Zombi 2 was
released as Zombie in America. The 1979 film is not, however, a sequel to Zombi, which was the overseas title for Dawn of the Dead. It also went by Island of the Living Dead, Zombie
Island, Woodoo, and Zombie Flesh-Eaters. Confused yet?
Don’t be. Lucio Fulci’s film is
a classic of zombie cinema and it is so over the top that it has inspired bands
and has had scenes used in commercials.
What would expect from a movie whose tagline is “We Are Going to Eat
You”?
The movie opens with an apparently abandoned yacht showing
up in a New York harbor. There’s really
a zombie aboard, however, and it kills a cop.
Soon after the attack, the daughter of the yacht’s owner and a reporter
are on their way to an island to find out just how all this happened. It turns out that the island’s dead are zombies
and after surviving their onslaught, the two take a zombie back to New York to
prove their story. It’s a little too
late, however. The cop who was attacked has
turned into a zombie himself and the undead are taking a chunk out of the Big
Apple.
The film has two really memorable scenes. The first is an underwater piece where a
zombie fights a shark. No. You didn’t read that wrong. It’s a pretty cool moment in zombie cinema
history. The other scene involves a
woman who is attacked by zombies who are beating their way through a door to
get at her. One zombie grabs the back of
her head through a hole in the door and slowly starts to pull her toward
him. The problem? There’s a massive splinter pointed right at
her eye. The ensuing eyeball violence is
as disgusting as it is tension filled.
Fulci is no stranger to horror films, and this is Fulci at
the peak of his game. From the opening
shots of the zombie on the yacht to the hordes of undead in New York, this
movie does almost everything right.
Yeah, it is corny in places and the acting is what you’d expect from a
Fulci film, but he is considered a master for a reason. If you are a zombie fan (and these days it is
the in thing to be – like eating organic and being bisexual), and you haven’t
seen this … well, you aren’t really a zombie fan.
Mandatory FTC Disclaimer: I did not receive this film to review, and if you click on a link I may earn a commission.
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