L'enfer des zombies

A 1979 hit in Italy, "Zombie" has been imported by Jerry Gross to capitalize on the public's fancy for gory horror films. State-of-the-art makeup effects by Gianneto de Rossi are sure to please fans of the form, and far out-distance the dreams of '60s gore pioneer Herschel Gordon Lewis ("Blood Feast").

Pic was shot as an unauthorized followup to George A. Romero's hit "Dawn of the Dead", which was released in Europe under the title "Zombie". New pic is titled "Zombie 2" in Italy, but qualifies for original "Zombie" tag in the U. S. Story has Tisa Farrow traveling from New York to the tiny island of Matul, near St. Thomas, in search of her father, whose sailboat mysteriously returned to New York harbor with only zombies aboard. Accompanying her is an intrepid reporter Ian McCulloch (hinted comically to be working for the Post), and the handsome couple (Al Clliver and Annetta Gay) who charter their boat.

Island doctor Richard Johnson is coping with the zombie epidemic, blamed on local voodoo rites. Stealing implausibly from the mythos in Romero's "Dead" films, these zombies can be destroyed by a gunshot in the head. FIlm's open-ending sets up a sequel, as the zombies overrun New York City (staged cheaply by a radio news report and a single shot of the zombies shambling across the George Washington bridge).

Director Fulci adopts a leisurely pace and goes after daylight horror, playing off the grisly, cannibalistic attacks against picture postcard beauty of the island and New York harbor. Emphasis on blood reaches the ludicrous extreme of 400-year-old zombie conquistadores bleeding profusely when shot down, fresh from their graves.

Though the makeup's the star, Farrow is appealing as the vulnerable heroine, styled here as the spitting image of her sister Mia. Having made a dozen Italian films, British character actor has all the worried, bedraggled expressions down pat, while Ian McCulloch fails to make an impression. Pleasant nude turns by Gay and Karlatos fit with the self-imposed X rating, as Jerry Gross has copied Romero's successful marketing strategy for "Dawn of the Dead".

This is my original review written in July 1980 after a screening on Manhattan's Upper East Side.