Zombie

Zombie (1979)

The film opens up very ominously with a man shooting a body wrapped in burlap and then says the famous opening line, “The boat can leave now. Tell the crew.” Cue the theme song (which is a classic and instantly recognizable) and get the movie started. Later we see the boat arrive in the NYC harbor, apparently out of control. When the cops show up to investigate a flesh-eating zombie attacks them! This gets the attention of a local newsman named Peter, who along with the daughter of the missing owner of the boat heads off to investigate what happened. Catching a ride with another couple they eventually find the island, discover the woman’s father is dead, and that the dead on rising to eat the living. Now all they can hope to do is make it back to their boat and get off the island alive. But there are a lot of hungry zombies between them and the shore.

Ah the classics. Well my friends if you haven’t ever seen Fulci’s classic zombie opus then you are really missing out. The story is simple and gets the heck out of the way so that the gore, nudity, and action can get ramped up. As a director I think that Fulci knew he could spend time developing the characters and their relationships, or he could grab the audience by the throat and never let go. He chose the latter and for me this makes for a perfect movie and one heck of an entertaining 90 plus minutes. That said the filmmakers did cast some excellent and more importantly experienced actors that knew exactly what they needed to do. These performances are one of the reasons why Zombie never comes off as cheesy or silly, like many of the other Italian zombie films do.

Lets talk about the technical stuff. Before discussing the obvious (special effects) I need to mention how beautifully this film is shot. There is some amazing scenery, and I’m not speaking about the ladies from the cast who are quite beautiful. The scenes on the boat with the ocean, as well as the shots on the island are all well light and shot with amazing precision. I’ve seen a lot of bad movies made by mediocre filmmakers and I’m telling you shooting scenes on the open water isn’t easy. The movie is also edited together really well. The famous eye scene wouldn’t be half as effective and memorable as it is if it wasn’t cut together as well as it is. With that lets go ahead and talk about the gore.

This movie has not one, but two of the most incredible and unforgettable gore scenes that you will ever see. First is the famous eye scene, which if you haven’t seen the movie or have spent the last 30 years under a rock or in Utah I won’t ruin by describing it. But anyone that doesn’t squirm a bit when they watch it has something wrong with them. The other scene isn’t as gory or stomach turning, but still is amazing. Have you ever wanted to see a zombie attack a shark? I mean a real actor in makeup grabbing a real shark! Then this is the movie for you. And get this they actually make a convincing bit with him taking a bit out of the shark! Hey wait a minute does that mean there is a zombie shark? This is one of the movies that I always show new friends who are wondering what I do every night in front of the TV. Weeks later they are still talking about the zombie vs. shark fight. Could there be a bigger compliment to a filmmaker?

This is a classic. If you consider yourself a horror fan or are just getting into the genre you need to go out right now and buy Zombie. Not just any copy of the movie either. You need to own the new Blu-Ray from my favorite company, Blue Underground. It is a 2 disc set with the 2nd disc packed with special features (in HD which is something that I wish more companies would do). They have interviews with the writers, producers, special effects team and composer Fabio Fritzzi who is responsible for one of the most memorable movie scores ever. If that weren’t enough director Guillermo del Toro spends a few minutes explaining why Zombie is his favorite movie. Seeing a guy that talented take the time to talk about one of his favorite movies is very cool. Finally we have Zombie Wasteland. This is an amazing set of interviews with stars Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson, Al Cliver and Ottaviano Dell’Acqua. Though I might be a bit biased since they shot this at my favorite convention, Cinema Wasteland. No actually it is a great feature.

Really you need to go buy this right now! I’m not kidding if you consider yourself a horror fan then stop reading and go to your favorite online retailer and order it. This is hands down the best non-Romero zombie film ever and with the new Blu-Ray it has never looked better. For more information on where you can pick this up head over to Blue Underground’s website. Check them out at http://www.blue-underground.com/ for more information.

4 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer