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Zombie
1979 Color - Lucio Fulci, Director
Italian
- Filmed in English
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Reviewed by Christopher
Fulbright
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Download
the Trailer from Creepyclips.com
"Zombie" (881 KB - Real Media Player)
While
not among his best films, Lucio Fulci's Zombie
nonetheless ranks among those he's best known for, perhaps
due to the popularity of George Romero's Dead
movies, which were being released right about the same time.
In fact, Romero's Dawn of the Dead was released
in Italy under the title Zombi, shortly followed
by Fulci's movie, which was titled Zombi 2,
(a.k.a.Zombie Flesh Eaters in the UK, and
Island of the Living Dead elsewhere) and billed
in some ways as a sequel to the now American classic. The
similarities in the music scoring may have leant some credence
to that, but Fulci's unique brand of in-your-face horror
sets this film apart from its American counterparts, particularly
in regards to special effects and cinematography, which
I personally felt were superior.
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The
film begins as a derelict sailboat drifts unmanned into the
waters off Staten Island, which draws the attention of the
Coast Guard. Two cops board the boat to check things out and
then begins the mayhem - one cop gets his throat chewed open
by a grisly zombie hiding in a closet below deck. |
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We're
introduced shortly thereafter to Ann Bole, the daughter
of a missing man who traveled to some distant islands with
Dr. Maynard, who owns the derelict boat. After questioning,
the police release her, leaving her pleas for information
regarding her missing father unanswered. Newspaper reporter
Peter West gets wind of the incident and decides to go snooping
around on the boat that night. While rummaging around below
decks, he runs into Ann on a similar mission to get more
information.
Meanwhile,
we join Dr. David Maynard on the remote island of Matoole.
His wife is disgusted and upset with his research, ready
to hop on a boat and head home, but of course Maynard is
obsessed with his work and ignores her pleas, leaving her
chugging a bottle of whiskey as he heads off to the "office."
While the dead are coming back to life on the island, he
refuses to believe the native grumblings of Voodoo and strives
to find a scientific explanation for the phenomenon. The
office, as it were, is a church he has converted into a
kind of zombie treatment center, where the only treatment
anyone seems to get is a bullet in the head.
Back
in New York, Ann and West join forces in an attempt to find
out what has happened to her father. Upon reaching the main
islands, they book a charter with an unsuspecting crew of
man and wife, who of course have their reservations, citing
the native's concerns that the island is cursed. Nonetheless,
they all end up on the boat on their way to Matoole.
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One
of my favorite scenes in the movie takes place on the way
to the island. The couple that owns the charter decides to
go diving. While underwater, the wife is chased by a shark
to an underwater cave, from which emerges a water-rotted zombie!
The wife, of course, high tails it back to the boat, leaving
the zombie to battle the shark in one of the most innovative
and creative zombie scenes ever. |
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In an effort to refrain from ruining the later scenes of
this movie, I will only say that the gruesome mess which
ensues is a lot of fun to watch, and includes not only stomach
churning gore but an excruciating death scene that makes
you squirm.
Zombie
does not seek to explain itself or the reasons for the phenomenon
other than to mention Voodoo several times throughout. Having
read The Serpent and the Rainbow, I was spoiled
as to knowing the actual "facts" of Haitian Voodoo
and their methods of zombification, none of which is accurately
represented here. That aside, it was still a blast to watch
this movie again, and a twisted joy to see yet another of
Fulci's storylines unfold in all its gory ... er, glory.
Zombie
is a "must see" for the horror aficionado and/or
zombie fan, and serves as a somewhat Americanized introduction
to Fulci's greater work, such as The Beyond,
The Gates of Hell, New York Ripper,
and The House By The Cemetery, among others.
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The
Director - Lucio Fulci
Italian
Director Lucio Fulci is widely known in the darker side
of the filmmaking industry as the "Godfather of Gore."
From 1959 to 1991 he made 59 films, the majority of which
were splatter movies. Fulci began as a director of mainstream
films, but did not meet with much success in the eyes of
critics, who continued to lambaste him throughout his career.
Only when Dario Argento's first films (Bird With the
Crystal Plumage and the like) began to meet with
some success, did Fulci turn to horror.
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When
his wife took her own life as a result of terminal cancer,
he poured his entire life into his work, and produced some
of the greatest masterpieces of the 80's horror heyday. Critics
and censors continued to be mortified and disgusted by Fulci's
work, and many of his films appeared in severely edited versions
as a result, none of which Fulci was pleased with. The director
died in March 1996 as a result of a somewhat controversial
missed insulin injection, much to the disappointment of fans
worldwide - Splatterhouse
reports that Fulci had been working on his goriest film yet
Wax Mask - a collaboration with Dario Argento.
The site reports that Argento had paused work on the production
as Fulci was taken ill, and also that funding for the project
had been frozen. The director was 68 when he passed away,
leaving behind two daughters and a fine legacy of work to
be enjoyed for years to come. |
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Related
Links
The
Official Lucio Fulci Website
Lucio
Fulci Discussion Forum
Braineater:
Zombi 2 Review
Splatterhouse
Special
thanks to:
and
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