User reviews

Put them together and you get a completely mindless movie! Yes, the title of this film is completely misleading (the Zombie Holocaust one) as when I hear it, I imagine hordes of zombies rampaging the countryside. Instead, what we mainly get is a cannibal horror film fused together with a mad doctor film with a dash of zombies in it for taste. It shares a lot of similarities to Lucio Fulci's Zombie movie too as it features Ian McCulloch and another actor from that film and it appears to be on the exact same island! When they first drive to the one doctor's house they go down a street and it looks exactly like a scene out of Zombie, heck the donkey may have even been in Zombie. They depart in terms of plot; however, as this one does not focus on the zombie aspect. Well, it does not really focus on anything, as nothing anyone in this film does makes much sense. I think they just tried to fuse to many sub genres together without a complete script or something.

The story of this one is the weakest element of the film, because at times it almost seems like there is none. There are mutilations in a hospital in New York and it is soon learned that it is the work of a cannibal. Other cannibals turn up here and there because somehow they can just get jobs at hospitals. A group of four people travel to an island for reasons that are really no one's business, because them going makes absolutely no sense. They meet a doctor who provides them with some yummy looking lemonade and then they are off to another island where the cannibals live. The group which now includes three very expendable helpers and another dude soon find themselves under assail from the cannibals who get scared by zombies going "Ah" and nearly everyone is killed, but the two survivors decide to try and figure out the mystery even though it literally accomplishes nothing.

The film moves at a rather fast pace and it features some good Italian splatter and some good nudity too. That makes the film at least watchable, but the plot is so horrendously bad that I just cannot score it any higher. Some of the effects are rather horrible too, as at one point one of the cannibals is caught in New York and he proceeds to jump out a window. It is obviously a mannequin and when it impacts the ground, its arm pops off! I realize they may not want to redo the scene, but they could have at least jump cut and edited that part out! The mad doctor is the only person who seems to know what he is doing, but making a race of ineffective zombies seems kind of a waste of time. Just too much bad in this one to overcome even with the nice gore and very hot blond.

So this film is a combination film, but I think they just tried to do too much. At times it is a cannibal film, at other a mad doctor and then a bit of zombies in there for effect. Heck, the scenes where the blond undress could be considered soft core porn because the music is right out of one! They just tried to do much, and as I have said, I just do not think they had fully completed script to go along with it all. Though another interesting aspect of the film is its similarities to Zombie; however, that one is the superior film as it makes a bit more sense why things are happening and why they go to the island. Here, it just makes no sense at all.

I first saw this in the late 80s on a vhs. Revisited it recently. Found the film very shocking then due to the gore but aft revisiting it, found it to be boring cos almost for 34 mins nothing happens. We have lots of nudity by Alexandra Delli Colli, who in her short career is noted for the kinky female from New York Ripper. In this movie, there is nothing new except for the gore. Even the plot is stale - A team of scientists travel to a remote island aft witnessing cannibalism in various city hospitals by immigrants from a particular island. On the island, the team is shocked to come across cannibals n zombies. The make up effects of the zombies is lol. Jus plain human in torn, raggy clothes. Till now, i haven't been able to fathom how can u pierce someone's belly by a bamboo. In this movie, a female falls into a trapping pit laden with pointed sticks but survives.

One thing I always point out about these Cannibal flicks is that, besides the disturbing subject matter and ferocious gore, these films are also usually have really interesting, dare I say fascinating stories. That's right. Quality B-movies do exist, after all. However, Zombi Holocaust is not one of them. It looks like your stuck with just the gore. I think it'll be fine. I mean, just because this one doesn't hold up against the almighty Cannibal Ferox and Cannibal Holocaust, doesn't necessarily mean it's not worth your time. And really. Who wouldn't want a film called Zombi Holocaust in their Horror collection? Not I.

Besides what I've already told you, the one thing you might want to consider, going in to this film, is that it's a Zombie movie. I suppose you already had that figured out. But still, Zombi Holocaust does include cannibals, as well as a jungle. Best of both worlds? More like a touch of both worlds. Nothing groundbreaking from either side of the fence. And on top of all that, Zombi Holocaust is also a mad scientist flick. We start out at a hospital, where corpses are being mutilated. Eventually, a cannibal is caught in the act. I guess it was shame that drove the poor guy to unconvincingly jumping out the window. Obviously, tomfoolery like this is not something you'd want going on at your local hospital. Curiosity gets the best of Ian McCullough and some hot chick. For some reason, this hospital mystery lies somewhere in the Carribbean. A mad doctor is slowly turning a tribe of cannibals into zombies. Zombies who don't really do much of anything, as the cannibals are the only ones willing to start trouble. Whatever. It's a movie. So, this guy must be stopped, right? And in case you're wondering, all that doesn't turn out nearly as entertaining as it sounds. Ultimately, if you're a fan of such classics as Burial Ground and Jungle Holocaust, I see no reason why you shouldn't get a kick out of Zombi Holocaust, at least out of sheer principle. Well, unless you're not too big on stupid movies with ridiculous dialogue, and awful acting. In that case, you may want to stay clear of this one. 7/10

