Zombie-Movie Review-Lucio Fulci

Zombie

Dir. Lucio Fulci
Italy, 1979
35mm 98 min.

Zombie ushered in Fulci's peak period (in terms of popularity -- although I much prefer his earlier gialli) that would see him become an enfant-terrible of the British video nasties list and the most beloved of Italian gore directors.

With a bare-bones story that would be built upon in the later The Beyond (1981), a group of travellers take a pit stop on a remote tropical island only to discover that it is overrun with hungry, butt-ugly zombies. "We Are Going To Eat You", the posters promised, and Gianetto de Rossi's gore FX make sure that the buffet is a spectacle unlike any other.

Among the film's many highlights are the now-legendary 14-inch-splinter-through-the-eye sequence, the underwater zombie/shark combat, and the obligatory Italian exploitation dubbing by the guy who would be forever known as "the guy who did Al Cliver's voice in Zombie". For midnight movie trash, it don't get better than this.

Kier-La Janisse

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