Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)

Tagline: ‘When the earth spits out the dead…They will return to tear the flesh of the living’
UK Running Time: 91 Minutes (Strong Uncut Version)

Film Quality: 4/5
Gore Content: 4/5
Entertainment Value: 4.5/5
Originality: 3/5

Introduction

Italian director Lucio Fulci had carved himself a solid if unspectacular career as a crime thriller director with some pretty decent, stylish ‘Giallo’ movies under his belt. He took on this project, cashing in on the success of George A. Romero’s seminal ‘Dawn of the Dead’, forever becoming known as ‘The Godfather of Gore’. A notorious, so-called video nasty it was a surprise global hit despite its grindhouse leanings and, though history has diminished its ability to shock in the same way, still stands up as an incredibly entertaining, gore-soaked rollercoaster of a horror film. This should be any self-respecting zombie fan’s introduction to the Italian zombie sub-genre.

In a nutshell

An abandoned ship drifts into New York harbour and, whilst salvaging the vessel, a harbour patrolman is attacked before his killer is quickly dispatched. The daughter of the ship’s owner and a journalist set off for the Caribbean island of Matul, where he was last seen, to discover what happened to him. They come across an island knee deep in voodoo, strange medical experiments and tales of the dead rising from the grave.

What’s good about it?

Let’s not beat about the bush, it’s the gore!

This film was banned in the UK for a good reason and that is thanks to Geanneto De Rossi’s very gooey effects and a steadfast refusal to turn the camera away from the splatter that matters. We’d seen many a gruesome death in ‘Dawn of the Dead’ but that was done in such a deliberately comic-book, swift and throwaway fashion that its effect was lessened. Fulci really goes for the jugular, quite literally in one particular case, lingering on some very gruesome images with relish. Whereas ‘Dawn’ sprayed the red stuff around quite frequently, suddenly and in all directions, Fulci’s flick goes for the set-piece approach, building up to a gory scene as the payoff. The famous eyeball piercing scene is the most notable, we know there’s a zombie in the house, we know this particular character’s going to die, the entire scene plays towards a climax that even now is tough to watch.

The first time I saw this film was in the early 90s when VIPCO released what it misleadingly called an ‘Uncut Cinema Version’…what it didn’t say was that the film was cut for cinema but despite watching a truncated cut of the film, I still enjoyed it. There is more to it than just arterial blood and flesh eating. I think what it has going for it that is only hinted at in ‘Dawn’ (I keep comparing the two because this film was marketed in the US as ‘Zombi 2’ therefore billing itself as a sequel to ‘Dawn’, initially known as ‘Zombie’ stateside) is that, at its heart it takes the zombie back to its Haitian roots. The original zombies, way back in the early 20th century, were created by voodoo, to which there is many a reference, and witch doctors which suggests that the dead’s uprising may be religious rather than scientific. It’s interesting that an Italian production decided to take this direction, no doubt filming locations were cheaper in the Caribbean but it does give the film an atmosphere and an unpredictability that I found intriguing.

You also have to take your hat off to Fulci as the pacing of the film is perfect. There’s enough early on to keep you interested and questions you want to know the answers to. It’s a good half an hour before they even get to Matul but it doesn’t lag. There’s a terrific score by Fabio Frizzi which includes incessant voodoo drums - there is an amusing moment when one of the characters remarks that those drums are driving her mad, that there is real voodoo going on here.

We’ve talked about the gore but a quick note on De Rossi’s make up effects as well. He really goes to town with some of these zombies. Whereas the undead in ‘Dawn’ are largely the recently deceased, we see some of these creature rise from their Conquistador graves. They have maggots where their eyes should be, they’ve decomposed, missing limbs, dressed in rags, they are pretty scary and uncanny so hats off to De Rossi for the convincing way these zombies are depicted.

What about the bad?

Well. As with many spaghetti horrors, this is blessed with the kind of dubbing that leaves actors mouths flapping about like a school of distressed salmon whilst the dialogue plays over the top. There’s no getting around the fact that it’s distracting and whilst some say it adds to the charm, I say it makes the film look unprofessional, cheap and nasty. It was common for Italian films to be shot without recording dialogue so that it could be easily dubbed and therefore more attractive to the overseas markets, but for me it stands out like a boil on the forehead.

This is very much a knock off affair thanks to the success of ‘Dawn’ and as such it is blatantly obvious that the opening few scenes and final shot, both in New York, are intended purely for the US audience. It didn’t really need either and does nothing to tie it to Romero’s flick. One other scene stands out and that is a shark attack, this time referencing the success of ‘Jaws’. To be fair this is such a bizarre and quite beautifully shot scene, and certainly the only zombie vs shark rumble that I can think of. It’s also there to ensure a little bit of nudity is crowbarred into the film.

