Zombie Flesh Eaters [Blu-ray] [1979]

Now obviously you have heard the stories about this film from first being released in the 1970s in the cinema, deemed so strong and gruesome that they had to hand out sick bags (within good reason too) then the BBFC got hold of it, Banned it for years and then released it cut to ribbons. Then in the 2000s they re-released it uncut but still shaving a couple of secs from it, Now the new generation has reared its head from the grave and Arrow has re-released this vintage horror classic, FULLY UNCUT with a fantastic new transfer. If you want to see how the film originally looked, check out the original trailer that was used for the Vipco release, BIG DIFFERENCE! The film actually looks very crisp and there is an occasional grain but that to me adds to the film. I'm sure you know the story of the actual film so i don't need to explain that. The zombies are genuinely creepy and scary unlike nowadays, The skull like covers covered in maggots and worms sends shiver down your spine and how relentless they are to get their next meal is chilling. No matter what happens, they just keep moving towards their target, even the ones that can't see their prey. Walking like they are in ancient slumber until they get their target and their voracious appetite proves they are a force to be reckoned. The gruesome special effects are amazing considering this was a rip off of Dawn of the Dead, but somehow better what was shown in George A. Romero's horror masterpiece and Zombie Flesheaters (originally called just Zombie) is as much a masterpiece as Dawn of the Dead. It's done right and and to think the only really cheesy moment was the topless diving that leads to one of the films numerous and notoriously remembered scenes. Word of advice, anyone coming to this for the first time, BE WARNED this is definitely not for the squeamish or faint hearted and also don't watch this after eating. It's gory, it's gruesome and it's a great movie. Also if this movie doesn't make your blood run cold then believe me the ending will. Zombie Flesheaters look amazing on Blu-ray and easily worthy of any horror fans collection, just remember to have a bucket next to you!

An unmanned boat cruising into New York is discovered to be carrying a zombie who attacks an officer checking the boat, meanwhile the daughter of the boats owner and a journalist head to a tropical island to check on her father, to there horror they find hoards of the undead attacking everyone and everything in there path. One of the very best Zombie films ever! The film that brought Lucio Fulci to an international audience is also one of his very best. Unlike Fulci the plot is actually fairly coherent, in fact the plot is a strength of the picture, it has pace always something interesting happening and the open ended finale is excellent. The zombie make-up is brilliant as are the bloody gory effects by De Rossi, acting by the cast is also much better than expected, leads Farrow & McCulloch are really good but the whole cast does a good job. Some of the set pieces are outstanding, the underwater shark scene is one of the most iconic in horror film history it's that impressive, the splinter in the eye, the unstoppable zombie attack at the end etc.. in fact there are many great sequences in the film far too many to list here. The atmosphere of the film is great, there are some genuinely scary moments including the opening scene in N.Y. where a zombie bursts out of the closet but there are many more, the creepy tension and suspense are maintained throughout and in this as in many other ways Fulci does an impressive job. An infamous video nasty and in my opinion also one of the top 3 best (along with Fulci's House By The Cemetery & Cannibal Man), one for every horror film fan.

What can you say about this film? Eye gouging, underwater zombie fighting a shark, dubious script.... okay, that's not so good. But who really cares? There's a delightful faith that the actors give to the (frankly rather shocking) script and plot, and because they seem to believe it, you can drag yourself along for the ride as well. The special effects are still amazing, even in this day and age, and you won't find better (or worse!) looking zombies in anything since. Quite why Spaghetti Zombies didn't do for McCulloch what the Westerns did for Eastwood is rather a mystery. McCulloch is clearly so much better than the films offered him, film makers should have jumped at the chance to turn him into a British Man with No Name. Such a shame. But we do have Fulci, and zombies certainly do not get better than this. NOTE : Footage is missing from the beginning, where there's an awful jump-cut from the titles to when the ship arrives in New York. Even the soundtrack jumps. Very poor, and Arrow should be ashamed of releasing a film in that condition. For one thing, this is meant to be uncut; for another, if you're going to cut it, at least do it with a modicum of ability. Arrow should repair this fault and replace those already sent out. It's unforgivable.

