Zombi 2 (1979)

zombi-2
7.0 Overall Score
Story: 6/10
Acting: 6/10
Visuals: 8/10

Shark vs. Zombie! Zombie eye poke!

Rather generic story

Movie Info

Movie Name:  Zombi 2

Studio:  Variety Film Production

Genre(s):  Horror/B-Movie

Release Date(s):  August 25, 1979

MPAA Rating:  R

zombi-2-zombie

No, I’m good…just a little worm in the eye…

A mysterious ship shows up in New York City.  The guards find the yacht destroyed inside, but also housing a zombie.  When one of the officers is attacked, the ship is quarantined.  The daughter of the ship owner Ann Bolt (Tisa Farrow) and a reporter named Peter West (Ian McCulloch) head to the Caribbean to track her father’s last actions and find where he is.  Hiring Bryan Curt (Al Cliver) and Susan Barrett (Auretta Gay) to help them locate the island of Matool, they discover an island suffering from a voodoo plague of zombies.  With the help of Dr. David Menard (Richard Johnson), they hope to survive the island and reach civilization.

Directed by Italian director Lucio Fulci, Zombi 2 has a ton of different titles and is the most well-known of Fulci’s films.  It faced some criticism for its gore It is a big fan-favorite among horror buffs and has a large cult following.

zombi-2-shark-vs-zombie

Mega-Shark Vs. Soggy-Zombie

Zombi 2 has a strange history.  Dawn of the Dead (which was called Zombi in Italy) was a big hit, and Zombi 2 was marketed as a sequel to this film although it has no ties to Dawn of the Dead.  It was also called Zombie, Zombie Flesh Eaters, Island of the Living Dead, Woodoo, and Zombie Island.  The movie did have a sequel in 1988 called Zombi 3.

The movie has lots of edits due to the high level of gore.  Like a lot of Italian horror films, the movie is very violent and very gory.  When the zombies attack, they are seen biting and tearing the victims apart.  The blood is profuse and overly red, but it is also helped with some great special effects on the wounds.

zombi-2-eye-gouge

Don’t blink!

There are two notorious scenes in the movie that always get referenced to Zombi 2.  Even if you don’t watch the movie, they are worth seeking out on YouTube (and no, they aren’t kid friendly).  One scene involves a nude diver attacked by a zombie underwater and then battling (and eating) a shark.  The scene was shot in a tank with a drugged shark and it is quite entertaining.  The movie also has a really intense eye popping scene with Olga Karlatos as she is slowly impaled on a splintered board by a zombie.

zombi-2-shark-vs-zombie-2

Just for good measure, you can’t get enough of zombie vs. shark!

Zombi 2’s story is pretty generic zombie movie fodder.  A group gets trapped on an island by zombies, and they have to get off.  The logic of course to hide out in a place where bodies are being stored as the zombies start rising from the grave also is typical, “bad decision” planning by people in a horror movie.  I do like that the movie blends the popular flesh eating zombies with aspects of the voodoo zombies.

Zombi 2 is bloody fun with all the classic horror (including nudity and buckets of blood).  For those who aren’t fans of zombies, it is more of the same, but for zombies fans it is a good solid film.  Players of the game Dead Island will also recognize some similarities.  If you’ve never seen Zombi 2 I can recommend it and you don’t have to worry about continuity since you probably have already seen Zombi even if you didn’t realize it.

 

Author: JPRoscoe View all posts by
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram/Letterboxd @JPRoscoe76! Loves all things pop-culture especially if it has a bit of a counter-culture twist. Plays video games (basically from the start when a neighbor brought home an Atari 2600), comic loving (for almost 30 years), and a true critic of movies. Enjoys the art house but also isn't afraid to let in one or two popular movies at the same time.

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