''Death Warmed Up'' (released in the Philippines as ''Dr. Evil: Part II'') is a 1984 New Zealand

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

splatter

zombie film A zombie film is a film genre. Zombies are fictional creatures usually portrayed as reanimated corpses or virally infected human beings. They are commonly portrayed as cannibalistic in nature. While zombie films generally fall into the horror ...

directed by David Blyth. It stars

Michael Hurst Michael Eric Hurst New Zealand Order of Merit, ONZM (born 20 September 1957) is a New Zealand actor, director and writer. He acted in the television programs ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' and companion series ''Xena: Warrior Princess'' ...

, Margaret Umbers and Gary Day. The film's plot centres around a young man named Michael Tucker (Hurst) seeking revenge against a mad scientist (Day), who years earlier caused him to kill his parents because he is creating zombies.

Plot

As a child, Michael Tucker (

) is used as a test subject for mind control drugs developed by evil scientist Dr. Howell ( Gary Day), which cause him to unwittingly kill his parents. After spending seven years in a

mental institution A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe mental disorders. These institutions cater to patients with ...

for the murders, Michael, his girlfriend Sandy (Margaret Umbers) and his two friends Jeannie (Norelle Scott) and Lucas (William Upjohn) use Michael's car, a black 1963 Ford Fairlane 500, to set out on a trip to a remote island on which Dr. Howell's clinic is located. Desperate for revenge, Michael is determined to infiltrate the scientist's base and kill him with no mercy. After tracking him down, he kills Howell's mob of mind controlled slaves who are both

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...

s, but in the resulting mayhem both Jeannie and Lucas are both killed. At last Michael proceeds to brutally kill Howell after repeatedly stabbing him in the stomach with a knife. After escaping from the clinic, Michael and Sandy return to their

holiday home A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are oft ...

, only to discover that it caught fire. When Michael steps out to investigate the damage, he is struck by a falling electrical line and is electrocuted to death, leaving Sandy alone weeping over the loss of him as she's overcome with grief and starting to run.

Cast

Release and response

The film won the Grand Prix award at the 1984

Paris International Festival of Fantastic and Science-Fiction Film The Paris International Festival of Fantastic and Science-Fiction Film () was a film festival hosted in France between 1972 and 1989. The event was affiliated with film periodical ''L'Écran fantastique'', and chaired by its Chief Editor Alain S ...

. Despite this, general reception to ''Death Warmed Up'' was mixed. Some of the covers of ''Death Warmed Up'' show a brain surgeon who is a

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fra ...

who is about to use a hypodermic needle and a surgical knife to operate on the brain of a girl which doesn't represent any scene of the film. In the Philippines, the film was released as ''Dr. Evil: Part II'' on 1 May 1987.

Banning in Australia

In 1985, the film was banned by the

Australian Classification Board The Australian Classification Board (ACB or CB) is an Australian Government of Australia, government Statute, statutory body responsible for the classification and censorship of films, television programmes, video games and publications for ex ...

due to excessive violence. A censored version was later released.

References

External links

*
''Death Warmed Up''
on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Death Warmed Up 1984 films 1984 horror films 1980s English-language films 1980s exploitation films 1980s science fiction horror films Body horror films Films set in New Zealand Films shot in New Zealand New Zealand science fiction horror films New Zealand splatter films 1984 science fiction films English-language science fiction horror films Films directed by David Blyth