One of the most infamous Italian zombie-fests to hit the silver blood soaked screen, Zombie 2 was originally born as a pseudo sequel to Romero's Dawn of the Dead. Stealing the name Zombie (Dawn's European title), Lucio Fulci's answer was Zombie 2 (It retained the title Zombie in the US, confusing - eh?). While the film is light on just about everything that made Dawn so great (character development, social commentary, clever writing) Zombie 2 would soon become a legend in its own right. Even after all of these years, the film still stands as a gritty, no holds barred entertaining 42nd street style gore-fest, with nary a slow or dull moment to hold it back. This is the kind of cinema that your mom warned you about, and any 'normal' critic would sincerely discount this film on pure content (or lack there of) alone. But we're in the world of a horror fan's wet dream right now, and Zombie 2 (or Zombie, whatever the hell you want to call it) does indeed belong in the collection of just about every undead horror nut roaming gods green earth today. Previously available on DVD in the US from Anchor Bay (quite early on in the DVD game mind you) and a few overseas import editions as well, Blue Underground has seen fit to give Zombie 2 a complete audio/visual makeover - let's see how they did.

I shouldn't really have the need to even break into the story here, but I'll give you the quick rundown anyway. When an abandoned ship is found in the New York harbor, the local police are shocked to find that the living dead are about all that's left onboard. The mysterious abandoned vessel draws quite a bit of attention, but most of said attention comes from young Anne Bowles (Tisa Farrow, yeah Mia's sister) and a nosy reporter named Peter West (the great, Ian McCulloch). Searching for her father, Ann discovers that he's on a remote island called Matoul. Ann and Peter hitch a boat ride with vacationing couple Brian and Susan and make their way to the mysterious island. Upon their arrival they discover that Matoul has been taken over, not only by mad scientist Dr. Menard (Richard Johnson) but also hordes of flesh eating zombies. So what are a group of young hipsters to do?

It's kinda tough to pinpoint the real appeal of Zombie 2, there's no mistaken the fact that from a cinematic standpoint, the film is more than kind of weak. Perhaps it's one of those love it or hate it affairs, but I have yet to meet any horror fans (unless they are anti-Fulci to begin with) who don't get a kick out of this film. Perhaps it's the scope framing that adds the cinematic oomph fans are looking for, or maybe it's the fantastic score by Fabio Frizzi. While these factors could all be labeled as 'good' for lack of a better term, the real appeal here would have to be that Fulci magic that we've all grown to know and love, and it runs a solid red across the screen throughout this film. Who couldn't fall in love with a film that features a scene of a young lady scuba diving topless, subsequently being attacked by a zombie underwater? But wait, there's more - follow that with the same zombie in a full on wrestling match with a shark, and you've got some true cinematic genius. In addition to this magical underwater ballet, we're treated to more undead types roaming the island with oatmeal covering their faces, and more flesh tearing than you could shake a dismembered arm at. Of course, who could forget the granddaddy of them all, the young woman who gets a wood splinter shoved in her eye, one of the most memorable gore effects from a horror film...ever.

The real reason for the existence of this (yet another) edition of Zombie 2 on DVD is the revamped audio/video - and Blue Underground does not disappoint (would we expect any less?) in this department. While previous editions were either framed incorrectly (if ever so slightly) or blasted for having color shifts/compression artifacts, all of these maladies are remedied with BU's latest edition. Colors are bright and sharp, the image - crystal clear. While there is slight evidence of print damage (a few light scratches and some specs) this transfer is still pretty damn near flawless. Audio options include a new Dolby Digital 5.1 remix, Dolby Surround 2.0 and the films' original mono track is also included. It's worth noting that BU's souped up 5.1 track is a vast improvement over AB's previous mix as well. The real beauty of these audio options though lies in the fact that they are all available in either English or Italian, with optional yellow English subtitles. Beautiful.

Extras include theatrical trailers, TV spots, radio spots, a Fulci Bio and a fairly extensive still gallery. Also worth mentioning are the nifty menus (worms dropping out of the zombie's eye) and a cool easter egg featuring quite a few Fulci trailers. Fans will probably want to hang onto their AB disc for the Ian McCulloch audio commentary if nothing else. There may have been some enticing extras to be found on previous DVD editions of this film, but for the purist out there who demands quality over quantity, Blue Underground's latest DVD edition of Zombie 2 is without a doubt, the one to really tear into.