Zombie Holocaust (1980)

Directed by Marino Girolami

Movie Review by Al Fleshrot

Summary
Body parts start mysteriously disappearing from a New York City morgue and eventually it's revealed that a cannibalistic cult is behind it. The cultists originally hail from a remote tropical island, so a four member team is sent there to investigate. There first stop is to see an American doctor on one of the more civilized islands to hire guides and get directions to their final destination. When they finally arrive on the mysterious cult island they are soon confronted by the cannibals there. In true horror movie fashion the three local guides are quickly isolated and brutally slaughtered by the cannibals. Not sated, the cannibals launch an assault on the remaining team and when all seems lost an eerie moaning drives the attackers back into the forest. Then the good doctor who they met before arrives to save the two survivors, Peter and Lori. But the doctor is no saint - it just so happens that he is the source of the zombies and the cannibal natives are willing subjects for his experiments. Ignorant of the doctor's mad designs, Peter and Lori are sent off to find a raft for means of escaping the island. But it's a trap and a zombie attacks them on the beach. Peter dispatches it with a propeller and they head back inland to confront the doctor. Peter is captured and winds up on the operating table to become another subject the doctor's zombie experiments. Lori winds up becoming part of a sacrificial ritual and struts around stark naked for a spell. Like any decent mad scientist, the doctor spends too much time explaining his genius and Peter manages to cut himself free start a scuffle. Then Lori arrives with some of the cannibals to finish the coup. The doctor's quest for eternal life goes down in flames!

Review
This review will be brief - a tribute to how much time we get to spend watching zombies in the film! It's rather disappointing on the zombie front, but if you enjoy smoking hot and fully naked Italian models laying spread eagle on a sacrificial altar then it's definitely worth watching. When viewed simply as a horror movie it fares much better thanks to it's ample amount of gore and gratuitous nudity! Perhaps it's a case of translation when they chose the title for the U.S. release, but the term holocaust never really seemed appropriate for this film. The zombies were isolated on a remote island and there was never even a hint of zombies overtaking the world. But the biggest problem is how terrible the zombies are. They only make a brief appearance, and they fail to impress.

Best Zombie Death
Peter and Lori find a small boat that will hopefully be their escape from the island, but a lone zombie attacks them before the motor will start. But Peter pulls up the smaller outboard motor and manages to fire it up just in time. He thrusts the rotating propeller right into the zombie's face and quickly turns it to mince meat!

Memorable Scene
Alexandra Delli Colli walking around completely naked with seductive body paint...enough said.

Al Fleshrot wants your brains

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