Zombie

release year: 1979
genre: horror
viewing setting: home laserdisc, 6/6/99
what I expected: another gruesome living dead movie
what I got: a bad one

synopsis: A woman and a reporter head to a remote island to track down her missing father, but all they find is an infestation of flesh-eating zombies.

impressions: This was a cheap Italian entry in the "living dead" genre, and it shares a lot with George Romero's zombie movies. I couldn't help but note the extreme stupidity displayed by many of this film's characters: some just STOOD there and watched the zombies shuffle toward them, which culminated in a nasty death every time. Another time, the heroes had a dozen Molotov cocktails and only had to defend a single avenue of approach - and they STILL couldn't do it, as they were overrun by the zombies. Aaaaargh! Stupid protagonists deserve to die!

body count: more than a dozen, if you count zombies as kills

acting: bad, though not terrible

the good: decent gore effects, a bit of gratuitous nudity

the bad: bad dubbing, crude execution of simple plot

final word: This movie lives somewhere between watchable and bad.

rating: D+ (the "+" is only due to good gore and gratuitous nudity)

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