Another film known by many names (eight, to be precise, that IMDB has been able to track down), Zombi Holocaust is probably best known by American cult-film devotees as Dr. Butcher, MD. I ended up picking this one up because there are a rather large number of crossovers with Lucio Fulci's brilliant splatterfest Zombie-- writer Fabrizio DeAngelis was one of the producers of Fulci's film, male lead Ian McCulloch was the lead in Zombie, character actor Dakkar plays a native guide in both, etc. (Most interesting, one of the film's actors, Walter Patriarca, was Zombie's costume designer. Go figger.)

Simple plot, which should sound familiar to anyone who's seen Fulci's film; a number of deaths occur in New York City, and Ian McCollouch, a beautiful sidekick, and two of their pals end up going to a remote Caribbean island where there's an English-speaking doctor who treats the natives. Sound familiar?

For about the first forty-five minutes of this film, I was too busy thinking that it was exactly like Zombie to be impressed. (No one, these days, is sure which film came out first, and most people also draw parallels to another classic of the genre that came out the same year, Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust.) Then Ian McCollouch disposes of a zombie with a motorboat motor, and suddenly things started getting a whole lot more fun. Rather like The Evil Dead, this is a film where there's a whole lot of setup (though Raimi pulled it off miles better), but when the gore starts, the director lays it on thick, fast, and ugly. And while death-by-propeller is probably the funniest and nastiest scene in the film, there's certainly more than enough blood flowing/spraying/dripping/being drunk/etc. to please most fans of hardcore horror. Pound for pound, though, in comparison to Zombie, the latter stands up as the better film. As one reviewer put it, "Fulci... might have had the sauce, but [he] passed on the cheese." Fulci's obsessive attention to detail, better scriptwriting, and stunning score give Fulci the edge over Girolami. But man, it's fun to be the judge. ***

At a hospital happens strange deaths related with canníbal practices of immigrants from remote locations . That's why an expedition formed by Doctor Ian McCulloch , Alexandra Delli Colli and a reporter : Sherry Buchanan travel to East Indians, arriving in a particular island . There they meet a rare scientist undergoing weird experiments and doing his own research . Along the way , they come across bizarre people , ghastly incidents , a tribe of cannibals who attack them and living dead too.

Extremely gory film with thrils , chills , violence and lots of gore and blood, in fact , it isn't recommended for the faint-hearted . This bloody film follows the ordinary plot about a mad doctor operating weird experiments that go wrong , alongside sadistic cannibal natives and hungry zombies . Stars the Scottish Ian McCulloch as a stubborn Doctor , Sherry Buchanan as a journalist and Alexandra Delli Colli who married cameraman Tonino Delli Colli and played a few films as Gayarre and Fulci's New York Ripper. While Donald O'Brien is the mad doctor with dark purports that will stop at nothing to bring to life his fantastic experiments and at whatever cost .

The motion picture was regular but professionally Marino Girolami , under pseudonym Frank Martin. He was a prolific craftsman who wrote and directed several films from the 50s to the 80s . He was father of director Enzo G Castelari and actor Ennio Girilami who often played his movies . Marino directed all kinds of genres as Peplum, Spaghetti Western , Euro Spy , Sex Comedy , Poliziesco , terror and providing acceptable films , getting boxoffice enough . As he directed Spaghetti Westerns : Bullets and the flesh , Reverend Colt , Badmen of the West , two Ringos from Texas , God was in the West too at one time . Poliziesco and Thriller : Rome Violent , The other side of violence , Eros and Thanatos , African Story , A Special Cop in action . Peplum : Warth of Achilles . Comedy : Las Otoñales, Casanova Jekill , Ragazza Vía Veneto, Ferragosto in Bikini , among others .

Dr. Obrero (Dan O' Brien) is experimenting on corpses on a remote Island. Well, an expedition team (which includes Zombi 2's Ian McCulloch) ends up on the island-and runs into the Docotor, who has some plans-as well as cannibals and zombies-in store for them.

