Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2 ( 1979 )


AKA : Zombie Flesh Eaters

"Strangers looking for a woman's father arrive at a tropical island where a doctor desperately searches for the cause and cure of a recent epidemic of the undead." 

Promotional Stills
This is it.....one of the biggest Italian horror films of all time. The zombie head image above is just as iconic to horror fans as Leatherface running with the chainsaw in the original TCM or Pinhead holding the puzzle box on the cover to Hellraiser. Directed by the late Lucio Fulci " the Godfather of Gore " it remains to be his most popular film and is considered to be his masterpiece even after his death in 1996. Though this film was meant to cash in on the popularity of George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead", it proves that it can stand alone by any means.

Our film starts out as a unknown boat is mysteriously floating about the waters of New York city. The local police are called in to investigate, and while exploring one is attacked by one enormous fat and obviously hungry zombie. He gets shot by the remaining officer and thrown overboard. Moving onward, the boat is discovered to be owned by a doctor who months earlier went off to a distant island called "Matul" for research, he never returned. His daughter, Anne ( now all of a sudden concerned ) seeks to find out what happened to her father, she enlists the help of local reporter Peter West and together they hitch a ride with a vacationist couple to the island of Matul in search of answers.
The famous zombie vs shark scene

Once on the island they quickly discover the island is ridden with a terrifying disease that makes the dead return to life and devour the living, but not just any disease, this one has to do with voodoo. The group meets Dr. Menard and he informs them whats been happening with the islanders. Now the group and the last of the survivors must ban together and fight off the rising horde of flesh eaters as the gore gets spread on like a dripping jelly sandwich

I can see why this is such a cult film, its purely shocking. I remember the first time I seen this as a kid, I hated it. Not because it was terrible because thats not the case, but because I was shocked and terrified. Me being a young kid that was used to the USA's popular horror like Night of Living Dead, Friday the 13th and such had no idea about Italy's super gory and gloomy horror, it burned in my memory. Now today it remains as one of my top 10 favorite horror films of all time, go figure.
The cringing eye gouging scene.
But I think the title "Zombi 2" needs a little explanation, because I know you must be thinking "well how good is part one ?". Well this is part one in a sense actually, see when George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" was released in Italy, it was under the title "Zombi", so to cash in on the success, Fulci released his film under "Zombi 2". But in the United States Fulci's film is just called "Zombie" Get it ? It is kind of confusing. There was sequels to follow, keeping the "Zombie 2" thing going in italy, there was a "Zombi 3" that was partially directed by Lucio Fulci before he quit the film, it wasnt even close to being as good as its predecessor.
Zombie feast


The film starts quickly and moves at a decent pace, never losing track of its plot. The theme is interesting itself, its gloomy and fits very well, but its one of those themes that you'll never forget hearing, you should not be surprised if you have it stuck in your head all goddamn day. Another aspect I liked was that the cause of the epidemic was voodoo, which is a change of pace for once, and is loosely based on the original roots of the zombie legend. Fulci's direction is similar to all his genre films, heavy on mood, shocking, and of course cringing ( lots of gory close ups ), its a simple formula and it works well. The acting is decent, no ones going to get a academy award here, but its believable ( better than some hollywood actors ). All in all I can't say much more about this film that hasn't been said already, if you are a horror fan, this is a absolute must see ! Its a underground classic that deserves more recognition.


New York is doomed
Gore : 5/5 -This one packs a punch full of blood, guts, brains, and disembowelment, its no surprise it's a influence on many death metal bands as well. We get a nasty closeup splinter to the eye, neck tearing, bitten chunks of flesh, juicy head explosions and much more.

Gratuitous Nudity : 2/5 - We get a few shots of nudity. One complete with thong and one shower scene.

Death count : 10+

Special FX : 5/5 - The zombies are extremely well done with the whole rotten and decayed look. Not too much over the top but just right.

Alternate poster art
Best Scenes : Many to choose from, probably the most popular is the complete underwater scene where a zombie battles a live shark, im not sure how they did it, but its way fucking cool. I also liked the Spanish conquistadors graveyard scene where we first see the iconic zombie in the above image.

Things you will learn from this movie 


Zombies and sharks are mortal enemies.

When there's a giant splinter going toward your eye its best not to simply move out of the way.

When your woman calls you evil, cruel, and demented, just slap her.

Getting down to your birthday suit in front of strangers is perfectly normal, especially in front of your husband.

Making out with a stranger saves you from getting arrested.

Voodoo drums make women lose it.


