Peter West - Ian McCulloch! A balding newspaper reporter who is trying to find out the story behind the disappearance of Anne's father. His search leads him on a trip to Matool where he finds more than he bargained for. After narrowly escaping certain death, Peter and Anne return to New York City to find it overrun by the undead!

Not only is Zombie the movie that jump-started Lucio Fulci's career, but it was my first experience with Italian zombie films. The greatest thing about this movie (aside from the zombies, nudity, and gore) is the presence of (GASP!) originality! Sure it�s got the usual eye-gouging scene (which was prevalent in many other Italian zombie movies), but have you ever seen a zombie and shark fight it out?! I think not! In the movie's opening scenes, we see Dr. Menard put a bullet into the head of a rising corpse. Afterwards he announces to someone offscreen that "The boat can leave now." Said boat ends up floundering just off of Ellis Island and is boarded by two harbor patrol officers. One of them goes below the deck to investigate, only to have his throat chewed out by an undead stowaway. The rather obese zombie then goes after the second cop, who uses his revolver to knock it overboard.

After that bizarre incident, Peter West is sent to do some investigative reporting. He looks into the story and manages to join forces with Anne Bowles. Apparently the boat in question belonged to her father. Together, they piece together that Anne's father was residing on the island of Matool (which they discover in a note from Mr. Bowles). Now that they know where to look, all they need is a way to get to said island. Well as luck would have it, they find Brian Hull and Susan Barrett. These two are going island hopping in the Caribbean and might just be passing Matool. After careful negotiations with Brian, Peter and Anne come aboard and start off on their journey. After a while, Susan gets antsy and decides to do some nude scuba diving (boy I hope that becomes an Olympic event)!

While underwater, a shark (probably the fattest and clumsiest damn fish I've ever seen) swims after Susan and also rams Brian's boat (which damages Brian's hull! Get it?! 'Cause Brian's last name is Hull!). Susan escapes from the shark, but comes face to face with an aqua-zombie! Yes that's right, a zombie is just meandering about on the ocean floor. With the aid of some coral, she fights off the zombie and swims up to the boat. Meanwhile, the shark returns and does battle with the aqua-zombie. This wonderfully choreographed scene makes watching Zombie even more worthwhile. In any case, each creature exchanges damage ending in what I would call a draw. (And I wonder if that shark became a zombie-shark?! Now that would be extremely cool!)

Well if the zombie didn't tip you off yet, our group of wayward travelers has managed to find Matool. Back on the island, Dr. Menard is studying some blood samples and arguing with his bitter (and drunken) wife. After slapping her across the face (hey she deserved it!) he goes into the nearby village to take up his doctoral duties. As night falls, a voyeuristic zombie watches Paola take a shower. Moments after she wraps herself in a towel, she ends up fighting for her life. She locks herself in a room and breathes a sigh of relief as she leans against the door. Suddenly a zombie smashes through and grabs hold of her hair. The decaying hand pulls her face closer and closer to a sharp chunk of splintered wood until... SPLAT! The splintered wood enters her eye! OUCH! Paola, screaming in horrific pain, is dragged out through the door to her doom.

Once daylight comes, Brian and the others tether the boat and check on the aforementioned damage caused by Tubby the shark. They decide to shoot some flares, which brings Dr. Menard to their rescue. He drives them to the hospital, telling Anne about her father's last moments along the way. Once they arrive, Dr. Menard asks his guests to drive to his house and pick up Paola. They agree and soon arrive at Menard's home, only to find that Paola has become a zombie buffet! The frightened foursome then makes a hasty retreat back to the hospital in Menard's vehicle. They don't get too far because Brian hits a zombie and unnecessarily veers off the road into a tree. (This guy has a bad track record when it comes to driving anything!) This event forces our main characters to continue on foot.

After a very short period of time they stop to rest because Peter's ankle was hurt in the aforementioned crash. Peter and Anne lay side by side and talk while Brian and Susan investigate an old conquistador graveyard. Peter and Anne talk for a bit then start kissing. Their little make out session is ruined when zombie hands rise from the soil and attack them. Brian hears their startled cries and runs to help them, leaving Susan all alone. This is when the coolest looking zombie in the movie makes it's appearance (yes it is the zombie featured on the box cover)! It slowly rises from its earthen bed and lunges for Susan's throat (and naturally she had more than enough time to escape). As Susan's jugular is torn out, Brian comes to her aid with trusty rifle in hand. He shoots the undead menace a few times but with no effect because he didn't shoot it in the head!