Titled "Dr Butcher M.D." when it came to video in the 80's, "Zombie Holocaust" is an interesting-and fun-blend of two different kinds of Italian Gore flicks: The Italian Zombie movie, and the Italian Cannibal movie-only without any of the animal torture and mutilation of the later.

The movie has some nice gore (surgical and otherwise-including an awesome motorboat engine to the head death) and nudity to liven things up, as well as a fun score and tons of camp. Also, unlike other Italian gore flicks of the time, the movie features a little intentional humor to go with it ("The patients screaming disturbed me, performed removal of vocal chords"-that line always gets me), which after the downbeat feeling of Fulci's zombie movies, is something of a breath of undead air. It's nice to see an Italian gore flick that doesn't take itself too seriously for a change.

If there is any problem, it's that the zombie aspect feels rather underplayed, as they aren't used for much. Sure, there's that aforementioned death by boat motor, but they don't do a whole lot to threaten the team, as the cannibals are more of a threat. Still, "Zombie Holocaust" is a blast of exploitation that fans of over the top Italian Horror might enjoy. I know I did.

In New York, body parts are missing in a hospital where Dr. Dreylock (Walter Patriarca) teaches anatomy. When one cannibal worker is killed after taking the heart of a corpse, Dr. Dreylock's assistant and anthropologist Lori Ridgeway (Alexandra Delli Colli) recognizes the signal of a tribe in the Moluccas Island that worships the god Kito on his body. Dr. Peter Chandler (Ian McCulloch) organizes an expedition to Moluccas with his assistant George Harper (Peter O'Neal) and invites Lori and the journalist Susan Kelly (Sherry Buchanan) to travel with him. They meet Doctor Obrero (Donald O'Brien) that asks his servant Molotto (Dakar) to guide the group to Moluccas. Once in the island, they are hunted by hunger cannibals and zombies, and they find a dark secret about the spot.

"Zombi Holocaust" is a hilarious and messy trash movie, with a lame story, awful screenplay and edition and terrible acting. The lead female character is a complete mess with her doctorate in medicine and also in anthropology, performed by the sexy Alexandra Delli Colli that is shot naked most of the time without any reason. The lead male character is performed by the ham actor Ian McCulloch that makes the story hilarious with his ridiculous acting. In spite of the countless flaws and the awful edition, this forgettable movie is cult for many viewers and entertaining. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

A splatter classic, Marino Girolami's "Zombi Holocaust" of 1980 doesn't scant with blood and gore. A true B-movie and pure exploitation, this movie is probably not high art, however, I don't suppose that anybody who is about to watch a movie entitled "Zombie Holocaust" is gonna expect Citizen Kane.

After several mutilations of corpses in the morgue of a New York hospital, and the appearance of a mysterious cannibal sign, a group of people, amongst them a beautiful female doctor and a bitchy journalist, decide to go on an expedition to a tropical island, where they expect to find out about the sign's origin. This is, of course, not a very good idea. Not only is the island inhabited by cannibals, but it is also haunted by the living dead.

One of the classic Italian splatter flicks, "Zombi Holocaust", is a fun and entertaining, although not very thrilling movie, that mainly concentrates on the enormous amounts of blood and gore and on constant very graphical violence. The acting in this movie differs. As a huge fan of Spaghetti Westerns, I found it cool to see Donal O'Brien, who delivers a great performance as a mad scientist in this, in a non-western role. The Italian and English title is maybe not the best to describe the movie, since its the Cannibals, and not the Zombies who kill the most people. The German title "Zombies Unter Kannibalen" ("Zombies Amongst Cannibals") is probably better to describe the film's content.

All things considered, "Zombie Holocaust" is a highly entertaining and very bloody Gorefest that fans of the Cannibal subgenre should not miss. Entertainment guaranteed!

*spoilers within* There's a couple good show-stopping though disappointing gore effects in this one. Much like CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD, the zombies and the gore don't really get the screen time you'd expect. In fact, the zombies don't even show up until 60% into the film and then appear sparingly with never more than 2 in one shot at a time. They never actually harm anyone, don't move at all like zombies (except in a couple shots), actually follow the mad doctor's orders obediently, and don't even have make-up on besides on their faces. Those looking for similar hi-jinx to those on parade in Lucio Fulci's gore-classic ZOMBIE will be totally baffled here.

What this film DOES have though are some wonderfully unintentional hilarity - the best of which is the long, LONG shot of Ian McCulloch talking to Dr. Obero (Donal O'Brien) outside the church. O'Brien says "there's a rubber dingy up on the coast to take you off the island" to which Ian looks at him, then ponders off into space for a solid 20 seconds, only to say "but..." as though he's a total moron! The editor really dropped the ball with that one. Another great part comes early on with a man jumping out of a window and falling 20 stories to his doom, and when he hits the ground, the mannequin in his place loses an arm. Cut to dead guy on floor, and his arm is still attached.

