Zombie (1979)

Strangers searching for a young woman's missing father arrive at a tropical island where a doctor desperately seeks the cause and cure of a recent epidemic of the undead.

Director:

Lucio Fulci

Writer:

Elisa Briganti

Stars:

Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Tisa Farrow	...	Anne Bowles
Ian McCulloch	...	Peter West (as Ian Mc Culloch)
Richard Johnson	...	Dr. Menard
Al Cliver	...	Brian Hull
Auretta Gay	...	Susan Barrett
Stefania D'Amario	...	Nurse Clara - Menard's Assistant
Olga Karlatos	...	Mrs. Menard

Storyline

A zombie is found aboard a boat off the New York coast which belongs to do a famous scientist. Peter West, a journalist, travels to the Antilles with Ann, the daughter of the scientist. On the way, they meet with with Brian, a ethnologist, and Susan. When they arrive at Matul Island, they find Dr. Menard, and discover a terrifying disease which is turning the islanders into horrifying zombies which devour human flesh and seem indestructible....

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Plot Keywords:

tropical island | zombie | zombie outbreak | virus | end of the world | 

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Taglines:

When the earth spits out the dead, they will rise to suck the blood of the living!

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for horror violence/gore and nudity

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

18 July 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zombie 2: The Dead are Among Us

Filming Locations:

Studio Mafera, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

ITL 410,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Variety Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 89 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As shown in trailers before the film was released, airline "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.

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Goofs

When Dr. Menard is driving and discussing the zombie plague with the visitors, the "clean" part of the jeep's windshield (i.e. the path of the windshield wipers) appears to be cut out of the glass (probably to provide a better view of the actors and prevent the camera being reflected on the glass).

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Quotes

[first lines]
[repeated line]
Dr. Menard: The boat can leave now. Tell the crew.

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Alternate Versions

In August 1999, the uncut version was submitted to the British Board of Film Classification for a video certificate, in the hope that it would fare better than previous BBFC-approved versions. This was a partial success, since the film escaped with an 18 rating after only 23 seconds of cuts, compared to the 1m 46s which was censored in the earlier video and cinema prints. Only 2 scenes were censored: the woman who gets her eye impaled on a splinter, and a later sequence in which zombies feast on her body.

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Connections

Referenced in After the End (2005)

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Soundtracks

There's No Matter
(uncredited)
Composed by Fabio Frizzi, Franco Bixio, Vince Tempera, Vittorio Pezzolla
Performed by Linda Lee

User Reviews

Cracking Fulci effort!

Surely the best film Fulci has ever directed, involving several zombies on a Caribbean island. As with all Fulci films, the movie suffers from rather bad dubbing, but all Fulci films seem to have this problem, so it`s almost a hallmark for the director. The gore is graphic & over-the-top, but when you`ve seen a zombie deep in the ocean fighting with a shark, nothing is over the top. A few memorable scenes, (the eye scene has to be the highlight) but this is movie is all about escapism. If you can handle the explicit gore (and if you`re watching Fulci, you better had!) this is a definite `lads night in movie`. Just don`t try to find too many subtexts in it`s, ahem, plot. (7 out of 10)