Zombie Flesh Eaters, Arrow BD release: My last couple of reviews of European horrors (Zombi Holocaust and Deep Red) were not positive and I found the films disappointing. It is annoying to find all so often the picture quality fails to live up to the claims about so-called 'restorations' from original negatives. So then, it is a pleasure to be able to write a positive review here for this superior Italian horror film and BD release. First off, the picture quality on the BD presentation is satisfyingly clear and sharp doing good justice to the cameraman's impressive photography. The BD sleeve's claim "brand new high definition restoration from the original negative" is fully justified here - WELL DONE Arrow! I would be being less than honest if I said the screenplay and plot were particularly complex or meaningful. Yet it is certainly above average for the genre, and it is to the Director's credit that he manages to pull off no easy task in sustaining the film's interest by deft direction, well-framed and lush photography of the tropical island and seascape (fully realised by the original 2.35:1 aspect), and the dependable acting of the principal cast boasting Richard Johnson as the doctor and Ian McCulloch. Some moments of genuine suspense generated by the taught editing, tight framing and camera angles and use of sound (including silence) on the boat on New York Harbour were well crafted; one was left wondering whether a zombie was about to leap out at the visitors on the boat at any moment. The highlight of the film has to be the well-shot underwater sequence in which some naked scuba divers meet up with a zombie and a great white shark. To see a zombie grappling with a real great white and trying to bite its neck was incredible! The actor must have had a hidden oxygen supply underneath his prosthetics but it never showed. However it was executed, it was convincing. My only baulk was that the female scuba divers were only half naked. I can't understand how the Director managed to arrange crew insurance cover for this sequence. Gore was satisfyingly abundant and realistic as one would hope for in such a film, the only exception being the scene in which a zombie pulls a girl towards a piece of sharp wood (I won't say which part of her body as that would spoil the scene). The tension was there but alas the prosthetics didn't do the scene justice and looked fake. I am giving this film four stars because of the mind blowingly impressive zombie/great white sequence and as a mark of respect to Arrow for clearly spending a lot of love and attention on this release. The film was a pleasure to view. And review!

An all time favourite. While not having the big production values of Romero's Dawn of the Dead, Fulci harks back to the classic Voodoo zombie flicks such as I Walked with a Zombie while bringing his own touch of gore, maggots, eye ball gouging and a Zombie taking on a shark underwater. One of the best and an all time favourite

Execellent

The results are in....aaaand its a nearly a WINNER!!! Zombie Flesh Eaters, as we know it in the UK, or Zombie/Zombi 2 in other regions has been remastered from the original negative, looks incredible and is available for us all to digest in our homes for evermore. Unfortunately, there is a problem. Refer to my update at the bottom. Z.F.E. was made in 1979 and it has probably never looked as good as it does now. According to blurb in the supplemental booklet the film was scanned at 2K, stabilised, cleaned up frame by frame of dirt and scratches and great care was taken to preserve the original detail and film grain. Happy days. It is my favourite Fulci film as it has a few things really going for it. 1 - The zombies are very cool. Not all that much more advanced than the simply effective Romero/Savini make ups from Dawn of the Dead but these creatures are totally rotten and decayed and just look fantastic. 2 - Zombie Vs actual Shark underwater fight!!! I mean, thats what we want, right? Say no more. 3 - The truly creepy score from Fabio Frizzi which has a tendency to get stuck in my head after I watch. Also there is the (in)famous 'eye splintering' scene, a truly iconic European horror scene which is still just as visceral 30 years on. All in, a brilliant Zombie flick. But thats not all this Blu-ray has to offer. We also get a wealth of extra material relating to the film, Fulci, the music, special effects and the italian splatter genre in general including 2 commentaries, an hour long documentary on Italian Zombie films and a lengthy chat with the films star, Ian McCulloch. And the usual nice little booklet which Arrow always provides too. I doubt there is much more I could actually want from a Blu-ray release of ZFE extras wise. Thats why it is such a pity that Ive had to amend my review to highlight a shocking error, apparently, in the authoring of the disc. See below. 29th January Update ************ Im now somewhat deflated to conclude that there is indeed missing frames from the opening of this movie. Initially I thought this to be an intentional jump/cut as I could have sworn my old DVD copy had the EXACT same jump cut but it appears to be a fault with this Bluray. I actually cannot express enough how disappointed I am with this as I was so blown away by the overall product but to have 6 seconds missing is no small error. Its INCOMPLETE. And I dont care if what's apparently contained in the 6 seconds is only establishing shots of the twin towers. Its INCOMPLETE!! Simply not good enough. AGAIN ARROW! A replacement program has been mooted but I have yet to see concrete details on how exactly to get a CORRECT replacement.