Peter, seeing how stupid Brian is, picks up a nearby wooden cross and obliterates the zombie's head. With that done, Peter and Anne allow Brian a few seconds of mourning time before moving on to "Dr. Menard's Hospital of the Damned." In retrospect this was a good idea because zombies start sprouting up everywhere. They manage to outrun the growing zombie horde (which is easy since the zombies move so slowly) and arrive at the hospital, where they prepare to make a final stand. The front doors are locked and barricaded, the guns are loaded, the Molotov cocktails are prepared, and the zombies are amassing! Yes folks, it's like a zombie version of the Alamo! The first zombie attacks actually occur inside the hospital since Dr. Menard didn't properly dispose of several corpses. This leads to the deaths of Menard himself as well as Lucas and Minney.

Now it's all up to Brian, Peter, and Anne to fend off the undead horde! The main army of zombies bursts in through the front door and gets a warm welcome of gunfire and Molotov cocktails. Unfortunately, the zombies have two advantages over the last three survivors: superior numbers and a slew of continuity errors. The heroic trio manages to destroy most of their undead assailants and decide to seek the safety of their boat. They charge out the back door, kicking zombie ass along the way. Suddenly, Brian comes face to face with Susan. He lowers his defenses, allowing her to take a bite out of him. At this point, Brian realizes that the relationship is officially over and tells Peter to shoot Susan. Peter does, but only after a brief "emotional" struggle. (Which makes no sense. You'd figure Brian would be the one struggling with his emotions.)

They make it back to boat and set sail, but it seems that Brian won't make it home alive (well duh! He did get bitten by a zombie!). Moments later, Brian does die (didn't see that coming) and is stashed in the boat's hold. With that done, Peter turns on the radio looking for some cheer and solace, only to find that New York is crawling with zombies! How did this come about you may be wondering? Well there are two distinct possiblities, both linked to the events at the film's beginning. Possiblity #1: The fat zombie that was knocked overboard into New York harbor could have washed ashore and started nibbling on some New Yorkers or... Possibility #2: The harbor patrol officer that fell victim to the obese zombie could be the cause. His corpse did move a bit while on a coroner's table. Either way, the invasion has begun! Can the people of New York pull together and defeat the zombie onslaught?!

After watching this movie, all you can think is "Wow!" The makeup for the zombies is quite good considering the time Zombie was made. The best looking of the bunch is the zombie that snacks on Susan (and as I said, it also graces the box cover). Another great thing about this flick was its attempts at originality. Very rarely has voodoo been the reason for a zombie plague. (Usually some chemical agent, strange virus, or radiation is the culprit. And that's if the viewer is even given an explanation.) Then there's the underwater scene with the zombie fighting a shark. The idea itself is pure genius and was executed quite well (as is Paola's death scene. It's guaranteed to make most people cringe). Now I know that people will immediately dismiss my claim of originality and say that Zombie is a rip-off of Dawn of the Dead. That's highly implausible! They are two completely different movies with little or no similarities whatsoever! But I'm sure the confusion comes from the fact that Zombie was made as an unnofficial (Italian) sequel to Dawn (which is known as Zombi in Italy). And even despite that, Zombie seems more like a companion piece than a sequel.

With that said, let me talk about an important part of any movie's success. Its music! The music in Zombie does a good job of lending atmosphere to several of the key moments, and the main theme will surely stick with you long after the movie's over. However, despite all the good things about Zombie it does have some problems. The main thing that made my head hurt was how characters would suddenly freeze when a zombie lurched towards them. I can handle one scene where someone is paralyzed with fear, but four or five? No wonder most of the cast dies! Another thing I noticed is that the movie isn't very fluent. From time to time, the editing got very choppy which led to some laughable continuity errors. (In the immortal words of MST3K's Tom Servo: "Just because you can edit, doesn't mean you should.") In closing, I suggest that you should definitely check out Zombie. It's a real treat for fans of zombie films, but is surely not for the faint of heart.