« Love Me Deadly (1972) | Home | Severin Problems »
Zombie Holocaust (1980)
By lngway2go | October 6, 2008
(aka Dr. Butcher M.D.; Dr. Butcher, Medical Deviate;La Regina dei cannibali)
Director: Marino Girolami
Producer: Ron Harvey, Terry Levene
Writer: Fabrizio De Angelis, Romano Scandariato
Starring: Ian McCulloch, Alexandra Delli Colli, Sherry Buchanan, Peter O’Neal, Donald O’Brian, Dakkar
Although Zombie Holocaust is directed by Marino Girolami, better known for directing sex comedies, the film obviously bares evidence of more than a heavy hand at work. The hand in question takes the shape of one Fabrizio De Angelis, who’d produced one of Lucio Fulci’s masterpieces, Zombi 2, a year earlier. In fact, much of Zombie Holocaust owes a deep debt to Zombi 2. It’s shooting location is the same, some of the cast members make a reappearance, and Lucio Fulci has even claimed that some of left over footage, from the far superior Zombi 2, actually appears in Zombie Holocaust! Once watched, it is hard not to believe this claim.
A New York hospital is having problems, human body parts turning up missing from the recently deceased laying around the hospital. The doctors are doing their best to avoid a scandal by failing to inform the police of these disturbing occurrences. For those of us who have seen at least one cannibal movie, we know what we are in for when one of the do doctor’s state that “it wouldn’t be surprising in a savage society”. Oh, those primitive socialites! When the next body turns up with its heart ripped out, things seem to be getting a little worse. Maybe we really are in the jungle with all those savages.
Lori Ridgeway (Alexandra Delli Colli), the doctor caught up in the middle of the scandal, leaves work to run home and undress for the camera, and while her tribal decor looks on wantonly there is unfortunately a knock at the door. A reporter begins asking questions about missing body parts at the hospital. The reporter seems to be on the ball and asks whether it is down to cannibalism. Looks like the scandal might just be about to break!
That evening another heart is removed from a body, and just as the thief is about to chow down, he is interrupted and there’s only one place to run… out the window?!? It turns out the thief was actually one of their own, a doctor, and his body laying at the foot of the skyscraper reveals an unusual tattoo has markings similar to those on a sacrificial dagger up on Lori’s wall. I somehow don’t think this is slipping into red herring territory, and at this point the plot is almost color by numbers. Could it just be our master plot deciphering abilities at play? Nope, the plot devices stand out like a skyscraper in a jungle.
It turns out that there has been a spate of cannibalistic activities going on around the country, and if this was a Romero film it wouldn’t be surprising to see statements on American society as the “savage society” and America as a concrete jungle, instead though, the crime is quickly tied to the work of a primitive tribal society. We could scream racism, but I think that would be giving the film too much credit. Peter Chandler (Ian McCulloch, Zombie) is the scientist on the case and wants Lori to come traveling with him to visit the primitives. Lori wants no part of it, having had a bad experience once before. But when she returns home in time to find her apartment ransacked, and her sacrificial dagger stolen, she gives in to Peter’s request.
An expedition to Matul… dammit, I mean Keto is on the cards. Accompanying Peter and Lori is Peter’s assistant, George Harper (Peter O’Neal), and reporter, Susan Kelly (Sherry Buchanan), who earlier questioned Lori about the hospital’s misadventures. When they all arrive on an island close to Keto, they make arrangements with Dr. Obero (Donald O’Brien) for the final voyage to their destination, even though he warns of them of the savagery of the natives on the island. But no one ever listens to warnings in horror films, it’s all about throwing oneself to the wolves.
Molotto, a former wrestler by the name of Dakkar, is another of Fulci’s left over cast. Dakkar made an impressive appearance in Fulci’s classic with some great dialogue delivery. Here he plays a character from the same character mould. He’s hired to lead the group to the island of Keto, but when they run into boat problem (Zombi 2 anyone???) along the way they are forced to make an impromptu stop at a nearby island. But Molotto is playing games with the expedition, and it quickly becomes apparent that they are already on Keto. Meanwhile, Molotto, for some reason, is desperate to get them off the island in search of what he claims will be the real Keto. They aren’t fooled.
As they start trekking around the island their help is slowly picked off by the natives, so they radio for help. The doctor arranges to meet them at a missionary building on the island, where he will get them off the island to safety. When they make it to the missionary building they are attacked by the natives and Susan runs off in a panic. Not the best of things to do, especially when since she gets kidnapped by the natives! The rest are captured and the natives take a liking to George. They yank his guts out, followed by his eyes, and begin to chow down. Obviously a local delicacy. Yummy!
Just as Peter is about to be victim number two some zombie like creatures show up and the natives scrambled away terrified. These zombies just have some facial makeup and scraggly clothes, for the most part, but really freak out the natives. I guess they don’t have Blockbuster on Keto so have never seen a real zombie before. They make their way back to the missionary and the Doctor is waiting for them. He tells them to make their way to a dinghy which will get them to safety, while he waits for his men who are looking for Susan.
When Peter and Lori make it to the dinghy they begin to have doubts about the doctor, how did he know what island they were on since he tried to steer them off course? So they decide to investigate. Peter suggests that Lori get in the dinghy and wait off shore until he returns. She agrees. Wouldn’t you? Things don’t always turn out as planned though, and zombies turn up leaving Peter with the only option of clobbering the zombie over the head with the dinghy’s motor. They may have won over the zombies, but the dinghy is another matter. The motor doesn’t start, so they both trek back into the jungle to find out what is going on…
Lucio Fulci’s Zombi 2, or the much better UK titling, Zombie Flesh Eaters, was made to cash in on the success of George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. Fulci though, smartly decided to take it back to voodoo traditions, and made what is perhaps a far better film than Dawn. Zombi 2 is a classic of Italian horror that has rarely been equaled. Zombie Holocaust is another matter.
If there was no Zombi 2, Holocaust might actually be a better film than it is, but that’s not the case. So, why did we need another? Well, the first was so good, why not another! At the end of the day we are talking about low budget film-making, and usually when there’s a good thing going, the best thing to do is copy it, in this case almost directly. Sometimes that works out for the better, sometimes not so.
Zombie 2 has everything that a good Italian horror movie should have: over the top gore sequences, shark attacks, piercings, maggots, and some female flesh. Holocaust ends up being an almost parallel version of Zombie 2, minus the shark attack. The plot devices it employs are such a shameful copy of its mold, that it’s hard to excuse. For some reason though, I find myself excusing it, and Holocaust is actually a really enjoyable film in its own right. The direction is nothing compared to what Fulci achieved, and the cast isn’t quite as up to par either. But hell, if you like Zombi 2, there’s no way you won’t like this. Zombie Holocaust is just easy going Zombie fun, and that’s never something to complain about.
Topics: Italian Horror, Ruggero Deodato, Spanish Horror, Zombie Films |