The unintended by product of Fulci’s successful Romero rip-off is that it spawned a whole host of Italian Romero rip-offs that somehow managed to rip off Fulci’s flick (yes I’m talking to you ‘Zombie Holocaust’, ‘Zombie Creeping Flesh’, ‘Night of Terror’ and ‘Nightmare City’), none of which are a patch on this one. It’s harsh to criticise a film for inspiring pale imitations but there are so many, including four unofficial sequels!

Any themes?

I’ve already said that I admire the fact it goes back to the very birth of the zombie myth whilst bringing it up to date for the Romero generation. If this was the last zombie film ever made you could have few complaints about it coming full circle with the re-introduction of voodoo rituals bringing about the rising of the dead. ‘The Serpent and the Rainbow’ did an incredible job of telling that story a few years later but the zombie remains and, thanks to Monsieurs Raimi and Jackson, there was plenty of scope for the zombie to enter the world of comedy (something ‘Zombie Flesh Eaters 2’ managed completely by accident!).

Release History

In the UK this title has had an interesting history due to censorship. The BBFC had a big problem with ‘Zombie Flesh Eaters’, cutting one minute 46 seconds for its cinema release, including the climax of the eyeball splinter scene, all instances of flesh eating, the throat ripping and a few other minor moments – fourteen separate cuts in total.

The movie was then released uncut on video by VIPCO as a ‘Strong Uncut Version’ a year or so later, becoming one of the biggest selling videos that year. Unfortunately it fell foul of the video nasty moral panic, the cinema version was put out and this version, alongside its uncensored counterpart, was banned outright in 1984. It remained out of print until VIPCO re-released the Uncut Cinema Version (still missing nearly two minutes) in 1992 in both a pan and scan and widescreen version.

In 1999 VIPCO tried again and managed to get a more complete version out on DVD that they marketed as ‘The Extreme Version’ despite the fact an uncut version would most likely have been passed. The problem here was a ridiculous, draconian, possibly even mythical law that a film could not be released uncut if it had been subject to a successful prosecution within the last ten years! This meant the BBFC’s hands were tied due to their own ridiculous ideas of censorship. The eyeball climax and subsequent flesh eating were still missing. They finally passed it uncut in 2005 for Anchor Bay’s ‘Box of the Banned’ so it wasn’t until Arrow’s release in 2012 that you could buy the film uncut, on its own, but even then the steelbook and special edition dvds were accidentally missing six seconds of footage (not contentious, they just used the wrong print) so replacement discs had to be sent out.

Watching the film again it seems ridiculous that you couldn’t walk into a shop/order a copy online of this film until four years ago, a full 33 years after its initial release!

Cultural Impact

Well it kick started the Italian horror genre which, at the time, pretty much solely consisted of Dario Argento who was churning out bona fide classics of the calibre of ‘Deep Red’, ‘Suspiria’, ‘Inferno’ and ‘Four Flies on Grey Velvet’ all on his own…I’m sure he was glad of the company!

Depending on your point of view this series consists of five films due to the Italian title in America being ‘Zombi 2’. This means that what we know in the UK as ‘Zombie Flesh Eaters 2’ (also directed, incredibly badly, by Fulci) was called ‘Zombi 3’ in the US, ‘Zombie Flesh Eaters 3’ is called ‘Zombi 4’ and so on. This is further complicated in the US by the 90s re-releases of Joe D’Amato’s ‘Anthropophagous’ and its sequel, ‘Absurd’, which were titled ‘Zombi 6’ and ‘Zombi 7’! I prefer to think of ‘Zombie Flesh Eaters’ as a standalone film to prevent giving myself a headache.

Final Thoughts

The very best of the Italian zombie sub-genre and the only one to escape the ‘unintentionally funny’ tag, this has stood the test of time very well even if it’s capacity to shock has diminished. That said, there are still some hard to watch scenes and with Fulci keeping a tight grip on the pacing he creates a wonderfully unique atmosphere from a familiar plotline. He directed three more zombie movies (the jury’s out over how much of ‘Zombie Flesh Eaters 2’ he directed after abandoning the project) and whilst I think at least one of them is superior to this one, ‘Zombie Flesh Eaters’ is probably the purest in terms of the zombie mythology.

Memorable Quotes

Dr Menard: “I don’t believe in voodoo”
Lucas: “And Lucas not believe that the dead be dead.”

West: “Out there, they’re coming back to life…they’re everywhere.”

Radio Reporter: “ I’ve been informed that zombies have entered the building…..they’re outside the door…..they’re coming in…………aaaarrrrgggghhhh.”

You’ll like this if you enjoyed…

‘Dawn of the Dead’, ‘The Serpent and the Rainbow’, ‘Zombie Holocaust’, ‘City of the Living Dead’, ‘Zombie Creeping Flesh’.