THE DEAD TIMES

RATING:

ZOMBIE RATING:

DESCRIPTION:

When an abandoned boat shows up in New York harbour, it's not seen as anything unusual. There is something on that boat though, something strange, something that bites people and takes and extraordinary number of shots to take down, something evil. The boat belongs to the father of Anne Bowles though Anne has not heard from her father in months as he is away conducting research on the small Caribbean island of Matul. Teaming up with a reporter looking for a juicy story, Anne, along with two holidaying boat-owners, go on an adventure to Matul in order to track down the wayward father and discover the truth of the mysterious illness he is said to have caught. However, what they find on the island is only horror... horror and death, walking death.

MY VERDICT:

Billed as the spiritual successor to Romero's legendary 1978 film, Dawn of the Dead, Zombie Flesh Eaters (aka Zombi 2, aka Zombie) is, quite simply, amazing - it comes very close to being my favourite Zombie movie of all time! The Zombies are the quintessential old-school slow-moving lurchers that I really love; hideous brutes that creep ever closer, slowly but surely, always present, always there, moving without care or urgency, without sound, relentless in their aimless pursuit. They are also superbly detailed and mind-bogglingly grotesque - the movie wearing its "Video Nasty" label with pride; their clothes are tattered, their faces, pale, the skin around the eyes is blacked and bruised, giving the life-less eyes a terrific (and terrifying) sunken look, flesh hangs off where necessary, and since many of the dead have recently risen from the ground, awesome amounts of dirt clogged to skin and matted hair - some even sporting worms and maggots devouring their soft-tissues. You see - in keeping with Romero's work -, it's never clear how the Zombies formed; it looks like a virus and is treated as such by doctors but has no grounds in virology, bacteriology or radiology. Cleverly, the movie also gives a substantial 'nod' to the origin of the Zombie by, the majority of the film, being set on the tropical Caribbean island and locals referencing the Voodoo religion. It's not all about the undead though as the acting is also surprisingly high-quality, notably the gruff-looking doctor who you never really know whether to trust or not. There are a few minor gripes I have; the bit where a Zombie fights a shark (yes, that actually happens) is cool and all but the Zombie does seem to show more intelligence than his counterparts, clearly backing away from the toothed sea-creature until a suitable opening appears for him to strike. The pace of the mid-section of the movie also gets quite slow with few walking dead on screen and much deliberation between the humans. However, the closing portion of the film is the stuff of legend and must be seen to be believed, including a staple 'the horror lives on moment'. Watch this film and watch it now - I cannot stress enough how much enjoyment you will get from the true, gritty horror of it all.