Memorable Quotes : " The boat can leave now, tell the crew"

5/5

The Pit ( 1981 )

AKA: Teddy


"A solitary and strange boy wreaks revenge on the people who harasses him when he makes a disturbing discovery in the depth of a forest." 

What a gem this one is, and I say that with the utmost honesty. I have a VHS copy of this that I bought along with hundreds of tapes I purchased during a closeout of a old video store, so one day I randomly popped one in my VCR and it just so happened to be this flick.....good choice. The Pit was made in the golden era of horror films, in the very beginning of the 80's and must have missed its mark somewhere with the big greats that shadowed it. This film is gold, I mean you wont find a academy award winning movie, or amazing performances or shit like that. But you will find a very entertaining way to burn up a hour and a half.

"Can I ride your bike ?"
Our films central character is the autistic ( and insanely creepy ) Jamie Benjamin, who along with his stuffed best friend "Teddy" cause misery to the people of his town. This also must be a really small town, since he seems to be the only autistic kid for miles judging by the way people talk crap about him. But anyways, he's a pretty odd kid, he cuts nude pictures out of magazines and puts pictures of his neighbors on them, tries to ride the local kids bikes even though its obvious everyone thinks hes a total creeper, among other extremely odd shit he does throughout the film. But what REALLY sets him apart from everyone is that he has one really cool secret, he's found a giant hole in the ground, and deep down in that hole are ancient creatures called "Tra la logs" and hes the only one that knows they exist.....yet.

"Do you like washing me ?"
His parents hire a attractive babysitter named Sandy ( who's one of many sitters that failed ) who spends most of her time trying to understand the extremely odd  ( and perverted ) Jamie, while he falls in love with her. He also expresses his love by watching her sleep with her dirty pillows exposed, attempting to look under her skirt ( with his parents there too, this kid gives no fucks ! ), sneaking in while shes showering and writing creepy shit on the bathroom mirror, among other super creep insanities.

"Im sure we can find some bad people Jamie"
Everyday he leaves to go find food for the Tra la logs, but nothing seems to fit their appetite ( I don't think monsters like chocolate bars son )  until he finally discovers that they crave raw meat. So one day Teddy gives him the bright idea ( yes, Teddy speaks to him as a voice inside his head ) that all the townspeople that treated him like crap should be next on the menu for the creatures. All the while poor Sandy is trying to make sense of the disappearances and Jamie's behavior, until Jamie finally decides to let her in on the big secret.

"So that's what you eat !"
I really love this film, I can see it not being for everyone, ill admit the Tra la logs look like midgets in suits in some shots and there is some extreme cheese.But there's alot of things The Pit has going for it. Sammy Snyders as Jamie Benjamin is super convincing as a perverted autistic kid. Waiting and watching for this character to do more weird shit is part of the fun, so the film never gets boring with that in mind. The music is really quirky and fits with the sillyness of the film perfectly. The acting is passable otherwise, no complaints here. I would recommend this to any horror fan or anyone that just wants to see something downright original and entertaining as hell. Its worthy of having some friends over and grabbing a case of beer.


Devouring victims
Gore : 1/5 - There's not much going on in the gore department, but to be honest, the film doesn't really need it. Though there is some decently gory shots of the creatures feasting on butchered human remains, but thats about all we get.

Gratuitous Nudity : 2/5 - We get a few boobie shots by Sandy and one hilarious one by the local librarian. See below.

A cool foreign DVD release cover
Death count : 10+

Special FX : - 3/5 -  The creatures are decently done, they have cool glowing eyes and the closeups arent bad. The gory eaten remains look realistic too. Could have been better but it works.

Best scene : - By far is one particular scene where Jamie cons the local librarian by calling and telling her that her daughter has been kidnapped, and the only way to get her back is to flash her old titties by the window while Jamie snaps pictures for Teddy ( Teddy also says he's going to look at them alot ). By far the most ridiculous shit ever ! Another memorable scene is Jamie pushing a old crippled woman in a wheelchair into the giant pit, so god damn funny.

Things you will learn from this movie 


Librarians are considered hot stuff.

Monsters eat chocolate.

When old people start the "back in my day" speech.....just kill them.

Convincing women to take off their tops is easy.

Teddy bears are perverts.

No one can see giant gaping holes in the ground.

Its hard to tell the difference between green and yellow.

Picking flowers for a girl should make her automatically forgive you  ( yeah right ).


Memorable quotes : "How old is your boyfriend ?" * Stares crazy eyed at Sandys chest *

3/5