Shambling hot on the decaying heels of Lucio Fulci's seminal "Zombie Flesh Eaters" came "Zombie Holocaust", featuring the same lead actor, the same filming locations, and some of the same behind the scenes crew.
Known in its US release as "Dr. Butcher, Medical Deviate", this is a film that truly throws everything at the wall and sees what sticks. After an opening sequence featuring some nicely gruesome corpse eviscerations in a New York hospital, Ian McCulloch of "Flesh Eaters" and TV's "Survivors" fame teams up with lovely looking, wooden acting and seemingly clothes allergic doctor Alexandra Delli Colli (of Signor Fulci's "The New York Ripper") to investigate. After a bizarre scene in which a cannibalistic hospital employee is caught quite literally "red handed" eating a patient's guts - whereupon he flings himself out of the window and plummets to his doom - Ian and Alexandra decide to take their investigation to the "Molacca" islands in Indonesia, home of a cannibalistic cult.
Upon arrival, we are plunged into all kinds of fun and frolics involving a mad doctor experimenting on the local cannibals to create a zombie slave race that numbers about four. Much enjoyment ensues from various disembowellings, eye gougings and general dismemberment. Our rugged hero Ian mashes a zombie's face using the outboard motor from a boat, the lovely Ms. Della Colli disrobes to show off her impressive body at regular intervals, and many racial stereotype native guides get gotten by the cannibals and zombies. One of said guides even seems to yell "Macarena, he went to de boat, he deed not come back" at one point. I watched that bit about five times til i almost blacked out from laughing.
I am still baffled by the ending, however: Lori (Della Colli) is captured by the cannibals, who strip her (wahey!), paint her with flowery tattoos, and prepare to sacrifice her on an altar. Then, for no apparent reason at all, the cannibal chief changes his mind, does a little dance, and the next thing we know the cannibals accompany Lori and help her save Ian and battle the zombies. Why?!? It seems like there's whole scenes missing here, but i'm certain my copy is uncut. Maybe the cannibal chief was just a nice guy, and was just mucking around with all that sacrifice stuff. Answers on a postcard, please.
The ending sounds a bit like the ending of the Monty Python episode "Mr. Pither's Cycling Tour". You know the one, where Mr. Pither and his friend are about to be killed by charging Soviet soldiers and then they end up back in Devon, shake hands and go their seperate ways. Actually quite a few of these zombie films you've done feel Pythonesque.
ReplyDeleteLife is Pythonesque. The afterlife doubly so.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Catholic theology God is supremely rational, so the afterlife will make much more sense than life ever did?
ReplyDeleteIf he's that rational, explain slugs. As 'Time Bandits' so rightly said: "Does this not prove that creation is in the hands of a lunatic?"
ReplyDeleteUm, some things eat slugs? I think hedgehogs do.
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