The worldwide success of George Romero's 1978 masterpiece Dawn of the Dead led to an incredible zombie boom in Italy. Director Lucio Fulci, who would become increasingly known for the unrepentant gore in his films, was one of the first to jump on the bandwagon with 1979's Zombie. It's a movie you either love or hate.

Fulci titled his film Zombie 2 for its European release to give audiences the impression it was a sequel to Dawn of the Dead (which was called Zombie overseas). This was a disservice, as the movie perfectly stands on its own, a visceral and grisly delight.

The movie begins with a man shooting a corpse in the head. He says, "the boat can leave now...tell the crew."

When that boat arrives in New York harbor, there appears to be no one in it. A police chopper above radios some coast guard officers on a nearby patrol boat. The two men try to get someone's attention on the vessel. When nobody responds, they head over to see what's happened. One of them finds food strewn about and comes upon a severed hand. Suddenly a huge grotesque and decaying figure lunges at him and pins him to the floor.

The officers grabs at him but only succeeds in taking a piece of skin off. (Of course, this is the first real view we get of a zombie and Fulci pulls out all the stops.)

The zombie bites into the cop's neck and sends blood spurting all over the place. He then goes up on deck, where the second officer sees him and tells him to freeze. When he doesn't, the cop shoots several times, sending the zombie's body into the river below.

Peter West (Ian McCulloch), a newspaper reporter, is assigned to the case. Back at the scene of the crime, the boat owner's daughter Ann Bowles (Tisa Farrow) has arrived. She hasn't spoken to her father in 3 months and neither she nor the detectives know where he is.

Meanwhile an autopsy is being conducted on the officer's body and the coroner is sure his death was caused by one or more bites to his neck. He and another examiner are unaware that the corpse is slowly waking up...

That night, Ann decides to go back to the boat where she runs into Peter, who's been following her around. The two of them have snuck by a police officer keeping an eye on the crime scene. About to be busted, the two pretend they're lovers in an intimate exchange. The cop believes the ruse and throws them out.

But Peter has found what he was looking for- a note to Ann from her father explaining his whereabouts. In it he tells her he's contracted a strange disease on the island he's been conducting studies on.

Peter tells his boss that he and Ann are heading out to the island of Matoul. Their plane lands in the Caribbean and the two hitch a ride on the yacht of a couple they meet. Although Susan Barrett (Auretta Gay) and Bryan Hull (Al Cliver) warn them the island is cursed, they agree to take them.

On Matoul, Dr. Mernard (Richard Johnson) is trying to comfort his distraught wife Paola (Olga Karlatos). (She's upset about her husband's experiments on the natives, who are mysteriously dying.) She's also frightened by rituals involving the supernatural which have led to the rise of zombies at the other end of the island. After an argument, the doctor assures Paola that they'll leave the island after more research into the phenomenon. (Later, he draws his own blood to test for the virus, which is rapidly spreading.)

Back on the yacht, Susan decides to go scuba diving, unaware that a shark is is in the area. She catches a glimpse of it and tries to get away. When she calls for help, Bryan fires off some shots from his rifle. Susan swims back down below to hide and is grabbed by an underwater zombie. She breaks free and the zombie and shark struggle for dominance.

While Dr. Mernard is at a makeshift clinic with his nurse (Stefania D'Amario), tending for the sick, Paola is alone in their house. Already on edge, she hears someone lurking outside.

As she tries to lock one of the doors, a zombie tries to push his way into her home. Moments later, the intruder grabs her by the hair through a broken window shutter. Paola is pulled towards him, and her eye is impaled on a large splinter of wood as she screams in agony.

A problem with the boat delays Ann & Peter's arrival on Montoul. They finally arrive and Dr. Mernard picks them up at the dock. He tells Ann that her father died and his last wish was that his letter be given to her. She's also told that her father's corpse began to come to life and had to be shot dead. (Some news, huh?)

While Mernard tends to a sick friend, who tells him the zombies are headed towards that part of the island, the other four check up on Paola for the doctor. They stumble on a horrific sight...zombies eating her corpse.

The group leaves immediately for the clinic. Their jeep crashes, and Peter is injured. Forced to walk, they end up in a cemetery for some Spanish conquistadors. The dead begin to come out from under the earth and one of them takes a huge chunk out of Susan's neck.

Ann, Peter, and Bryan make it to Dr. Mernard's clinic and the doctor tends to Peter's wound. Bryan tries to seal the doors as hordes of zombies descend on them.

The zombies successfully make their way in and Dr. Mernard gets bitten in the face by one. Bryan shoots the zombie dead but it's too late to save the doctor. More dead patients come to life and the nurse is killed. Bryan, Peter, and Ann try to keep them away with explosives and firearms, and soon the entire building is ablaze.

Outside, Bryan runs into Susan who's now fully transformed into a zombie. Before he can react, she bites a piece of his arm off and Peter shoots her in the head. The next morning, Bryan dies on the yacht.

Peter and Ann decide to take him back to the states as proof but soon realize they don't need any. When they turn on the radio, they hear that the zombie epidemic has spread throughout New York City. As Bryan's body comes back to life, we see countless zombies crossing the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan.

Although the actors are not exactly top-notch and the dubbing is bad a times, Fulci's confident direction and the fantastic makeup and special effects make this a must-see. (The makeup was done by Giannetto De Rossi and Maurizio Trani. The special effects were also created by Rossi, along with Giovanni Corridori and Gino De Rossi.) The memorable score was created by Fabio Frizzi and Giorgio Tucci.

Jason: A superb companion piece to Dawn of the Dead, utilizing a great island setting, the underwater, some awesome special effects, and a workable cast.

Two best assets? The eyeball-popping scene of another Italian beauty and the way simplistic and haunting score. The underwater zombie sequence with a shark is just weird icing on the cake.

Hunter: A film that's as different from Dawn of the Dead as night and day, but just as enjoyable. I can never get the images out of my head after I watch it, especially of the zombies coming out of the ground. Another strong asset is the pulsating electronic score which is extremely eerie and foreboding. Just ignore the poor character development, sit back and enjoy this fun gorefest.