Zombie

Rating:
Summary: Repetitive and gruesome; solely for gore aficionados.
Review: A word to the wise: anyone preparing to watch Lucio Fulci's gore-infested splatter flick "Zombie" may want to keep a couple of trash bags ready in case you feel the need to spew. Laugh if you will at this warning, but don't dare say you weren't informed.

Like so many films from Italian filmmakers, "Zombie" follows a similar path where one can expect a plethora of bloodshed and violent murder, all stitched to a story that exists solely for its makeup effects. Add to that a cast of B-list and unknown actors, and English dubbing that never fits the movement of the characters' mouths, and you have a formula for yet another cheesy horror movie that is sure to become (and has become) a cult classic.

It opens with the obligatory suspense setup, in which an unmanned sailboat meanders aimlessly throughout New York harbor. As the Coast Guard investigates, a strange, corpse-like creature rips out one officer's throat before he is shot by the second, falling into the water Is he really dead? Can the undead even be killed?

Getting back on track, Ann Bowles (Tisa Farrow) the daughter of the boat's owner, becomes worrisome when told that her father was not on board the vessel; after crossing paths with reporter Peter West (Ian McCulloch), the two embark on a journey to Matul, a small, uncharted Caribbean island where a Dr. Menard (Richard Johnson) has been performing tests on fatally diseased patients from a small village.

The "zombie phenomenon," as it is dubbed by Menard, is never really explained in detail. First we are informed that the villagers suffer from some form of widespread disease. Down the road, the movie changes course, turning to elements of voodoo and witchcraft; though this seems the more likely path, it still remains uncertain. And while it is of little importance, it does tend to nag one if thought about in excess.

And speaking of excess, you may not find a collection of gore as shocking and gruesome as what "Zombie" has to offer. Once on the island, Ann and Peter, along with shipmates Brian and Susan, seek out Menard to inquire about Ann's missing father, whom they are told died of the disease. All the while, corpses are rising out of the ground, from the hospital beds in a converted church, to an old Spanish burial ground, ready to take a bite out of anything that lives and breathes.

Some of these images are hard to shake from memory: in one of the movie's most famed scenes, a victim is impaled through her eyeball by a wooden splinter. Later, we return to this gruesome scene to witness various zombies chowing down on her remains. Despite their rancid appearance, the makeup is undoubtedly realistic, and provides for a chilling shock factor that does evoke a slight degree of suspense.

However, if you've seen one attack, you've seen them all. From there on, it's mainly a vomitorium of zombies taking large bites out of victims' throats, arms and legs, all of which is propagated by massive amounts of dark, gushing blood. I hate to say it, but it does tend to get old after some time, and as the movie begins to reach its climax, culminating in a showdown where the remaining survivors are trapped in the hospital surrounded by zombies, the predictability shatters the energy.

For horror buffs and gore aficionados, "Zombie" is a must-see. For those familiar with the works of George Romero and the great Dario Argento, Fulci's film will seem like just another exercise in repellant horror, a copycat film that is less appealing and less entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: Unrelentless, Fierce & Distasteful- GOREHOUND heaven ! ! !
Review: A young woman goes searching for her missing father in a mysterious unmapped island in the Caribbean. There is only one slight problem, a doctor's experiments have caused the dead to rise from their white, sandy, tropical graves in search for food and you can guess what they like to eat- lobster it AIN'T.

She should have just stayed home.

ZOMBIE qualifies as one of Fulci's better films. The zombie make-up is well done (unlike CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD), the tropical location is beautiful and original (at least for a zombie flick) and the gore sequences are spectacular. Speaking of the gore, ZOMBIE does have some extremely unpleasant scenes of THROAT, FACE and ARM-MUNCHING and I'm not even going to get into the infamous eyeball scene. Too bad it had to happen to such a lovely lady- these zombie's don't discriminate folks.

Panned by critics, this film has managed to rise above the bad press to become one of the more popular zombie flicks. What I can't understand is why a film like Fulci's ZOMBIE is universally critically slammed all the while Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD is praised and bestowed with positive feedback. I know there's major differences between the 2 films as far as location, story and make-up are concerned but let's be honest here, they're both just zombie flicks loaded with gore and gore and even more GORE. I fail to see DAWNS superiority as a film. Having seen both films, I have to say ZOMBIE moves at a much better pace, mainly due to the fact that it's much shorter. That said, ZOMBIE does take a pretty long time in getting the action started but when it get's moving, those with weak stomachs might not be able to handle it.

NOT for the squimish, NOT for the faint-hearted, ZOMBIE will definately please ZOMBIE/GORE fans everywhere. For those unfamiliar with Fulci, ZOMBIE is a pretty good film to start with. It's not Gone With The Wind but for those morbid individuals who crave this sort of flesh-ripping unpleasantness, it come's pretty close.

