Jul 05 2004
Movie: “Zombie” (1979)
Zombie (1979) directed by Lucio Fulci.
Starring Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson, Al Cliver, Auretta Gay and Stefania D’Amario.
Zombie Film Rating: 
Summary: On a remote island the dead have begun rising from their graves, some of the survivors board a boat and attempt to return to civilization, while a doctor and his (reduced) staff attempt to deal with the infestation taking place on the island.
A yacht arrives in (New York?) harbour, unattended and is boarded by police. One of the officers goes below decks and is attacked by a zombie, the other officer shoots the zombie, and it falls overboard (not having received the essential “head shot” needed to kill it).
A curious journalist pursuing a story boards the yacht, now under police guard, and finds the daughter of the yachts owner on board (also looking for answers as to the whereabouts of her father).
The journalist and the scientists daughter travel across the world, and charter a boat to take them to the last know location of her father. While on the way they stop so the first mate (no pun) can do some nude skin diving (which leads to a great underwater zombie scene between the undead and a shark).
On arriving at the island, the group (now composed of the journalist, the scientists daughter, the captain of the boat and his female exhibitionist crewmember) meet with the doctor, who tells them of the small problems being experienced on the island, and suggests they stay at his house on the far side of the island.
Not too suprisingly the zombies attack the doctors residence, killing his wife in a nicely gory scene, while the group is on its way there. They arrive to find the place overrun with zombies, and then have to make their way back to the hospital.
The safety of the hospital is rather flimsy, and they group (along with the doctor and a nurse) barricade themselves within the structure, and try to hold off the zombie hordes with their few weapons and some molotov cocktails (note to self, using fire inside a wooden structure may not be the smartest plan).
Critique: Alot of the confusion with the “Zombie” series comes from its numbering, the films are not part of one coherent series, but rather often tried to cash in on the success of previous zombie films.
Romeros “Dawn of the Dead” was released as “Zombie” in europe, which was followed by this film, given the title “Zombie 2″ or “Zombi 2″ in Europe, and “Zombie” in North America.
This is a good zombie film, at least it holds together and has a logical sequence of events. The gore is typical of Fulcis style, and while not over the top (except maybe the eyeball scene) is entirely sufficient for this type of film.
The dubbing is horrible, but actually adds to the entertainment of the film…. all in all one of my favorite zombie movies.