Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979) – Film Review

Director: Lucio Fulci
Cast: Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson
Certificate: 18

By Sarah Morgan

A quick piece of advice – don’t watch this film while eating; it contains some scenes that are genuinely stomach-churning. Well, it didn’t make it onto the notorious Video Nasties list in the early 1980s for nothing.

Having said that, it’s an excellent entry in the zombie genre, better than, say, George A Romero’s far more lauded Dawn of the Dead, which for me is way too long. Interestingly, horror maestro Dario Argento cut Romero’s film down considerably for its Italian release, and Zombie Flesh Eaters, known in that country as Zombi 2, was marketed as its sequel.

It is, however, a standalone film, one of the best examples of the work of director Lucio Fulci. He may have looked like a professor, complete with glasses attached to a cord so he wouldn’t lose them, but his films were usually hard-hitting. He worked across many genres, but is best known, almost 30 years after his death, for his output in the horror and giallo fields, including The House by the Cemetery (1981) and A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin (1971).

“Thirst for human flesh”

As was often the case in Italian movies at the time, Zombie Flesh Eaters features an international cast that includes American Tisa Farrow (sister of Mia) and Brits Richard Johnson and Ian McCulloch.

Farrow plays Anne, whose father has vanished while in the Caribbean. She and reporter Peter (McCulloch) journey there to find him, helped by a pair of local guides.

On the remote (and fictional) island of Matool, they find Dr Menard (Johnson), who tells them that Anne’s father succumbed to a mysterious local phenomenon that causes the dead to rise and walk again, albeit as relentless beings with a thirst for human flesh.

Soon, everyone on the Matool faces a battle with corpses who simply will not rest – what’s more, the chilling final scene suggests there could be worse to come…

The film has been given a 4K restoration, which means it probably looks better than it ever did, even on its original release. And although Arrow, who are behind this new edition, are understandably playing up the whole video nasty and gore angle in their marketing strategy, there is far more to Zombie Flesh Eaters than its sleazy reputation suggests.

“Strong story”

Okay, so there are gut-wrenching moments such as a now infamous eye-gouging scene, but it actually has a strong story that has more in common with such classic movies as I Walked with a Zombie or Hammer’s The Plague of the Zombies than it does with Romero’s work.

Plus, it has strong performances from the aforementioned actors, particularly the veteran Johnson, who delivers his lines with as much heartfelt gusto as he would have given to Shakespeare during his days with the RSC at Stratford.

There’s a wealth of additional material in a packed special features section too, including newly filmed documentaries and others from the archive.

Sarah Morgan

Sarah Morgan studied film journalism at post-graduate level with the BFI and has been writing about TV and film for PA Media’s newspaper, magazine and new media customers since 1996. She’s also written for a wide range of other publications, both online and in print, including the book Offbeat and Intermission magazine, and is a regular contributor to the Talking Pictures TV podcast. When she isn’t watching movies, she’s collecting and reading vintage crime and horror paperback books or, for her sins, watching her beloved Sheffield Wednesday.

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