Zombie

Rating:
Summary: This is the version to get.
Review: There are three versions of this film in the stores now. Anchor Bay's "Zombie", Blue Underground's "Zombi", and Media Blaster's "Zombi 2". These are all the same film. Another reviewer goes over the reason for the name confusion.

Since I didn't know about that fact, at one point I had all three versions of this movie. In my opinion, this version (Media Blaster's "Zombi 2") has the best transfer and sound of the three. In one of the other versions, I could still see the lines and cracks from the film stock, like I was watching the film on an old 70's high school projector.

For those who haven't seen the film, what can I say? It's an Italian Zombie movie. You know what you're going to get with this. It's worth it for the Zombie vs. Shark scene alone!!!

Rating:
Summary: Ultimate Zomie movie
Review: Like I always say no 10 page summary. Simple, the zombies are better than Romeros in Dawn.O.T.D. The only reason this movie only got 4 stars is cause at one point it drags a bit. But overall the Gore is great the acting and dubbing is excellent . A great zombie movie as Im a big fan of zombie flicks. Zombi 2 by Fulci is definitly the #1 zombie flick, with #2,3,4 and 5 being the whole Romerso series ( Night , Dawn , Day and soon to be Land Of The Dead ). Zombi 2 Came out in 1980.

Rating:
Summary: one of the zombie greats
Review: Super fantastic zombie film. Not a "good" movie...but a movie that caters to the tastes of genre fans of this type of stuff.

What makes this film work (from a horror buff's perspective)? The haunting score at the begginging is something that'll definately stick in your mind. It's totally creepy organ music that could be best described as "haunting".

The gore is really the most talked about part of the film. And in all honesty, if the gore was cut out completely this wouldn't be a movie worth anybody's time. However, it's a zombie film and it delivers the goods. When i say it's gory, i mean it's eye gouging, head splitting, flesh tearing, intestine munching, decapitatingly gory. Good stuff for the gore hounds out there (myself included).

This zombie film works simply because it really does have quite a few memorable moments in it. An underwater filmed battle between a man in zombie makeup and a real live shark takes the cake aside from the "eye piercing" scene that is infamous.

I could keep going on and on, but i won't. I'd say pick this sucker up if you're not just a casual horror fan (a fan of films such as "urban legend" or "i know what you did last summer"), but hardcore horror fan (one who appreciates older italian shock cinema perhaps...lol).

5 stars

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece...
Review: "Zombie" is the "flesh-eating zombie movie" holy grail. Harrowing, relentless, and bleak,this movie traps a small group of people on an island overrun with flesh eating zombies. There is a eye-goughing scene and a fight between a zombie and a shark that must be seen to be believed. If you are a zombie movie fan I'm sure this is already in your collection; if you are just looking for something to really scare you...this is the one. Unlike Dawn of the Dead, Zombie has no satire or dark humor(and not to belittle Dawn of the Dead as it too is a Zombie movie icon); Zombie is horror in it's purest form.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome 2-Disc edition of a true horror classic!
Review: A boat on a New York City coast is discovered by the coast guards as abandoned but only with a literally undead creature on board but gets destroyed, leaving the coast guards puzzled. A reporter with a young woman in search of her missing father try to investigate by going to the caribbean islands with the help of some friends, but a terrible voodoo curse or virus is causing the dead to come up from the graves of the island to devour the flesh of the living as the reporter and company must struggle together to survive the island of the dead.

A shocking and excellent Italian horror thriller from Lucio Fulci whom was fresh off of doing comedies, westerns and thrillers gives us one of the most repulsive and scariest cult classics of all time. There is a creepy tropical atmosphere to give the movie's feel a tender eerieness with it's groovy music score by Fabio Frizzi and graphic gore effects such as the memorable if absolutely horrifying scene involving a woman getting her eyeball stabbed through a large splinter of wood.

The 2-Disc anniversary edition is certainly an improvement over the Anchor Bay version with better picture and digital sound quality that also contains the original Italian language track with English subtitles. It's extras are terrific, it's got featurettes on the history and behind the scenes of how this movie got made with it's success around the world, it's original european theatrical trailer, other trailers to zombie movies avalible from Media Blasters DVD, interviews with the actors & filmmakers and a photo, poster-and-still gallery.

This movie belongs in every horror lover's DVD collection, i highly recommend it but not for light sleepers or the squeamish.

Also recommended: From Dusk Till Dawn, The Evil Dead, Night of the Living Dead ( 1968 and 1990), Dawn of the Dead ( 1978 and 2004), Day of the Dead, City of the Living Dead, House By The Cemetery, Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror, Bio-Zombie, Demons, Suspiria, Tenebre, Cannibal Ferox, Jungle Holocaust, Cannibal Holocaust, Blood Feast, Battle Royale, The New York Ripper, Scanners, Maniac ( 1980), Freddy Vs. Jason, Nightmare City, Cannibal Apocalypse, 28 Days Later.., Return of the Living Dead Trilogy, Re-Animator and The Beyond.

