98 “Zombie” minute marker 5:10 Any list of the greatest films ever made will include a largish handful of horror films. Fear, dread, unease, these are emotions that the darkened theater encourages, and the artists of the medium are aware of this and respond to it in their creative process. Being a horror film fan means having a large body of work to refer to and be justly proud of. But I can’t lie, being a horror film fan also means loving a lot of stuff that we really actually be ashamed of. Case in point... This is another one of Romero’s children, and though I described it above as a “genre of homages” I must admit there’s another, more pejorative word, that often applies even better–please substitute “rip-off.” The history behind this rip-off is almost as epic as the film’s body count, and pretty instructive as to how markets for puerile exploitation are managed. Successful films always generate imitators, and if the film is hyped enough the imitators might try to get their quickie knock-offs in production, maybe even into the movie houses , before the film they are trying to ride the coat-tails of is even finished. Roger Corman did that often, and right now the Asylum film production house seems to do this kind of work almost exclusively. Without doubt, George Romero’s best Zombie film was the second, “Dawn of the Dead” (1979, which appears later in this list). Italian horror master Dario Argento had a role in the production, and was in charge of recutting the for the Italian market, so the Italians had a heads-up to this suddenly expanding sub-genre of horror. Helping things along is that Variety Film Production, which had the Italian distribution rights, also financed the first rip-off. In Italy, “Dawn of the Dead” was not presented as a sequel to “Night of the Living Dead” (1968, again, appear alter on this list) but as a stand-alone film, and it was renamed “Zombi.” Variety Film Production had exclusive rights to the alternate title, and had director Lucio Fulci make a sequel to “Dawn” under the title “Zombi 2." I doubt he had yet seen “Dawn” but all horror directors were familiar with the already classic “Night,” so he was familiar with the nature of the beasts Romero had created. The American release of “Zombi 2" was retitled “Zombie” (and there are several other alternate titles if your in the mood to look them up.) As Italian genre films were always very conscious of the American market, are almost always derivative of successful American films, and frequently packaged to create franchises, this started its own special sub-genre in Italy. Unofficial sequels of “Dawn” crept up all the way up to “Zombi 5,” and this was achieved after there had been at least three competing films titled “Zombi 3.” Compared to the film that inspired it, “Zombie” is a disgrace. Forget Romero’s dark and biting social commentary, strong and inventive characterization, and his rare gift with no-name casts. This is pure and puerile exploitation, devoid of any originality except for its devotion to novelty gore (the marketing promised free "barf bags" at every theater). But it most be said, this is a remarkably well crafted and stylish piece of pure and puerile exploitation. Lucio Fulci maay have been limited, but was still a skilled director, and worked repeatedly with men of the same caliber as he. Cinematographer Sergio Salvati worked ten Lucio Fulci films. Screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti almost as many. Between one’s striking visuals and the others well paced story, the constant flow of brutality never grew tiresome. Another frequent Fulci collaborator was Fabio Frizzi, who with Giorgio Tucci provided a really fine, minimalist, main score that seemed inspired by John Carpenter’s work on “Halloween” (1978, which also comes up later on this list). It does not change with the changing scenes, but simply gets louder or softer as events demanded, accented with native drums a plenty and high pitched electronic whines. I’m going to have bad things to say about several films that I don’t believe are deserving of their place on this list, but I have only fond memories of this one. Notably, there are there a number of famous set pieces; each expertly timed to indicate a change in the evolving, though smugly one-dimensional, narrative. I’ll provide a detailed plot outline to put the best scenes in their proper place: Famous set piece 1--A moody, attention getting first prologue, in which a figure, shrouded and bound, starts to rise from a prone position, only to be shot in the head by a back-lit man. It’s the only scene that could’ve been directly inspired by the action in “Dawn,” which I have noted, I don’t think Fulci had seen yet. The setting is an extremely unsanitary hospital, which was beautiful built out, seemingly inspired by the great German expressionist films of the 1920s. This set received special devotion by the production and costume designer Walter Patriarca, as most of the main action of the film takes place there. Famous set piece 2--A second prologue that also reminded many reviewers of German expressionist film, specifically the “death ship” sequence in “Nosferatu” (1922, which comes up later of this list), a ghost yacht enters New York harbor, passes the Statue of Liberty and under the Brooklyn Bridge. It carries with it a horrific cargo. Then four of the eight central characters are introduced. We can skip them, they are only there to serve plot functions and guarantee a healthy body count. They set off for the remote tropical paradise Matul (actually Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) because one of them wants to find out what happened to her father (who we later learn was the bound and shrouded figure who got a head-shot in the opening frame, but that’s okay, he was already dead when he was executed). Cut to the island where the only two cast members who had actual acting talent (though I recommend you look elsewhere on their resumes to actually see that talent displayed) Richard Johnson as Dr. David Menard and Olga Karlatos as his wife Paola, are