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Zombie
Blue Underground Edition
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7
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9 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Rod
Barnett
SNEAK
PREVIEW
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DVD Release Date: July
27, 2004 |
When
a derelict sailboat drifts into New York harbor, two Harbor
Patrol officers are sent to check it out. Getting no answer
to their calls they board the vessel only to be attacked by
a hulking, deformed zombie that kills Cop A and Cop B blows
overboard with a hail of bullets. Assigned by his Gotham newspaper
boss to investigate, Brit reporter Peter West (Zombie
Holocaust's Ian McCulloch) is intrigued by the strange homicide.
He links up with the daughter of the abandoned boat's owner,
Ann Bowles (Tisa Farrow, acting both concerned and dazed). She
hasn't heard from daddy in months and his last letter was from
an island in the Antilles named Matoul. Faster than you can
say 'cheesy steel drum music' the two are on a plane, in the
tropics and negotiating with Brian (Al Cliver) and his girlfriend
Susan (Auretta Gay) for a ride on their boat. Terms are agreed
upon and the foursome sets out to find Matoul.
Meanwhile, on the island in question, we
meet Dr. Menard (a slumming Richard Johnson), who's dealing
with an epidemic of a hideous wasting disease that's wiping
out Matoul's population. A sense of doom hangs over the place
and the natives are convinced it's because of a voodoo curse
laid on the island by an evil witch doctor. Menard scoffs at
this superstitious idea but knows that something terrible is
happening. He's seen the newly dead come back to life and attack
the living with his own eyes, but he's baffled by this reanimation
in which the dead kill and eat the living. While Menard tries
to find a scientific explanation, his beautiful wife Paula (Olga
Karlatos) is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She wants
to leave Matoul but the doctor refuses so she's turned to pills
and booze to cope. With Menard watching over his patients in
the hospital Paula is left alone at home and, in a stunning
sequence, zombies attack her. This is the famous moment during
which the woman's eye is punctured by a shaft of wood in extreme
close-up. This is a revolting, horrific gore moment that has
lost little power over the years and still makes me cringe every
time.
Back on the boat our crew is having trouble
finding Matoul. In my favorite sequence in the film they take
a break so that the lovely Susan can do a little naked swimming
and underwater photography. While scuba diving around in the
sea Susan is first menaced by a shark and then attacked by a
zombie who just seems to be out for a stroll on the ocean floor!
She's able to fend off the zombie and is saved by the shark's
natural hatred of the undead. Yes, these ancient enemies are
known for their centuries-old battle for the title of Most Carnivorous
Underwater Monster. We'll have to call this skirmish a tie since
both beasties take a bite out of the other before the film cuts
back to the boat, where we learn that the propeller has been
damaged by the shark. (???) "Boy, I sure hope that nearby island
has someone that can help us. And maybe it's Matoul!" Sure enough
it is, so Dr. Menard and the shipwrecked foursome make contact
at last. The doctor relates the tale of the island's zombie
problem and tells Ann the details of her father's death by the
same disease. The newcomers are skeptical at first, but after
a visit to the doctor's house they accept reality pretty quickly
— there they witness several zombies devouring Paula and are
attacked themselves. This forces them to trek through the countryside
on foot to reach the hospital. The survivors gather there for
a Night Of The Living Dead-style zombie
siege with guns and Molotov cocktails, their only hope against
a hoard of flesh eating monsters.
Among horror fans there seems to be two ways
of thinking about Lucio Fulci's little gore classic. It's either
looked down on or even hated as a rip-off of Romero's Dawn
Of The Dead, or it's worshipped as the first in a long line
of bloody, intestine-draped shockers from Europe that revolutionized
and reshaped the genre. Regardless, the film spawned a glut
of Italian horror movies the like of which the world will never
see again; for some folks that's reason enough to love it. Personally
I've never seen the point of calling this film a rip-off of
Romero's classic as they are different in so many ways. While
it's true that only the huge European success of Dawn
allowed Zombie to be made, it takes
the reanimated-dead-hungry-for-human-flesh idea and runs off
in another direction completely. Zombie
is one of my favorite Italian horror movies and it's a virtual
template for the gore flicks that followed in its wake: short
on logic, long on atmosphere and covered in blood 'n' guts.
The European horror film would never be the same again. Of course
this niche burned itself out in a few short years, but it's
a joy to look back at these movies and revel in the madness.
At a time when any hit American film was slavishly copied in
the hope of similar box-office it's nice to see the inventiveness
on display here. The gore and violence almost springs off the
screen at you here and also in his later gore films. They're
grotesque and often disgusting as they play out like nightmares
that have their own logic and rules. Fulci was a master at establishing
a darkly atmospheric mood that seeped into every scene, and
while The Beyond was better in
this respect, it's in fine fettle here as well. Most certainly
not a film for everyone, but for the those who love Zombie
there's nothing better.
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Blue
Underground's new DVD of Zombie is
beautiful. I've never seen the movie's previous DVD release from
Anchor Bay so I can't compare them, but it looks noticeably better
than my old Roan Laser Disc. (For EC's March 2002 review of the
Anchor Bay disc, click HERE. - Ed.)
As with most of director Fulci's films the 2.35:1 letterboxed
presentation is essential to enjoying and in many cases
understanding the movie. I can only imagine trying to figure out
some of his compositions with half the image missing! BU has gone
above and beyond with the soundtrack as well, providing a 5.1,
a 2.0 Surround, and the original Mono mix in English and
in Italian. They've subtitled the Italian track in English and
it's interesting to note the very occasional differences or omissions
between the two. I've only sampled the 2.0 English track but I
was impressed by the sound effects design as this is the clearest
I've ever heard it. I actually got creeped out just by some of
the sounds during the stalking that leads up to Paula's grisly
death.
As with most BU discs this one sports some
great extras. There are theatrical trailers, TV and radio spots,
several galleries of posters and lobby cards from around the world,
as well as a talent bio of Fulci. There's also a trailer-packed
Easter egg on the Extras menu screen that's a lot of fun for fans
of the director. While I'm tempted to wish for more goodies (maybe
on a second disc), this is a great presentation of this glorious
mess of a movie and I can highly recommend it.
Another solid job from Blue Underground. 7/20/04 |
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