Rating:
Summary: An Ending Worth Waiting For
Review: After her father's boat turns up in the New York Harbor with only one undead passenger aboard, Anne Bowles (Tisa Farrow) teams up with an ambitous reporter named Peter West (Ian McCulloch) on an adventure to solve the riddle of what happened to the captain and crew. The pair travel to the island of Matool in search of answers, along with a local couple they've hired as guides. There, they discover a horrifying plague of zombies overtaking the residents, and a mysterious Dr. Menard desperately trying to understand the strange phenomenon. Naturally, this being a zombie film, everything goes to Hell as the dead overwhelm the living, devouring anyone in their path. It's anyone's guess who will survive the carnage!

Italian Horror legend Lucio Fulci's much loved 1980 classic, "Zombie," is not the most brilliant film ever written. It's not the most brilliant horror film ever written. It's not even the most brilliant zombie film ever written. I'm not even sure it would make the top ten. What I am sure about though, is that it's 91 minutes of zombie horror that should more than satiate the typical video gorehound's appetite. It's a perfect example of a gory zombie movie made simply for the sake of making a gory zombie movie. But is it worth watching for those of us who are more interested in disturbing concepts than disturbing violence? In this reviewer's opinion, the end justifies the means, literally. It's the last few moments of the film that make me happy to have it in my collection, and that take it up a notch from two stars to three. Though the fabulous ending still doesn't quite put "Zombie" on par with the Romero classics, or even some of the recent zombie revival films, there are plenty of other moments to make the film a keeper, or at least worth a good, hard viewing. The two most classic and talked about moments, of course, are the shark vs. zombie battle and the splinter through the eyeball scene, both well worthy of their fame. The film also sets a nice, ominous mood, despite the warm, tropical locale. Not as frightening as seeing such events take place in our own, suburban backyards, but if one can get lost in the movie enough to feel the isolation of the island itself, it's more than an adequately frightening setting. In addition to the eye-popping gore-fest that is "Zombie (AKA Zombie 2 and Island of the Flesh Eaters)," the DVD provides us with a somewhat interesting commentary track, a trailer, and a nice set of TV and radio spots. Come for the gore, stay for the finale.

Rating:
Summary: Old Zombie Fun !!!
Review: Fulci IS at times a horrible director creating badly edited films with the levels of pretty fake gore being the only thing worth mentioning a Fulci film for. I must admit im not the greatest fan in the world but i do rate The House By the Cemetery - as it was a true storybook nightmare that oozed a tale similar to the anything that the Brother Grimm came up with and for Fulci, actually made a bit of sense.

Anyho, this is a review for Zombie and it is the only other film of his that i actually came close to liking (Sorry - but i hated The Beyond and City of the Living Dead is badly acted and out-dated in a big way).

I do love italian horror and liked Dario Argento back in 1985 when he wasn't commerically know (actually don't think he still is)

The first thing i noticed with this film does have some incredible set pieces, infact two helped pushed this z grader movie to a more b grade level. Primarily im talking the boat scene at the beginning and the zombie/shark attack (yeah , the eye scene was good but it is a typical gore scene that goes with these movies and really i look for a bit more in a good horror film. IT was was gross though :)

However these two scenes ,(boat and shark), on such a low budget,were directed with some skill and mastery that it made me re-consider Luci as a hack director that only had gore going for him in the Western Market.

The boat scene was quite grand and i loved the way it was filmed with both meance and dread as we see this ghost ship sailing into harbour alluding to the notion that not all is well on this ship and before we know it a large fiqure comes roaming up on deck. A fiqure that doesn't look well nor one i would want to bump into. It was simple and effective and sets a good tone for the beginning of the movie.

Impressive was to see the fight between shark and zombie and one of the the most memborable scenes in any zombie film including Romero's . I give a point alone for this scene as in it's time ( and even now).

Apart from those scenes i really didn't think there was anything in this film to rave about nor do i see it as a cult classic that deserves to be highlighted simply because it was a Fulci film.

To be honest there is much better zombie horror to quench yah thirst than this. I'm not saying the film is bad but you are gunna have to be a horror fanatic or drugged to be able to get and enjoy the film and even then it may be a bit lacklustered and i feel it doesn't have any really impact now days.

For me the Romero trilogy are old looking films that show in aspects of the filming making compared with todays but it still stands the test of time and is still worthy of cult status. By comparing Zombie to Romero's trilogy i am trying to show that i'm not JUST judging this film due TO its age. Night and Dawn were horror icons which assisted new filmakers in re-creating the horror scene and cementing horror as films with gore were for just the underground nuts but also for the main stream. Both Night and Dawn have underlying social commertories that elevated them to classic status due to the horror and intellgience in its scripts and settings.

