HORROR 101 with Dr. AC: 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....

Well, in Italy, Fulci’s film was released as Zombi 2, an unofficial sequel to Dawn of the Dead. In England, it was known as Zombie Flesh Eaters and banned as a Video Nasty. And, in America, it was simply called Zombie and advertised with the celebrated tag line, “We Are Going To Eat You!”

Tisa Farrow (Anthropophagus), Ian McCulloch (Contamination), Al Cliver (Cannibals), Olga Karlatos, and Richard Johnson (The Haunting) star in this worldwide splatter sensation that remains one of the most eye-skewering, skin-ripping, shark-chomping, gore-gushingly graphic horror hits of all time!

Also worth noting are Fulci’s incredible production team, which includes screenwriters Elisa Briganti and Dardano Sacchetti, editor Vincenzo Tomasi, cinematographer Sergio Salvati, composer Fabio Frizzi, and makeup effects artists Giannetto de Rossi and Rosario Prestopino, many of whom worked with Fulci on numerous occasions.

It’s worth noting that in a directing career that spanned over five decades and dabbled in every genre from comedies to Westerns to war films to crime thrillers, all four films in Fulci’s so-called “Gore-Tet” (comprised of Zombie, The Beyond, House by the Cemetery, and City of the Living Dead aka The Gates of Hell) were shot over the space of a two-year period.

Clearly there is more to Fulci than these four infamous horror features, but there’s no denying that they are a large part of the reason he and his films continue to be discussed and celebrated to this day.

Join AC and his awesome panel of guests (Jennifer Olson, Ryan Olson, Fraser Coffeen, Michael Klug, Wendy Bodine, Lawrence P. Raffel) as they celebrate 45 years of shambling and gobbling!