Spooky Scary Horrorthons 5 - Film #31

While the story and the characters in Lucio Fulci's Zombie may be paper-thin, you never get the sense that either of those elements were meant to be a focus. They are merely excuses for fantastical gore sequences and iconic shots to take place, and they do a splendid job.

The zombies that are shown here are far from the relatively humanlike and oftentimes goofy hordes that George Romero conjured in his zombie films. While his zombies were used to take potshots at human society, Fulci's zombies seem more like a gnarly representation of death. They are wormridden and almost skeletal in their appearance. As far as I am concerned these zombies are human-sized embodiments of death. Tireless, always hunting for living beings. Much like death, we have plenty of reasons to fear these living corpses.

Through the whole film there is a sorrowful sense of dread. A moment that really stuck with me was a pistol and a flare gun being fired in back-to back scenes. One is used to lay a dead body to rest and the other to signal for help, but in this cynical world of living dead they seem to represent a similar sense of helplessnes and desperation. A scientist who try to find a connection between voodoo traditions and the sudden surge of living dead is scoffed at for wasting time on such superstitious fairytales, perhaps people are simply to afraid to discover the truth and they cover that fear with skepticism.

Embedded within this dreadful, nightmarish atmosphere are several other sequences that stick with you. I was not expecting to see a zombie wrestling with a shark, I will tell you that much. The infamous eye mutilation is another standout moment. We are not allowed to miss this moment, the camera lingers until the eye is far gone. The very final shot of a undead horde traversing the Brooklyn bridge is another great shot that is allowed to end the whole film, with the foreboding (and great) musical score creating a complete sense of hopeless cynicism and nihilism. Even our bravest efforts seem to be useless in the waking path of death and despair.

Lucio Fulci's Zombie is a nighmare. A gorgeous, hopeless nightmare.