coping with a slowly growing crisis. (In fairness to the whole cast, during production half spoke only English and the other half only Italian, making on set interaction a bit mechanical as they didn’t really understand each other, and then all were dubbed later, and quite badly.) The other side of the island is falling to a cannibalistic Zombie epidemic (this is not yet explicitly spelled out because the film makers know that the audience read the movie title). David assumes is some sort of exotic disease and hopes against hope to find a cure. Paola blames the natives and voodoo (it’s a rare thing for post-Romero Zombie films to reference voodoo at all); as she’s an unpleasant complainer and a racist so the script is telegraphing that she will die the single most horrible death in the movie, but in fairness, she the only character smart enough to realize that the only intelligent course of action is to get of the damned island. Famous set piece 3 (actually, the most amazing scene in the movie)–As the first four introduced non-characters approach the island, the absolutely stunning Auretta Gay starring as the utterly vacuous Susan Barrett decides for no reason at all to strip naked except her g-string and scuba gear and take a swim. She is first accosted by a tiger shark, than a cadaverous man who seems unbothered by being underwater for extended periods without any type of diving gear. She rushes back to the surface where she gets all hysterical and no one takes her seriously. Cut back to underwater where the Zombie and shark (mind you, it’s a real shark) rips of the Zombie’s (Ramón Bravo’s) arm, and then the Zombie takes a bite out of the shark. It took a great deal of audacity of to actually go and shoot it such a scene. Also, because of safety rules and laws preventing cruelty to animals, it is unlikely it could’ve been legally filmed in the USA (the shark was fed horse meat and sedatives before filming). Famous set piece 4–Shortly after all the cast was gathered in one place, in classic horror movie stupidity, they split up. Paola is alone in her impossible to defend villa and strips naked and stands before a triple angle mirrors, just to make sure we don’t miss any of her considerable physical appeal before she is brutally dispatched. She also takes a shower, lingering long beneath the rushing water. Then a rotting hand presses against the glass the window. Quick-thinking Paola tries to lock herself in an inner room but can’t shut the door, the hand is part inside keeping it open. After a struggle that includes tearing of rotten Zombie flesh, Paola manages to get the door closed and locked. But then the Zombies start breaking through the flimsy windows. Paola tries to build a barricade, but gets in arm reach of the monsters, and one grabs her by the hair. With sadism that is in its own way exquisite, the struggling Paola is slowly, slowly, drawn into a jagged piece of wood. It’s lined up perfectly with her right eye. It gets closer, and closer, and the audience is given plenty of time to ask themselves, how much of this are they really going to show and then... Sidebar, back in 1982 "Video Nasty" became a colloquialism in England for films distributed on video cassette that flaunted British censorship laws. Activists like Mary Whitehouse and various religious organizations demanded the Director of Public Prosecutions to take action. In 1984 72 separate films were placed on a list and faced charges under the newly expanded Obscene Publications Act. 39 of those films were successfully prosecuted. The tightened censorship would not relax for more than a decade. This movies single biggest impact on the history of cinema is that this scene was the cornerstone of the campaign against gory horror. Famous set piece 5–Susan is in trouble again. While the characters lounge in a graveyard, she notices the ground being disturbed—from below. She becomes conveniently paralyzed in fear as a much rotted corpse struggles to push itself out of the ground. The rotted corpse is impressively decayed, notable especially for the empty eye-socket wiggling with live earth-worms. Affectionately dubbed by fans as Ol’ Worm Eye, he would adorn the movie poster, become the single most icon figure of that era’s Italian horror cinema, and, less importantly, bite Susan because she didn’t run away while she had the chance. Famous set piece 6–The remaining cast members realize they are in trouble and barricade themselves in the hospital. Then comes a memorable image that Romero himself borrowed for the opening scenes of “Day of the Dead” (1985, not on this list), a long shot of a desolate, wind swept street lined with dilapidated buildings. A crab scuttles across the foreground; and in the background, a lone zombie. Even though it is a solitary figure, it boldness to walk down the center of the street in the day night makes it clear that the balance of power has irreversibly shifted, the menace will no longer be confined to “the other side of the island,” and the apocalypse is about to be unleashed. The apocalypse is kind of been-there, done-that. Hordes of the undead. Panic and peril. Lots of gore. Desperate acts of heroism. Very substantial reduction in the size of the cast. Only three escape to the boat, and one of them has been bitten so he’s locked in the cabin (Al Cliver) while the other two stay above (Tisa Farrow and Ian McCulloch). Famous set piece 6–The story comes full circle as the boat enters New York harbor just as the bitten survivor succumbs and his Zombie starts pounding on the locked cabin door, while the other two try a decide what to do next. They don’t have clear options, because New York has changed during their absence. The closing image is truly memorable; an army of Zombie’s shambling across the Brooklyn bridge, invading another borough full of victims. Trailer: youtube/watch?v=3thbT3wq7JE And because I know you can’t live without it, Zombie vs shark: youtube/watch?v=uOSN2s8FY8Q
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 22:29:43 +0000
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