"Zombie" We are Going to Eat You!

Director: Lucio Fulci

Starring: Tisa Farrow & Ian McCulloch

The year was 1979 and George A. Romero just released what many believe to be his best film, "Dawn of the Dead." Shortly after the release of "Dawn," popular Italian horror film director, Dario Argento, took Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" and cut out the comedic relief scenes, re-scored it with a bit more darker music, and released it over in Italy as "Zombi." "Zombi" was greeted with huge success.

So in 1980, to cash in on "Zombi's" success, Italian horror film director, Lucio Fulci, released a zombie movie of his own and titled it "Zombi 2."

Having nothing to do with Romero's "Dawn" or Argento's cut "Zombi," Fulci released a zombie movie that proved good enough to stand alone.

In "Zombi 2," Anne Bowles goes looking for her father, on the island of Matool, after her father's boat sails ashore in a New York harbor without him on it (Matool is where the father was last seen). When Anne finally reaches Matool, along with a newsreporter named Peter West and another couple she brought along, they learn that the island has been taken over by flesh-eating zombies due to some voodoo curse.

"Zombi 2" is basically a gorehound's dream. With several memorable goreshots, there is even one in slow-motion. Lucio Fulci is actually known by some as the "Godfather of Gore."

You would think, even in '80, that the zombie genre would be tired. However, that is not the case for Fulci's "Zombi 2." The gore is amazing, the zombie make-up is great (no yellow faces), and the score is superb.

If I had to pick a favorite scene is Fulci's "Zombi 2," it would have to be a scene in which a zombie and a shark wrestle. Yes, you read that right, a zombie and a shark wrestle. You may be sitting there wondering, "Why would a zombie and a shark wrestle?" But wouldn't a better question be, "Who wins between the zombie and shark?"

Fulci's "Zombi 2" has been released several times with different cuts and different titles. However, Fulci's "Zombi 2" can now be picked up uncut on DVD under the plain Jane title "Zombie."

Highly Recommended
For Fans of Zombie, Italian, and Gore Cinema
8 out of 10

Trailer for "Zombie:"