a review of 生人回避2

There's not too much going on here narratively other than some references to voodoo made to get the zombie subgenre back to it's roots. The simple premise of exploring an island somewhere in the Caribbean to get answers as to why an abandoned boat turned up in New York is enough to assemble a group of everymen characters. From there it's all about the zombie action. For the most part it's your standard splatter fest that's mostly managed to stand out over the years thanks to some truly impressive gore. Lucio Fulci put some pretty gruesome moments in here. What I really like about that is it never goes all campy on us. Tonally, it's actually a lot like a Romero flick. Only without the social and political commentary. Everything is handled in a self-respecting way sans a bit of naked scuba diving. It's the only scene where Fulci allows for any playfulness as the camera pans over Auretta Gay's lovely body in the most gratuitous ways possible. Everything else is sheer brutal horror. The underwater segments are some of the best in the movie and not just because of the nudity. On top of showing some beautiful coral formations and crowds of exotic fish, there's also a freaking shark fight against a zombie. With a real shark! My mind was blown watching the actor straight up wrestle one of nature's most terrifying predators and knowing that Gay had to swim so close to it. Unforgettable stuff. There are so many memorable moments. Like the misguided foray into a Conquistador graveyard that has some of the best looking zombies I've ever seen or the fiery final stand in the church turned hospital. Fabio Frizzi's score gives the movie a great atmosphere. Really selling the straight-faced tone they were going for. The characters and story are rather basic right up until that generic grim ending, but their encounters with the undead are great and there's always a lot of blood.