lots of creepy and unsettling passages, great use of color and sets, and just enough actual mayhem and gore to stun and shock. (The off camera screaming we hear at several points in the story is in some ways the most upsetting part of the film.Still, the movie is a little too slow for my American tastes. And the dubbing for the lead protagonist doesn't do the actor any favors. And my sensibilities (again) bridle at the way the script treats the conspirators - they're just a bunch of normal sociopathis jerks with insane ideas, and the only serious threat they have is Zeder. We never see what happens to most of them because the movie is concentrating on the "Monkey's Paw" ending. And the movie is perfectly OK with torturing and maiming and killing women and little girls. (It is Italian, after all). But if you are a fan of horror and want to see something different from your run of the mill zombie/ghost story, you owe it to yourself to see this.

Pupi Avati is doubtlessly a one-of-a-kind director, and while his contributions to Italian Horror cinema are not at all typical for their sub-genres, they are highly memorable. Avati's 1976 Giallo "La Casa Dalle Finestre Che Ridono" ("The House With Laughing Windows") must be one of the greatest Gialli ever made, even though very atypical, and low on sleaze and murders. If one wants to refer to "Zeder" of 1983 as an Italian Zombie Film, then it is even less typical for its sub-genre, as the film almost completely lacks the gore that Italian Zombie flicks such as Lucio Fulci's films are so famous and notorious for. However, it is a highly atmospheric and original cinematic experience, and a film that my fellow fans of Italian Horror definitely should not miss.The writer Stefano (Gabriele Lavia) gets an old typewriter as a gift from his wife Alessandra (Anne Canovas). By accident, he finds out that it used to belong to Paolo Zeder, a scientist who had been researching a gateway from the beyond in the 1950s...The film is sometimes said to have inspired Stephen King when he wrote his famous novel "Pet Sematary". And while I am not quite sure whether this is true (the film was released in Italy only months before King's novel) there doubtlessly are certain parallels. Avati's film is rather slow-paced, but it oozes atmosphere from the beginning to the end, and the plot is fascinating. Avati understands how to create genuine eeriness without constantly employing gore-effects. The beautiful cinematography, picturesque settings and wonderful Score by Riz Ortolani fortify the gloomy atmosphere. Gabriele Lavia, who is maybe most widely known for playing supporting roles in Dario Argento's films (most notably in "Profondo Rosso"), is a fantastic actor and he is once again great in his role here. Anne Canovas is drop-dead gorgeous and fits greatly in the role of his wife; the typically sleaze-loving Eurohorror audiences might be disappointed that she keeps her clothes on throughout the movie. Overall, it should be said that "Zeder" is not a film that should be approached expecting a gore-drenched Zombie massacre. However, those familiar with some of Pupi Avati's work wouldn't anyway. While the pace may be a little slow, the film is an intelligent, eerie and highly atmospheric wholesome that no true lover of Italian Horror cinema should miss. My rating: 7.5/10

I'm not much for writing long winded reviews so I'll keep it simple. This film was disappointing. You know how you grab pick up a pizza and once you're home with it you get the toppings that you never ordered,you know the ones that you avoid? Well thats this film in a nut shell. I like good horror like the next guy,I don't ask for a whole lot but I do expect a decent film to keep me entertained for 90 minutes. The cover on this movie had a zombie rising from the grave,but in reality you'll get no more than 2 minutes of that,mixed with a dull story that drags on and on. See this film plays out more like a mystery about a priest who walked away from God to choose a higher power,that being to rise from the dead. I won't go any further but let's just say the plot sounds better than the results of this film,just avoid it if you can. Btw-there's hard;y any gore in this film,hey that sometimes can save even some of the worst films out there but we don't even get that in this wannabe zombie film. Simply put,write this one down and remember to stay away from it. Some of the folks who give this film a decent score are either delusional or don't know what a good scary horror film is. This is like a slow paced mystery without the suspense and story to play itself out as anything worth viewing. Hope that helps you out,I just wish I had read a few warnings before viewing this lemon,he he.