Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979) Review

Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)

Search for Zombie Flesh Eaters on-line and you’ll read genre fan boys rattling on about how terrific director Lucio Fulci’s gore flick is; raving about the terrific make-up effects and, the-now-over-revered zombie shark attack and previously censored splinter in the eye sequence. The same fans admit that the plotting, dialogue and acting, are all variable. Perhaps purely because of nostalgia and the movie’s notoriety for being a Video Nasty in the UK Fulci’s film has attained classic status within the genre.

As with most Italian cinematic fare Zombie Flesh Eaters (or Zombi 2 as it was known in many territories) was made to cash in on a current/recent success. In this circumstance the makers looked to capitalise on the terrific worldwide box office success of Romero’s original Dawn of the Dead. Dawn of the Dead had been released in many territories under the title Zombi so it made sense to entitle Fulci’s film Zombi 2, even though it is not connected to the original. Subsequently, due to the association to Romero’s classic film, Zombie Flesh Eaters did huge financial business, making a name for Fulci, as a genre director, in the process.

The film kick-started the Italian film industry towards making more horror films, with the likes of Zombie Creeping Flesh, and various loose sequels to Zombie Flesh Eaters cashing in and flooding the international market. Fulci capitalised on the goodwill afforded him by Zombie Flesh Eaters’ success by churning out increasingly more absurd, but arguably more appealing, flicks The Beyond and House by the Cemetery.

The film’s original 1979 UK cinema release was awarded an ‘X’ rating (which for any youngsters reading is exactly the same as an 18 rating in terms of what it stands for but always looked better on a poster) with a couple of minutes trimmed. However following the advent of the home video market boom in the early 1980’s, Zombie Flesh Eaters was considered unfit for our consumption and banned by the UK government as a ‘video nasty’. The distributors had not only released on retail the BBFC approved cinema version, but also the uncut version, which had not been certified (showing the throat torn and eye puncturing that the censors didn’t deem fit for theatrical release). The distributors were prosecuted under the “Obscene Publications Act”. It was also banned in several other countries and was not released uncut in the UK until 2005.

If I read ONE more piece about Zombie Flesh Eaters that can’t talk about how great the film is WITHOUT mentioning THAT eye-gouging scene, I’m likely to do the same to my own. YES the scene is well done and YES it still looks and plays fabulously more than three decades later, however the scene’s classic status has been earned solely by irking the tender censors of the time, otherwise surely the scene would be revered in the same way that Alien’s chest-burster scene, Psycho’s shower scene or even Scanner’s startling head exploding moment. It isn’t, as there is nothing else to it really, except that it appeals to the gore hound in us.

Anyhow, and without further ado, here’s the plot. The film opens with an apparently deserted yacht sailing into New York’s harbour. When two coastguards board the vessel, a large ass zombie munches on one of them before being shot by the other and falling into the water. Soon police are all over the yacht and trace the boat’s ownership to Anna Bowles’s (Tisa Farrow) father (Ugo Bologna).

Naturally concerned that something awful may have befallen her Dad, Anna ends up teaming up with Ian McCulloch’s reporter Peter West. They soon discover that Dad was assisting a certain Dr Menard (Richard Johnson from the original The Haunting), a famous scientist, on the Caribbean island of Matul.

With the go ahead from his newspaper, West takes Anna along with him to Matul, however they soon find out getting there is easier said than done. Many locals tend to steer clear of the location, fearing it to be cursed. Rather than that being the end of their journey, and our film, West and Anna find an American couple Brian Hull (Al Cliver) and Susan Barrett (Auretta Gay) who agree to take them to the island. Upon reaching their destination the foursome find their selves in a world of hurt and their host, Dr Menard, is desperately searching for the cause and a cure for a zombie outbreak on the island.

Before our characters reach the unsafe shores of Matul, Fulci throws in a rather unique episode that will appeal both to fans of shapely topless ladies and absurd zombie-face-off’s. Susan Barrett goes for a topless underwater swim and has a near escape from not only a shark, but also a zombie that thinks nothing of grappling with said shark for a quick bite to eat. Ramón Bravo, the shark’s trainer, explains that the reason for why he was so comfortable appearing with a tiger shark was that the shark had been drugged. It’s not difficult to see why the scene is a fan favourite.

Whereas Romero’s zombies were just extras with dark eye make-up wearing near perfect clothing, Fulci’s zombies (courtesy of renowned make-up effects genius Giannetto De Rossi) actually give you the impression that they’ve risen from the grave with skull-like visages and maggots adorning them. Gianatto Di Rossi’s zombies are divine; looking more as zombies should be rather than Romero’s rather tidy and maggot-free creations. If given the choice to die at the hands of Romero’s blue/grey creations, or Di Rossi’s frighteningly skull-like zombies, I’d feel more comfortable with Romero’s. Di Rossi’s look the real deal, which is even more impressive considering that the tight budget and time constraints he was working under.

Zombie Flesh Eaters is not perfect but it IS fun; trashy dubbing adding to its dubious charm. It lacks the serious tone that permeates the Romero zombie flicks, aiming instead for cheap thrills and still grim gore. It’s a guilty pleasure that harkens back to an age when film-makers didn’t feel the need to argue that the bloodshed on-screen was intended as a political subtext, with Zombie Flesh Eaters it was there to appeal to your baser instincts, and more importantly, your wallet and made no apology for doing so. As awkward and cumbersome as its shuffling undead, Zombie Flesh Eaters is a delight from start-to-finish. Enjoy!