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| Italian Shock (Holland) Region 2, PAL. 2.35:1 (Non-anamorphic). English DD 2.0. Dutch Subtitles. 88 minute |
| The Movie |
| Cover Art |
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| Credits |
Director: Lucio Fulci
Starring: Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson,
Al Cliver, Auretta Gay
Screenplay: Eliza Briganti
Country: Italy
AKA: Zombie Flesh Eaters; Zombie |
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With the world-wide success of George Romero's Dawn of the Dead in the late 70's,
the world was on the verge of zombie film fever,
and the Italian's were quick to cash in on Dawn's
success with Lucio Fulci's Zombie 2 (aka Zombie or Zombie Flesh
Eaters among others).
A seemingly abandoned yacht drifts into New York harbour. Two police officers are sent to investigate,
one of whom is murdered in grisly circumstances.
The incident attracts the attention a local newspaper,
and reporter Peter West is assigned to the case.
While sniffing around for some clues, West bumps
into the daughter of the man who originally chartered
the boat, Anne Bowles, who hasn't heard from her
father in some time, and is also interested in
finding out how the boat came to arrive in New
York . They decide to work together, and their
investigations quickly point to the island of
Matul, the last known location of Anne's father.
With he the help of adventurous couple Brian and
Susan, they set sail for the mysterious island,
intent on uncovering the truth about the events
leading to the boats strange arrival in New York
and her father's disappearance.
What they discover is an island overrun by the
living dead, and they, as well as the few remaining
locals (including the resident quack, Dr Menard
and his wife), must keep their wits about them
to avoid the chomping jaws of the rampant flesh
eaters.
This film gained a great level of notoriety throughout
the world for it's extreme violence, especially
the now legendary "Splinter through the eye"
sequence, which was censored from most of the
film's original video releases. Thankfully, Japan
Shock have released this film in it's "Strong
Uncut" form, which should appease gore hounds
the world over. Numerous Italian zombie movies
were released in the wake of Zombie 2's success,
but few (if any) were capable of living up to
the high standards set by Fulci's original. As
well as Fulci's top notch direction, the films
boasts some amazing cinematography from Sergio
Salvatti, and a fantastic musical score by Fabio
Frizzi. This is a true horror classic, and despite
it's sometimes slow pacing, stands up to repeated
viewings. |
| Video |
| Zombie 2 is presented in it's original aspect
ratio of 2.35:1 but unfortunately does not feature
anamorphic enhancement. The transfer is grainy in
parts, but is free from any major artefacts apart
from some slight aliasing. Some minor damage to
the source material is evident, but these hardly
detract from the viewing experience. This is certainly
a big improvement over Anchor Bay's transfer. |
| Audio |
| The 2.0 channel soundtrack is perfectly acceptable,
with Fabio Frizzi's score sounding quite impressive.
It certainly won't push your surround sound system
to it's limits, but it gets the job done nicely. |
| Extra Features |
| Not a whole lot on offer here. The standard theatrical
trailer is included, as well as liner notes, a slideshow
of stills from the film and a Lucio Fulci filmography.
The most interesting extra feature on this disc
the addition of the complete film soundtrack which
should please fans of Fabio Frizzi's score. |
| The Verdict |
One of the greatest zombie films of all time,
the Italian Shock version of this gore filled classic
doesn't have many flaws, and is definitely superior
to the DVD release from Anchor Bay. If you have
never seen this film in it's uncut form, then this
release is well worth a look. However, one gets
the feeling that the truly definitive DVD release
of this film is yet to come.
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Glad to see it's been fully restored for DVD
Zombie Flesh Eaters,I just love that zombie with the shark scene, it puts a whole new slant on Jaws.