Zombie Flesh Eaters
Zombie Flesh Eaters (aka Zombi 2, aka Zombie) is a bloody, gory zombie movie that has mixes of Voodoo zombies as well as Romero’s flesh eating type zombies. Add in the great Lucio Fulci directing and practical effects and you get a good zombie movie.
Photo Credit: Variety Film Production
Released: Jul 18, 1980
Runtime: 91 mins
Director: Lucio Fulci
Writer: Elisa Briganti, Dardano Sacchetti
Actors: Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson
PLOT
A reporter and a young woman take a boat to an isolated island to search for her missing father. What they find is an island dealing with something that is causing the dead to reanimate and feed on the living.
MY THOUGHTS
Where to begin with Zombie Flesh Eaters? With the kills of course. There are lots of sick and dying people, as well as zombies. So I came up with seven that counted or dealt with the main characters. The kills are bloody and gory. Add in that we get a lot of practical effects. The zombie makeup and the gory look is really good.
Zombie Flesh Eaters has two infamous scenes. One is the eye gouging scene. Yes, that slow scene where the zombie pulls the woman towards the broken plank. And we watch as it slowly penetrates her eye. Damn, I hate scenes dealing with the eyes, but I found myself unable to turn away from it. I guess I’m a glutton for punishment.
The second scene is the zombie versus tiger shark. Who would have thought a shark would attack a zombie? You wouldn’t think one would. I mean, the zombie is dead. But I guess sharks will eat anything. The crazy thing is they used a real tiger shark for that scene! The actor who was going to play the zombie got sick so they used the shark trainer for the scene. But who actually won this fight? The zombie took a bite out of the shark, but the shark took the zombie's arm. So is it a draw? Did the shark turn into a zombie shark? I guess we’ll never know.
The acting wasn’t the greatest. But adequate enough. Tisa Farrow (Mia Farrow’s sister) plays Anne, who goes to the island to find her missing father. Richard Johnson (of 1963 The Haunting fame) plays the desperate doctor, trying to find a cure to what is happening to the villagers.
Again, I have to mention the special effects are really good for its time. And dare I say, I like the looks of the zombies in Zombie Flesh Eaters more than George Romero’s zombies. Now, don’t come for me. I do like Romero’s zombies and movies. I just think the zombies in this movie are better looking. And that has to do with Giannetto De Rossi, the Italian sfx maestro. I mean, the zombies that are rotting, and have worms coming out of them is really gross and cool.
A mysterious boat arrives in a port in New York City. A couple of harbor patrolmen board the ship, and one is attacked and killed by a zombie. The owner of the boat can’t be found so they contact Anne and ask about her father. She decides to go to the island her father went to. Accompanying her is a reporter.
Our two protagonists pick up another couple and eventually get to the island. Unbeknownst to them, the island is suffering from some sort of disease (though the locals think it’s voodoo). People get sick, die, and then rise again, only wanting the flesh of living people.
They get to the island when the outbreak is starting to overtake the island. Anne finds out her father died and the doctor tells them to go to his house and wait for him there. But by the time they get there, the doctor's wife is dead. They get back to the hospital and find themselves trapped there with zombies outside and even inside the building. The few that survive make it back to the boat wanting to go home, but not sure what they will find.
Overall a good zombie movie with good bloody and gory scenes. There are some slow points in the movie, and the acting isn’t the greatest, but I liked what Fulci did with zombies in this movie. If you are a gorehound, fond of zombies, or love Fulci movies, definitely watch this movie.
And now for your Forever Final Girl Exclusive…Did you know?:
While shooting on location in New York City, Captain Haggerty, who plays the large bald zombie who attacks the harbor patrol at the beginning of the film, walked into CBGB's (a tiny Bowery bar which was a flourishing punk rock venue at the time) in full zombie makeup complete with splattered fake blood and mud caked all over his face and body. Due to the outrageous punk styles in those days of the other bar patrons, he was barely noticed. Even the bartender never looked twice at him.
The shark's trainer, Ramón Bravo, fed the shark right before filming as well as doping the shark up with sedatives.
Despite being called "Zombi 2", the film is not a sequel to anything. When Dawn of the Dead (1978) was released under the title "Zombi" in Italy, this film was retitled "Zombi 2" to cash in on the success of the American film. This was done by the studio without director Lucio Fulci's permission or knowledge, and he often told fans this wasn't a sequel, and that it is its own film. He was relieved to find out the film's actual title “Zombie" was kept in the American release.
As shown in trailers before the film was released, barf bags were handed out to theater moviegoers due to the unusually high amount of violence and gore for a horror film of that time.
The zombies in this film were modeled to resemble the original voodoo legends of the walking dead from Hatian and Caribbean legends of people after being supposedly reanimated from being dead. In contrast to the zombies in George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978) and other zombie films, nearly all of these zombies walk with their heads down, their eyes closed, and with their arms always at their sides. Only three zombies featured have their eyes open.
The newspaper office scene was filmed in a busy office building, and at one point the cast and crew inadvertently interrupted a meeting held by Rupert Murdoch, who angrily kicked them out.
Several of the actors playing the zombies were actually brothers. They look so similar that some people have speculated that all the zombies were played by one man.
Enzo G. Castellari was asked to direct this film early in its development, but turned it down on the basis that he was not a fan of horror and primarily made action films. However, he suggested his friend Lucio Fulci as a possible replacement.
Lucio Fulci does a cameo as the news editor in the New York newspaper office.
Check out my other reviews here: Forever Final Girl
Let’s get into the rankings:
Kills/Blood/Gore: 4.5/5
Sex/Nudity: 2.5/5
Scare factor: 3.5/5
Enjoyment factor: 5/5
My Rank: 3.8/5
IMDB: 6.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes: critics: 4.2/10 audience: 6.9/10
Letterboxd: 3.6/5