The most questionable scene has to be the whole ending of the movie where Dr. Obrero looks to be just as puzzled as the audience. Why are the natives suddenly attacking? Why doesn't he do anything? ...and WHY do they start cannibalizing a Zombie??? yuck! Watch ZOMBIE, THE BEYOND, ZOMBI 3, or even NIGHTMARE CITY instead. More zombies, better direction, and just plain better movies overall.

Anime fans may recognize the voices of Ed Mannix as Dr. Obrero, and Gregory Snegoff as George.

One of those 'so bad it's good' productions, Zombie holocaust has to be seen to be believed. (And even then you still won't believe it). The only thing the film has going for it are it's tragically inept gore 'effects' so make sure you see an uncut version. Not so much a zombie movie as a cannibal movie, the film 'stars' Italian exploitation fave Ian Mcculloch as some kind of doctor sent to investigate a strange tropical island, where he finds the requisite mad doctor performing experiments on the locals. He is pleased to see mcculloch though, as he is "anxious to experiment on a white male brain". If you want serious horror look elsewhere, but if you love cheesy movies go ahead and jump right on in.

My review was written in May 1982 after a screening on Manhattan's 42nd St.:

"Dr. Butcher M. D." is the U. S. release (with some post-production alterations) of a 1980 Italian film originally titled "Queen of the Cannibals" and geared towards the explicit gore market. Canny marketing by Terry Levene (the M. D. of the title is spelled out as "Medical Deviate" on posters and ads) should attract fans who like their horror of the butcher-shop variety.

Filmmaker Frank Martin (an Italo Western vet who uses an Anglicized nom de film) pilots an absurd plot as an excuse to pour on the gore. Pic opens with some Manhattan-locationed scenes of Asiatics robbing hearts from corpses in local morgues. A doctor-anthropologist Lori Ridgway (Alexandra Cole) has her ceremonial knife stolen from her collection, and matching its inscription with the tattoos and the corpse-robbers, she deduces that native rites involving human sacrifices and cannibalism are in effect. She and a scientist (Ian McCulloch) mount an expedition to the Pacific island of Kito to investigate the local sect.

On the island their party encounters Dr. Abrera (aka Dr. Butcher, played by Donald O'Brian), a mad scientist in the Dr. Moreau tradition, whose work in human transplants has created many disfigured zombie-like people. Heroes also have to contend with numerous natives who are cannibals and very aggressive. They kidnap Lori, apply body paint and prepare her for sacrifice to their gods. She's saved when the cannibals hail her as a magical being, while McCulloch escapes from the operating table to wipe out (with the cannibals' aid) Dr. Butcher and his henchmen.

Gore makeup is not very realistic, but the plentiful dismemberments, scalpings and acts of cannibalism on camera will be appreciated by steady fans of this sort of thing, e.g., patrons of the 1980 Jerry Gross release "Zombie", which also starred Ian McCulloch. Acting is wooden, with McCulloch and Alexandra Cole almost comically blase as they stroll along ignoring island terrors. Biggest crowd-pleaser occurs when McCulloch jabs an aggressor in the face with a handy outboard motor. Blonde Cole displays a magnificent undraped (and painted) body for the camera in the tradition of Ursula Andress ("Slave of the Cannibal God") and Bo Derek ("Tarzan, the Ape Man").

Had to write in response to the many posts here claiming that this film is "great fun", and should be seen by anybody who liked Fulci's "Zombie". First of all, Zombie Holocaust is in no way on a par with Fulci's film, it's not even close. Fulci's Zombie had some cheese, but it also had some pretty decent production values, generally good effects, great make-up, convincing zombies, and was always entertaining. This film is slow and boring, misleading (there's actually very little zombie action, it's mostly about cannibals), and just generally stupid and amateurish. As far as the gore goes, this doesn't offer nearly the same outlandish gruesomeness as Fulci's film, the gore effects are quite fake-looking and silly, and there is never a moment of real tension, whereas Fulci does manage to achieve some suspense. Disappointing in a major way, not even really fun on the so-bad-it's-good level. Don't be taken in by the references to Fulci's zombie films, real horror fans will only laugh at this film (and not in the good way) and be bored.

"Zombie Holocaust" has a little bit of charm and an idea of what it's going for, but a lot of (or almost all of it) the atmosphere is sacrificed because of the gore. But even with the gore, "Zombie Holocaust" is a very boring movie with few interesting scenes sprinkled throughout the whole thing and the glorious beauty of Alexandra Delli Colli whose nude scenes are one of the rare moments of joy in this movie. Because of that, I can't give this movie a higher score than 5.5/10! Only the most hardcore fans of B movies and horror movies will find something to like here, others should avoid it...

