Zombies 2 (1979)

Directed by: Lucio Fulci | 87 minutes | horror | Actors: Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson, Al Cliver, Auretta Gay, Stefania D’Amario, Olga Karlatos, Ugo Bologna, Dakkar, Alberto Dell’Acqua, Ottaviano Dell’Acqua, Roberto Dell’Acqua, Franco Fantasia, Lucio Fulci , Leo Gavero

‘Zombi 2′ is written by Lucio Fulci, and those in the know know what to expect when they see his zombie movies when they hear his name. Lucio, like fellow zombie director George A. Romero, does not deal with, among other things, providing social commentary in his films, but he is mainly concerned with hard-hitting and explicitly portrayed horror and to a lesser extent with the threat that exists. from the zombies.

Likewise in this movie. Fulci sticks to the roots of the zombies’ origins here when they are brought back to life by voodoo. The original purpose of bringing the dead back to life is to make them do hard and monotonous work, but the zombies here have plans of their own and, above all, turn out to be possessed of an insatiable appetite. As a result, various scenes are created that fans of explicitly portrayed horror can indulge in: in close-up and in slow-motion throats ripped open with streams of blood flowing from the carotid arteries, shot to pieces and exploding zombie heads. , zombie skulls being cleaved, limbs being torn off, zombies biting chunks of flesh from their living or dead victims, and, perhaps the most famous scene from the film, the wood splinter slowly sinking into a victim’s eye. This last scene in particular evokes the necessary almost nauseating horror, although at the last moment it becomes very clear that the head used is not real. Apart from this, the other special effects are well done and the fact that the viewer is directly pressed against them makes things seem all the more gruesome. The scene of the fight between a zombie and a shark is also remarkable and comes across as successful. The zombies themselves look scary and gross, blood-stained and in various stages of decomposition, adorned with worms and maggots crawling in their rotting flesh. The zombies in Lucio’s movies come across as more terrifying than the average zombie we know from most zombie movies, and that adds appropriately to the threat they emanate.

So hard and explicit horror, although the zombies themselves play a smaller role in most of the film than might be expected. Their appearances and appearances remain ephemeral for most of the film, although this is enough to create several horrific scenes. Only in the last part of the film do the zombies go on the attack en masse, after which according to good practice their victims have to pull out all the stops to survive. This stage of the film also provides fans of the zombie genre with plenty of tasty scenes, although the literal hard-hitting horror that characterized several previous scenes is largely omitted here. In this last part, the scenes depicted, however rancid in themselves sometimes, tend more towards the mediocre and the realization of the horror is equally concerned with the threat emanating from the group or otherwise. slow-approaching zombies with their obviously evil voracious intentions.

The story itself has little to say about the performance of the various actors, but that will not be a problem for the true horror enthusiast: horror and threat are paramount in these kinds of films. What can be experienced as a disadvantage of this film is the relatively small presence of the zombies in the first part of the film and the slowness that is sometimes present in the film. Nevertheless, an appropriate and perpetually perceptible menacing atmosphere is created by the unmistakable approach of an inescapable crisis by the zombies spreading across the island. The images of the numerous dying victims of the zombies in the local hospital and the atmospheric images of the zombies slowly rising from their graves also contribute to this, although some more confrontations with various zombies in an earlier stage would not have gone amiss in the film. Also the surroundings, like the ominous music supported by voodoo drums at certain times, are suitable for the creation of a sombre and claustrophobic atmosphere, because of its classical premise: a remote area, help cannot be called from outside. and one must only manage against the danger.

This film is also known as ‘Zombie 2’ and as ‘Zombies 2’, because the naming of this film was an attempt to follow the success of George Romero’s ‘Dawn of the Dead’ at the time. However, especially given the final scenes in the film, the film can be considered a prequel rather than a sequel, provided the events of Romero’s ‘Night of the Living Dead’ are not taken into account. For these kinds of films with such explicitly portrayed atrocities, one must love it or at least be open to it. Even for the average zombie and horror enthusiast, some scenes may still go too far. For the hardcore horror junkie, however, ‘Zombi2’, although it is not even Fulci’s most imaginative zombie film, delivers so much successful horror that it can be called a must-see.