ZOMBIE (1979) (aka ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS) TURNS 45!!!

ZOMBIE (aka ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS / ZOMBI 2) (1979) d. Lucio Fulci (Italy)

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When George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead became a major success worldwide, Italians had a stake in the matter since horror icon Dario Argento was one of its producers. In Italy, the trimmed-down Dawn was rechristened Zombi, and its blockbuster status dramatically altered the horror landscape, with molto filmmakers clamoring to ride the coattails of its success. Veteran direction Lucio Fulci was first out of the gate in 1979 with his own rendering of the undead mythos. Its name was....

ZOMBIE (1979) Blu-ray release!!

Zombie (1979) d. Lucio Fulci (Italy) (92 min)

In Italy, it was released as Zombi 2, the unofficial sequel to Dawn of the Dead. In England, it was known as Zombie Flesh Eaters and banned as an official Video Nasty. In America, it was called Zombie and advertised with the depraved tag line, “We Are Going To Eat You!” Tisa Farrow (Anthropophagus), Ian McCulloch (Contamination), Al Cliver (Cannibals), and Richard Johnson (The Haunting) star in this worldwide splatter sensation directed by Lucio Fulci (City of the Living Dead, The House by the Cemetery) that remains one of the most eye-skewering, skin-ripping, shark-chomping, gore-gushingly graphic horror hits of all time!

MANIAC (1980) Blu-ray Review

Maniac (1980) d. William Lustig (USA) (88 min)

Renowned character actor Joe Spinell creates one of the most memorable (and certainly the sweatiest) psychopaths ever to grace the grindhouses. Constantly moaning, mumbling and crying, Spinell’s Frank Zito conducts a reign of terror on the NYC streets, murdering young women and tacking their bloody scalps onto his ever-growing collection of female mannequins. Working from a script by Spinell and C.A. Rosenberg and aided enormously by Tom Savini’s gut-churning and (literally) mind-blowing f/x, William Lustig directs this notorious bit of nastiness with the grime and degradation piled on an inch thick throughout. Gorgeous Caroline Munro also stars as a fashion photographer, although her attraction to and ensuing relationship with Spinell are the weakest elements in the film (not to mention the fact that his “normal” behavior is completely at odds with the remainder of his unhinged performance).