ATLRetro

Splatter Cinema Presents ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST (1980); Dir: Marino Girolami; Starring: Ian McCulloch, Donald O’Brien, Alexandra Delli Colli; Tues. May 8; 9:30 PM; Plaza Theatre; Trailer here.

Splatter Cinema comes with the warning that the cult horror movies they screen at the Plaza Theatre are “not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach.” ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST (1980) certainly tests your limits when it comes to the latter with a hearty serving of gore. Billed as a 30th anniversary screening, the Italian exploitation film is mash-up of the cannibale and zombie subgenres which were popular grindhouse fare back in the cusp of the 1970s into early 1980s. It owes a heavy debt to Lucio Fulci’s ZOMBI 2 (1979); the Wiki on it even says it reuses footage but other reviewers simply say director Marino Girolami pushed the boundaries of borrowing.

The plot is a standard mad scientist tale. A Manhattan hospital staffer and pagan god Kito-worshipper from a Pacific Island has a taste for dining out at the facility’s morgue. Government scientist Dr. Peter Chandler, played by Scottish actor  Ian McCulloch (who also starred in Fulci’s ZOMBIE, as well as lots of British TV), and hot morgue assistant/anthorpologist Lori (Alexandra Delli Colli) investigate only to find the corpse-munching isn’t limited to their hospital. They launch an expedition to the island where they become the hunted by first by cannibals and finally by zombies (yes, the movie makes you wait for the undead but they do finally walk) created by the twisted Doctor Obrero (Irish character actor and perennial Nazi Donald O’Brien). And oh, attention, fanboys, Delli Colli “run[s] around naked a lot”, as one Amazon fan reviewer points out.

Yup, ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST is not exactly original in plot, but then the audience for a movie like this isn’t in it for the art. While online critics lament it’s not Fulci, they do seem to say that it works on the visceral level where over-the-top gore and humor collide. And seeing a 35mm print of something like this, well, is like a time capsule back to Times Square or, in Atlanta perhaps to the old Rialto, and that good unclean fun, right? And another good reason to remember that if it wasn’t for The Plaza, you wouldn’t have that opportunity here in Atlanta.

Be sure to come early to get your free photo taken in an incredibly realistic recreation of a scene from the movie by the crazy guys who make the Splatter Cinema series a one-of-a-kind event, Luke Godfrey and Nick Morgan.

TERRIFYING TRIVIA about ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST… 

1. It was re-edited and released in the US under the title of DOCTOR BUTCHER, M.D. by Aquarius Releasing in 1982. This version includes a 2.5 minute sequence from an unfinished student film by Roy Frumkes (writer of STREET TRASH [1987]) and a different music score.
2. A DVD version is available from Shriek Show (Media Blasters), both individually (yes, even in Bluray as of last year!) and in the triple feature ZOMBIE PACK, also including another Italian movie BURIAL GROUND: THE NIGHTS OF TERROR  (1981) and FLESHEATER (1988), directed by and starring the recently deceased S. William Hinzman (the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD [1968]). In a DVD extra, Frumkes talks about his footage, for which he netted $300, plus there are apparently lots of nifty other extras including a booklet with an essay about the 42nd Street grindhouse experience by Temple of Schlock‘s Chris Poggiali. We’re not saying that you can stay home and see it on DVD, just that you may want to check out the DVD later, of course.
3. Soundtrack composer Nico Fidenco also scored EMANUELLE AND THE CANNIBALS (1977), BLACK EMANUELLE (1975) and CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND (2002).

US poster for CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD, released here as THE GATES OF HELL.

By Philip Nutman
Contributing Blogger

Splatter Cinema Presents CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (Paura nella città dei morti viventi) (aka THE GATES OF HELL) (1980); Dir: Lucio Fulci; Screenplay by Fulci and Dardano Sacchetti; Starring: Christopher George, Catriona MacColl; Tues. Aug. 9; 9:30 PM; Plaza Theatre; Trailer here.

Regurgitated guts. A drill bit to the head. A pick axe in the eye…

Welcome to Lucio Fulci’s CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD, one of the most memorable – and shocking – “gore” films of the 1980s, presented in all its uncut, gruesome glory this Tuesday night at The Plaza Theatre, brought to you by those celluloid-lovin’ maniacs known to Atlanta residents as Splatter Cinema.

This may look like Christopher Lee, but it's actually the suicidal priest in THE CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD, now available also on Bluray DVD from Blue Underground.

For this month’s gut-wrenching, retro bloodbath, it’s spaghetti splatter with lots of weirdness on top. The late Italian director has been variously reviled by film fans as either one of the worst movie-makers of all time (he’s definitely not) or hailed a horror visionary and unique director. Honestly, there was no one quite like Lucio, but he would never have won an Oscar or its Italian equivalent. A distinctive director, yes; talentless, exploitive hack, NO!

For ATL Retro readers who only know his name in regards to his pasta horror flicks of the late ‘70s through the mid-‘90s (Fulci died of a heart attack in 1996), it should be noted that he made dozens of films over a 30-plus year career, which spanned comedies, costume dramas, spaghetti westerns, giallo thrillers and many more. Like acclaimed director Roman Polanski, who started out making absurdist dramas, weird thrillers (KNIFE IN THE WATER [1960]), became known as a “horror” director because of REPULSION (1965), THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS (1967) and ROSEMARY’S BABY (1968) before making one of the greatest movies of all time, the retro noir CHINATOWN (1974), Fulci escapes classification; he is sui generis.

One of the LIVING DEAD in Fulcio's zombie classic.

But splatter and zombies, and madness and more zombies and splatter (and the disgusting THE NEW YORK RIPPER [1982]) are what have seemingly become Fulci’s legacy. That said, he made two of my favorite Italian movies, the sprawling, hysterical historical costume drama, BEATRICE CENCI [1969]) and the insane psycho-thriller, DON’T TORTURE A DUCKLING [1972].

The story, with a vague nod to H.P. Lovecraft, starts in the small New England town of Dunwich, where a priest commits suicide by hanging himself in the church cemetery which somehow opens the gates of hell, allowing the dead to rise. Peter (Christopher George), a New York City reporter, teams up with a young psychic, Mary (Catriona MacColl), to travel to the town where they team up with another couple, psychiatrist Jerry and patient Sandra, to find a way to close the gates before All Saints Day or the dead all over the world will rise up and kill the living.

Bleeding eyes were the tamest effect in Fulci's CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD>

CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD was Fulci’s second foray into “undead” territory after 1979’s ZOMBI 2, a quick cash-in on the success of Romero’s DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978). The first of his unofficial “undead” trilogy (CITY was followed by THE BEYOND and THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY in 1981), this is one of the director’s best horror films. According to the fine folks at The Plaza, the print also is one of the most complete, good quality prints you’ll see on the big screen at this time – uncut, with all the infamous scenes intact. A must-see for all lovers of ‘80s horror and spaghetti splatter, and a primer for would-be filmmakers, CITY is loaded with atmosphere, shocking moments and typical Italian weirdness which unfolds like a fever dream. In other words,  park your left, logical brain hemisphere at the door and just go with the demented flow…You have been warned!