Zombie IS an old zombie film but also a poorly excuted one. Alot of the action occurs in the final 30 min of the film and alot of poor dialogue is spewed out in the mean time. The actors all look like there about to hit retirement and really seem to all come from some bad english (British) soap at the time. The zombies are adequate but some scenes are simply stupid ie: i remember one scene where a girl stand on the border of a forest which goes onto a beach screaming as she watch a zombie slowly pull its self out of the ground, stroll over to her, and then bite her. I mean mannnnnnn, it is a zombie film and viewers are good at suspending belief but seriously, RUN GIRL RUNNNNNNNNNN! It sort of reminded me of a scene in Austin Powers where he is in a forklift and runs over a guy that is miles away because all the guy does is stand there and scream, at least that was meant to be funny, but in this film it is just poor film-making.

There were far to many scenes like the above and the stupidy of the people made me switch off from feeling any true horror and besides the eye ball scene and shark there isnt much in the middle of this film to recommend.

In conclusion, i did like the film but don't think it is worth the praise in years to come as being any sort of cult masterpiece or even a decent horror film. It is a watchable film, with a few good segements and its certainly worth a rental or a purchase at a cheap price if you want to bulk yah horror dvd libray up with some rubbishy horror.

Its an old zombie film filled with some really good and really poor direction by a director that made alot of z- grade entertaiment that is remembered due to its gore level.

But judge the film on it own merit and one can see it is a pretty shoddy film.

For a classic horror zombie film go for Romero or my fav - DEAD ALIVE. These film are grander in scale, tightly directed and have a well written script with both horror and satire. Zombie is for those that have seen everything else and just want a zombie fix and like a herion addict they will take anything given too then after a while.

Rent, watch and then forget.............

Rating:
Summary: Some people are more confused than others!!!
Review: You maybe even more confused after reading the reviewer Geoffery McNulty's, go at it.

Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2 (known in the US as Zombie), was NOT made before George Romero's Dawn of the Dead, (known in Italy as Zombi), and later spruced up to make it more like Romero's. That was a first for me ever hearing that view. Romero's classic was made in 1978, and Fulci's Zombie (the US title now folks), was made in 1980, under the title in Italy as Zombi 2.

So, to set the record straight, and the folks in the know, know that this is correct, is that Fulci's Zombie (1980 - Italy: Zombi 2), was made AFTER Dawn of the Dead (1978 - Italy Zombi), to try and cash in on the sudden craze of Zombi-Dom, that the great Romero conjured up.

That said, there are 2 versions of this movie out there. This one, Zombi 2, the 2 disc set from Media Blasters label Shriek Show. And the other, just plain ole' Zombie by the excellent Blue Underground.

Both are the same exact movie. There is not more of the movie on either dvd. The picture on the Shriek Show 2 dvd set though is visibly brighter, maybe not so much clearer, but brighter, than the BU one. Both are very clean, and look excellent.

For your money, if you want extras, then this Shriek Show one is the way to go. Although I don't think it's really neccassary to hear the memories of the hairdresser on the set.

For overall picture quality, (is what I like), then the BU disc is the way to go. Not only does this disc offer the original English Mono soundtrack, it also has an Italian soundtrack w/ optional English subs as well. Both are Anamorphic 2.35:1. But overall, if it is the best looking, sounding, a/v, (audio, video), quality you're after, and not so much all the extras, then the BU single disc is the one to go with. I'm a completist, so being that, I guess it was my destiny to purchase both releases.

So remember folks, here in the good ole US of A:

- George Romero: Dawn of the Dead ( in Italy released as Zombi).

- Lucio Fulci: Zombie ( in Italy released as Zombi 2).

Hopefully this will alleviate any more confusion?

Enjoy!!!!

Rating:
Summary: zombie : Worthy of it's praise!
Review: Okay so I've seen Romero's dead trilogy about a thousand times. Who needs star wars when zombies are alot more cooler. So yeah Romero puts his cast of survivors in settings like houses, and malls, and for a special few an undergound military base. anyways all hell breaks lose, zombies create havoc and movie ends. I love Romero's zombies flick but they can get a bit formulaic. Fulci puts a different spin on the zombie film with zombie. Sure all hell breaks lose, and zombies create havoc but, there's some great storytelling done. The opening scene is probably as menacing and hair raising as any of the more famous gore scenes. Fulci also uses some great visuals. The settings are as beautiful with zombies as they are without. Sure inhabiting a mall might entertain audience fantasies, but how about tropical landscapes. I love the giallo twist put on the movie also. Rather than having social commentaries like commercialism is evil, fulci gives the film mystery by having the clues revealed in some horrific, and violent ways. The end scene is probably as memorable and classic as watching Ben die in "Night". I understand where the negative reviews may come from. Romero was great at having killer audience grabbers in his films. Zombie is like the chaotic news set scene in dawn for 3/4 of the film. The other 1/4 is killer living dead action. There's good reason why zombie is not just another film about zombies terrorizing suburbia. Great locations, cinematography, and FX keep it praise worthy.