Rating:
Summary: ZOMBIE
Review: EVERYTHING A ZOMBIE MOVIE SHOULD BE! VERY GORY AND SCARY. ONE OF THE BEST ZOMBIE FLICKS AROUND.NICE AND MOODY FEELING.DEFINITELY WORTH THE PURCHASE. GET IT!!!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Brain..It's whats for dinner
Review: First off I give this movie 4 stars for a zombie flick. By regular mainstream movie standards this is probably a 1 or 2 star movie, depending on how easily offended you are. But as far as Horror/Zombie movies go, ZOMBIE is the best I've ever seen. The film has some really excellent cinematography, which really surprised me. The story is nothing ultra innovative but it's got some nice additions to the standard zombies come to life and eat people plot. The gore is not as over the top cheesy like "Bad Taste" or "Evil Dead" but there is plenty of blood and chunks of people everywhere. Also there is some boobage for those who like their movies naked. The movie as a whole has many cool scenes (Zombie vs. Shark is much neater than I thought it would be, not even in the dorky sense. I never thought a Zombie fighting a shark could be radical, but here we are)
The Video on the disc is kinda washed out and grainy. It's not really any better than a vhs copy. At points there are large patches of distorted color, and the blacks are actually dark blue. But this actually kinda adds to the movie and gives it more charm than if the film had been digitally restored. It is widescreen. The Audio isn't spectacular but isn't bad. Everything is heard very easily from voices to the bitchin' Zombie attack beat that appears throughout the film. The disc also includes TV and Radio Commercials and a commentary, which I haven't listened to.
Overall if you even remotely like Zombie movies, or cheesy horror movies, then you should already own this film. It's almost to good to be a B-horror movie, and I'm sure that will offend many fans. A surprisingly well-acted and well-filmed movie, Zombie has some great special effects and fight scene. Well Worth the Price of admission for any Gory movie fan.

Rating:
Summary: What Zombie Movies Should Be Like
Review: Lucio Fulci nailed it with 'Zombie'. It is the quintessential zombie film. Pay no attention to the mindless critics who would have you believe this is a lame rip-off of 'Dawn of the Dead'. As a pure zombie film, it beats 'DOTD' in all aspects. The rip-off theory comes from the simple fact that distributors attempted to present 'Zombie' as a sequel to 'DOTD' in Europe, in an attempt to cash in on the success of 'DOTD'. Otherwise, it doesn't remotely resemble 'DOTD'.

Fulci's zombies are digusting, putrid, decaying, mangled corpses, which is what fans of the genre desire. They are simply the best representations of zombies on film. You won't get any of Romero's 'powder-blue' zombies in this film. The make-up & special effects are surprisingly good for a 1979 film. The zombie vs. shark sequence is great! The plot is very simple & effective: a missing doctor's crewless sailboat leads his daughter & a reporter to the remote island of Matoull, in the Antilles. The island is cursed, and soon zombies are closing in on all residents. The recently-dead are returning to life, as do some other 'surprise' guests of Matoull. Time is running out, and there's nowhere to run. Pretty frightening plot, if you think about it. Flesh-craving zombies aggressively seeking out every living being on a remote island, with a fittingly apocalyptic ending.

There's plenty of Fulci's trademark over-the-top gore, but it is spaced out well-enough, as are the zombies that appear onscreen, so as not to become the focal point. Fulci creates a genuinely creepy, barren atmosphere on the island as the film progresses. It seems to be is style to move things along a bit slowly, but it in no way hinders the film. It's not a love story, it's not about the characters, it's a zombie flick and it triumphs as such. You'll enjoy this film more each time you watch it.

I've seen many reviewers here label Lucio Fulci a hack, while heaping praise on the likes of Dario Argento. I must say it's a bit confusing. Fulci presents a much more enjoyable experience than anything I've seen by Argento. Fulci's work never comes off as pretentious,or taking itself too seriously, or 'too brilliant for the viewer to understand'. His work is far superior to that of Argento's 'arthouse' unwatchable trash. If you believe the hype about Argento and the panning of Fulci, you are certainly missing the superior horror experience.

Rating:
Summary: We are going to eat you!
Review: Searching for her missing father, Ann Bolt (Tisa Farrow) is accompanied by investigative journalist Peter West (Ian McCulloch) and their trail leads them to an uncharted island where one Dr. Menard (Richard Johnson) studies flesh eating zombies. Accompanied by two others whose boat they chartered (Al Cliver & Auretta Gay) they now must fight for survival as the zombies quickly increase in number and start attacking the living. Imitation George Romero film has plenty of violence that's sure to curl your toes, so be prepared. There's also an underwater attack by a zombie (and the girl is rescued by a shark!) as well as a scene where a jagged piece of wood is driven into a woman's eye. As I said, be prepared. Nothing really new here, but fans of the "walking dead" genre should be pleased. The DVD includes TV, theatrical, and radio spots as well as commentary by actor Ian McCulloch.