Zombi Holocaust is one of the biggest pleasant surprises I purchased in a long time. And that's a really positive thing to say because you probably know this kind of horror films...Fully made and produced in Italy in the early 80's, these movies have like a dozen alternate titles and versions. Tons of similar movies like this were made during this decade but most of them only seem promising but disappoint in the end. Zombi Holocaust doesn't !! This movie is an extremely enjoyable mixture of all kind of interesting and nasty horror topics. Okay, the movie is called "Zombi" Holocaust and there ARE a few zombies to detect, but Zombie Holocaust is sooooo much more than that !!

Actually, the plot of Zombie Holocaust is about a mad scientist / doctor who uses a tribe of cannibals to perform medical experiments on. Due to those experiments, the aborigines become zombies. Now, in that simple plot summary, we've had ZOMBIES, CANNIBALS and freakin' MAD DOCTORS !!! I don't know about you, but to me that already sounds like every fan's dream. And I can assure you that - if you have the privilege to watch the fully uncut version like I did - you'll have a true gorefest !! The level of sickness and utterly nasty scenes is very extreme and it even surpasses the work of undeniable masters in the field like Lucio Fulci and Ruggero Deodato in certain sequences. Zombie Holocaust contains a gruesome autopsy, many throats are being slit, faces and guts are being ripped off/out etc etc...the gore highlights really are numberless. If I have to pick one, I'd say the scene where a zombi is hacked up for barbeque by a propeller !! Classic need-to-see stuff for horror fans !!!

Furthermore, the plot contains many, many holes and the acting is abominable. Even though O'Brien shows a lot of potential as the freaky doctor, he's given too less screentime to impress you enough. And even though Alexandra Delli Colli has a gorgeous body, ( and she proves that multiple times by showing it ) she isn't much of a talented actress. But seriously...who cares about all these things ? Besides, bad acting is necessary for this kind of early 80's horror...it adds a lot more charm to the production.

Zombi Holocaust is just a magnificent splatter movie that comes with my highest possible recommendation. I've only got to known this movie recently because of all the confusing aka's. It was listed as "Zombie3" in my local videostore and as "Zombie Holocaust" in another. But there are just way to many Italian movies called like that to let it bother you. Seek this one and enjoy it !!

A real tearjerker. I laughed so hard I almost cried to death. I watched this film when I was 14 and it really changed my life. It turned me into an extreme horror fan, only to be disappointed with tons of garbage films afterwards that never really compared to The Butcher knife's sharpness. If anyone knows some even better, more gory and obscure films, please let me know. PS Did anyone else get a headache from all of the piercing screaming and sound or was it just me

A mad scientist is in New York as he's taking some human parts from the hospital and graveyards and is part of a cannibal cult leaving police baffled. A group of explorers and researchers alike seek to find who is behind this mad raving scientist and cult by going to an island, while on the island the doctor conducts ghastly experiments to create zombies as he's really a mad scientist who has cannibal tribes to do his work for him.

Entertaining and well made Italian horror flick that is both a zombie movie and a cannibal movie as well but without the animal cruelty like in most Italian cannibal flicks. Ian McCullough is just as great in his performance like in "Zombi 2" ( a.k.a. Zombie), the story is kind of mediocre but the nudity and gore make up for that in this gut-munching and enjoyable horror movie with memorable moments like the boat-motor zombie head death scene or the realistic operation scenes that isn't for the squeamish.

Also recommended: "Zombi 2" ( a.k.a. Zombie), "Night of the Living Dead ( 1968 and 1990)", "Dawn of the Dead ( 1978)", "Day of the Dead", "Land of the Dead", "The Dead Next Door", "Jungle Holocaust", "Cannibal Ferox", "Mountain of the Cannibal God", "Hell of the Living Dead ( a.k.a. Night of the Zombies)", "Nightmare City ( a.k.a. City of the Walking Dead)", "The Toxic Avenger", "Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror", "City of the Living Dead ( a.k.a. Gates of Hell)", "Re-Animator", "Bride of Re-Animator", "Beyond Re-Animator", "The Return of the Living Dead series", "Flesh for Frankenstein", "Caligula", "Pieces", "Dawn of the Dead ( 2004)", "Zombi 3", "Man from Deep River", "Cannibal Apocalypse", " I Drink Your Blood", "Eaten Alive! ( 1980)", "Driller Killer", and "Cannibal Holocaust".