This is a fondly remembered horror movie for people of a certain age . Produced and released in 1979 it became a massive hit due to home video because people my age weren't allowed in to X certificate movies and between 1976 and 1990 we didn't have a cinema on the isle of Bute anyway and it's unlikely this would be shown at a multiplex in large towns meaning that Italian exploitation horror found its niche in the home rental department
For what it is , gore laden zombie horror , it's relatively good and for an Italian horror it does have an eye on the international market where the production team have gone to the time and trouble of filming in America . Normally in these type of movies the crew would have just shot the film outside a dilapidated tenement trying to fool the audience and failing to convince them it's set in America but director Lucio Fulci uses a lot of wide shots in the opening sequence ensuring the audience get to see New York landmarks such as the World Trade Centre and Brooklyn Bridge . He also casts a couple of well known British actors in the shape of Ian McCulloch and Richard Johnson which does give the film a mainstream feel since " video nasties " usually suffered from a dreadful unknown cast who often deserved their obscurity . That said it's the gore and violence that was the selling point of these movies
One rather cynical aspect to the film is how much it rips off the Romero movies . DAWN OF THE DEAD was released at the same time and it's very obvious ZOMBI FLESH EATERS was produced to a prequel of sorts to that one . Some aspects such as the humans being converted by a bite , the zombies only being killed by an injury to the head and even snatches of dialogue of the dead walking the Earth due to their being no more room in hell does sail rather close to the plagiarist wind and this films ending does tie in with the Romero sequel . So much so that for several years many people thought DAWN was the direct sequel to FLESH EATERS which no doubt was Fulci's intention . Very naughty . That said there's few more horror movies from the video nasty era better remembered than this one and it says something that it is so easily confused with a widely released " mainstream " horror epic by Romero when it has no connection with that series of films
For what it is , gore laden zombie horror , it's relatively good and for an Italian horror it does have an eye on the international market where the production team have gone to the time and trouble of filming in America . Normally in these type of movies the crew would have just shot the film outside a dilapidated tenement trying to fool the audience and failing to convince them it's set in America but director Lucio Fulci uses a lot of wide shots in the opening sequence ensuring the audience get to see New York landmarks such as the World Trade Centre and Brooklyn Bridge . He also casts a couple of well known British actors in the shape of Ian McCulloch and Richard Johnson which does give the film a mainstream feel since " video nasties " usually suffered from a dreadful unknown cast who often deserved their obscurity . That said it's the gore and violence that was the selling point of these movies
One rather cynical aspect to the film is how much it rips off the Romero movies . DAWN OF THE DEAD was released at the same time and it's very obvious ZOMBI FLESH EATERS was produced to a prequel of sorts to that one . Some aspects such as the humans being converted by a bite , the zombies only being killed by an injury to the head and even snatches of dialogue of the dead walking the Earth due to their being no more room in hell does sail rather close to the plagiarist wind and this films ending does tie in with the Romero sequel . So much so that for several years many people thought DAWN was the direct sequel to FLESH EATERS which no doubt was Fulci's intention . Very naughty . That said there's few more horror movies from the video nasty era better remembered than this one and it says something that it is so easily confused with a widely released " mainstream " horror epic by Romero when it has no connection with that series of films