I don't normally write reviews for products bought from Amazon, but I'm that impressed with this release that I thought it definitely deserved one. I received my steelbook earlier today and am about 35 minutes into the film, which I must say looks just as fantastic as all the reviews I've read recently have suggested. I first owned this film on VHS 20 years ago with the cut edition from Vipco being my first experience of Fulci's masterpiece, since then I've amassed quite a collection of releases including the cut UK DVD, the 2 disc US Shriek Show 25th Anniversary Edition, various others and most recently, last years Blu Ray from Blue Underground, which I honestly thought would be the best the film could look. That was until I read the reviews for Arrows edition, which pretty much said blows the BU edition out of the water, confirmed now as I type while watching the excellent restoration work that Arrow have put into this release. The package itself is also very good, although not a massive fan of the new artwork, it does look fantastic and the inclusion of the infamous "hand" artwork on the inside of the case is a nice touch. The booklet contained within is a nice thick and very informative one, featuring writing by Fulci expert Stephen Thrower, High Rising Productions' Calum Waddell (who also created the many special features along with his collegeues at High Rising, Jay Slater (author of Eaten Alive!) and Craig Lapper. Also included is a poster featuring the UK artwork on one side and the US Zombie artwork on the other(please note that this poster does not come with the standard Blu Ray edition) and the newly added art card, mine featuring House By the Cematary. There is a multitude of new extra features on disc 2 of this set which I cannot comment on yet, but I'm of the understanding that they are extrememly good as is normal from the guys at High Rising. "The boat can leave now, tell the crew"

eccellente versione in 2 dischi blu ray ( che qui probabilmente non vedremo mai) con audio e video superlativi. Straconsigliato!

Correcto.

Zombie no es un filme de una gran producción, por ello es de reconocer el cuidado que pusieron a la restauración, sobre todo en lo que concierne a la imagen, se ven detalles nítidos y correcciones de luz en varias escenas de las cuales incluso pueden verse algunos artefactos de maquillaje, tal vez en ese sentido no juegue un papel totalmente favorable ya que la falta de claridad en formatos anteriores disimulaba esos detalles pero aún así jamás se ha visto mejor. El audio es claro y probablemente lo que mejor suena son los balazos y la música, esto es mucho ya que hay que considerar los recursos limitados de la producción y el hecho de que casi todas las voces fueron dobladas. De extras incluye trailers, anuncios de radio y TV, galería de imágenes, audio comentario con uno de los protagonistas y una introducción de Guillermo Del Toro. Sobre la película me llama la atención la forma en la que los zombies son presentados (en contraste con los zombies de George Romero o de las interminables versiones de series y películas actuales), lucen más serios, inexpresivos, casi como fantasmas, pero al mismo tiempo con un toque de más crueldad y sadismo cuando van sobre sus víctimas.

This film is an awesome bit of fromage on top of some zombie soup and isn't for everyone. If you have the DVD and are on the fence about upgrading to Blu Ray, worry not dear fiends. Blue Underground has managed to deliver a lovingly restored image with a solid audio track that can be considered the best version of this b movie . The extras are numerous and the inclusion of the CD soundtrack is the cherry on the top.

Echt een film voor mensen met stalen zenuwen. Lang geleden in de Bioscoop gezien en nu op Blu-ray. Goed beeld en geluid.