Rating:
Summary: I have revised my opinion of this movie
Review: The first few times I saw this film ,I hated it. I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about,but I really wanted to see this film as others saw it(only because so many people love it). So,it was a really hot,dark evening with a thunderstorm threatening to knock the power out,and I was really bored and regretting not buying Torso at the mall earlier, so I pulled out my copy of Zombie and set out to watch it. Lo and behold, I was very entertained and managed to scare myself silly(storms and Italian horror movies make a scary combination). The beginning is somewhat slow, but does a good job setting up the story. There's a zombie here, a zombie there,just enough to show you something's up. By the time they get to the island,though,things really start heating up. All of a sudden,there's zombies everywhere, and these aren't the shambling, blue-skinned ghouls of Dawn of the Dead. These are friggin nasty looking suckers. They have worms crawling through their eye sockets,and their flesh is all rotted and hanging from their bodies. Fulci got the throat-rippings right too, with pulsing blood spurting all over the place. The gore is absolutely superb,especially for 1979, and makes Dawn(another film I was never fond of) look like a sunday school picnic. That said, many people will be bound to hate this film. Some will be bored, some will be nauseated, and some will just laugh. But it's still worth checking out, and if you hate it, you can always scare your friends with it(I have a friend who is deathly afraid of zombies;I already showed her Dawn and Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things,now this...hehe...fun...). I also love Italian horror now, I have no clue why I said before that I didn't (bad brain...bad! Lying is bad, you get a spanking now...hehe... :)).

Rating:
Summary: THE VERY VERY BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 100.000.000 STARS!!!!!!!!!
Review: THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST ZOMBIE FLICK EVER MADE IN MY OPINION!!!! I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS 25TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION 2 DISC SET TO BE RELEASED ITS ABOUT TIME THIS FLICK GETS THE RESPECT IT DESERVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THERE IS NOT MUCH ELSE TO SAY EXCEPT THAT FULCI IS GOD!!!!!!!!! later on fellow horror fans!!!

Rating:
Summary: A Good Zombie Movie
Review: Warning: Spoilers

I found Zombie to be a pretty good and enjoyable Zombie movie that I thought was no where near as bad as it's reputation suggested. The plot involves a young woman teaming up with a nosy newspaper reporter to find out what happened to her father on a creepy island called Matuul. When they arrive on the island with two other people, they meet Dr. Menard, a weird scientist who doesn't believe in Voodoo but does kind of believe in Zombies, and he better, because the island happens to be crawling with them! The movie takes place at an island for the most part and it deals a lot with Voodoo, which was often used to bring dead people back to life. The Zombies in this film are some of the BEST and most realistic I've ever seen, and they look way cool and way nasty. The way they are bought back to life (probably by Voodoo) is believeable and oftentimes I really thought these Zombies were real! Plus the movie has a GREAT musical score, a lot of creepy scenes, nice sets and locations (the island was a pretty good setting for a Zombie movie) and the gore is VERY disgusting and looks very real. Punctured Eyeballs, Ripped Throats, Exploding Heads, Oozing Blood, gorehounds will find a lot to like and this movie is definitely not for kids and those who are squeamish. I also liked the finale (which was very exciting) and the ending is super-cool, and the infamous Shark scene (although short) is a riot. Overall, while Zombie is no Night Of The Living Dead, it's a pretty good Zombie movie overall. It's a little slow and boring at times but picks up and it has a lot of good moments. See this film if your looking for a good (and creepy and gory) Horror movie.

Rating:
Summary: AWESOME ZOMBIE FLICK!!!
Review: When you think of the all time great zombie movies George A Romero's trilogy "Night of the Living Dead" , "Dawn of the Dead" and "Day of the Dead" most likely come to mind. Lucio Fulci's "Zombie", which has been called a sequel to the above mentioned "Dawn of the Dead", doesn't seem to be as popular and not as well known (at least around here) as Romero's trilogy. However, I believe Zombie is almost as good as the above mentioned

Plot is simple; Tisa Farrow plays Ann Bowles, when Ann discovers her father's boat to be abandoned in the New York Harbor her and reporter Peter West(Ian McCulloch) go searching for answers. Their search takes them to the small island of Matool where an unknown virus makes the dead stand up and walk, and of course they do much more than just walk. The plot is so simple yet extremely effective. The movie does move a bit slowly and the acting isn't very impressive but everything that makes a great horror movie is presented, creepy score, spooky elements, extreme gore and the most realistic, best looking zombies of any zombie movie I've ever seen.

This was only the second Fulci film I've seen but from seeing those two movies and reading other reviews it's easy to see a couple of Fulci's trademarks, bad dubbing and extreme gore. The killing scenes were awesome!! A big splinter through an eyeball, zombies feasting on dead woman's guts (that's pretty nasty!) and my favorite, a zombie tearing at the jugular of a woman as blood squirts out and shoots everywhere. If you haven't seen this movie yet and your a fan of horror movies add this one to your collection!!