Zombi's in Paradise...

Horror nerds LOVE this flick, and I have never seen it. For the simple reason that I am not a Gorehound. But I figured I better check it out. I have been trying to embrace gore more lately, and I can honestly say I only covered my eyes during this flick once. The film is "Zombie" by Lucio Fulci, or "Zombi 2" if you want to be really nerdy (and I do!). See, in Italy it was released as "Zombie 2" because Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" had come out with the name of "Zombi." Realizing that this would not fly in the states (it is no sequel,) producers named the American version "Zombie." Hence the thing that confused me for years. I always heard about "Zombi 2" but where was "Zombie?" I have a Master's degree, I should know these things.

"Maggot Eye Guy" a new favorite Zombie.

Ok, so a seemingly abandoned yacht is found floating in New York Harbor. The Coast Guard goes to check it out. Hiding below deck is one fat ass zombie, who proceeds to eat one of the Coast Guard guys. The boat belongs to this guy who has been missing for a while (shit, I am such a good writer.) His daughter, who has one facial expression (confused) shows up to investigate. She is joined by a reporter named Peter West who is cute but balding. They hightail it to some tropical island after finding a clue that Dad might be there. None of the locals will take them to the particular island (Matool) because they say it is cursed, so they hook up with a hippie dude and his girlfriend who doesn't wear a bra. Before you can say "unnecessary nudity" there is a naked scuba diving scene. But I am jumping ahead of myself. They get to the island and find that it is indeed inhabited by the "Living Dead!!!" Not only people who have just died and are re-animating, but old school rise from the grave maggot infested dead like this guy (see picture above.)

Well, things just go downhill from there. This tropical paradise turns into a Zombie buffet special. Above is one of the most famous scenes from this film, the old wood splinter in the eyeball trick, done by a Zombie (as if eating a person wasn't enough, they have to blind them first!) This scene was really more silly than gory. The best scene, and what this film is rightly remembered for, is the Zombie vs. Shark scene. I had heard about this for years (there are bands and blogs named after this epic battle.) And although I highly recommend this film, if you want don't want to sacrifice 2 hours of your life, just watch the video below. The best part about it is the music, if you ask me....