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Delivering a gory right jab straight into the face of its viewers, Zombie Holocaust is easily the best cannibal/zombie meat-fest to ever emerge from Italy.  It’s a horror film that specializes in the absurd, the naked, and the fierce; featuring a mighty zenith of nasty dismemberments, flesh-eating cannibals, and plenty of dripping hot nakedness to make even Zalman King question the size of his Red Shoes Diaries.

Recycling a healthy dose of location footage from Lucio Fulci’s Zombi II, Zombie Holocaust begins in New York City with the slicing and dicing of cadavers in a hospital morgue.  Anthropology expert and part-time nurse, Lori Ridgeway (Alexandra Delli Colli) is incensed by the juvenile antics of body parts thievery.  When she discovers that the supposed culprit is from Keto, the island she was raised upon, she recruits Dr. Peter Chandler (Ian McCulloch) and, together, their investigation leads them to her home island, run amok with nasty cannibals, where Dr. Obrero (Donald O'Brien) is assembling his zombie army.

Directed by Marino Girolami, Zombie Holocaust is as unflinching in its offering of gore and meat-splatter effects as the Saw franchise.  Fully realized (even on its small budget), the film never disappoints in its righteously fleshy extremes.  The kill-shots are hardcore, sometimes campy, but always extreme and tasty (for the right viewer).  You don’t soon forget the head assault carnage delivered to one zombie from a hand-carried off board boat engine.  Neither do you forget the cannibal nude paint job done (rather artfully) to the undressed and easy-on-the-eyes Colli upon her capture.

To be clear, Zombie Holocaust isn’t vying to be an Oscar winner.  Those four stars it earns come from its unabashed willingness to go to extremes.  The occasional scalping(s) that occurs, the thick slicing of throats, the willingness to eat flesh and be an honest to god superb gore-fest zombie movie all occur at such a fresh and frenetic pace that this film from 1979 is never boring; never dull; and always sick and twisted fun.  Sure, the acting is at the lower levels of the profession and even the dialogue is a bit carnivorous and hollow.  Doesn’t matter because of the sheer splattering of joy and sick fun Zombie Holocaust’s makers are having at telling a gorrific tale of one mad scientist’s attempt to increase humanity’s time on earth.

Released in America as Doctor Butcher, M.D., this Italian Horror film provides enough shock to its schlock to go down in the annals of Zombie films as a true cult classic.

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{2jtab: Film Details}

MPAA Rating: This title has not yet been rated by the MPAA.
Director: Marino Girolami
Writer: Romano Scandariato
Cast: Ian McCulloch; Alexandra Delli Colli; Sherry Buchanan; Peter O'Neal; Donald O'Brien; Dakar
Genre: Horror
Tagline: Not for the faint-hearted...
Memorable Movie Quote: "The patient's screaming disturbing me, performed removal of vocal chords."
Distributor: Shriek Show
Official Site:
Release Date: May 7, 1982
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: June 28, 2011

Synopsis: The members of an expedition in search for the last faithful of Kito, the cannibal god, land on a small island in the Moluccas (East Indies) and are soon hunted by cannibals and zombies, these being created by a sinister Doctor O'Brien who is experimenting with corpses. Suzan, a sexy lady in the expedition team, eventually takes a hold on things, as she is accepted as queen of the cannibals, and direct them against the mad scientist and his army of zombies.

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{2jtab: Blu-ray Review}

Component Grades Movie Blu-ray Disc Blu-ray Experience

Blu-ray Review:

Available on Blu-ray - June 28, 2011
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English
Audio: English. In Italian with English subtitles/Dubbed in English
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD); DVD copy
Playback: Region A

The 1080p HD transfer is pretty solid for a film released in 1979 and never kept in the most pristine of conditions.  The colors are saturated in a glorious hue of all things late 70s, making the leafy greens of the jungle appear more olive drab than usual and the yellows (which tend to dominate) are of a crisp golden.  The blood (and there are buckets of it) is gushing with crimson schlock. The soundtrack – presented in a fairly limited DTS-HD 2.0 format – is centered toward the front.  It isn’t immersive but it satisfies the needs for the B-movie and its audiences.

Supplements:

Commentary:

• None

Special Features:

Shriek Show has seen fit to include the additional scenes filmed in 1982 which were included for the US version of the film.  They are of a very low quality but necessary for enthusiasts of the film.  There is an interview with the film’s FX maestro, Maurizio Trani, and plenty of nasty-looking zombiefied production stills to keep your heart racing.

• Scenes from Dr. Butcher M.D. (12 min)
• Interview with Maurizio Trani (10 min)
• Still & Poster Gallery
• Trailers
• DVD Copy

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