Zombie: 4K Remaster – Blue Underground (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1979
Director: Lucio Fulci
Writers: Elisa Briganti, Dardano Sacchetti
Cast: Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson, Al Cliver, Auretta Gay, Stefania D’Amario, Olga Karlatos

Release Date: May 26th, 2020
Approximate running time: 91 Minutes 24 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Atmos English, DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD 7.1 Italian, DTS-HD Mono English, DTS-HD Mono Italian, Dolby Digital Mono French
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, Danish, Finnish, Dutch, Swedish, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, English for Italian audio
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $49.95

"In Italy, it was considered the ‘unofficial sequel’ to Dawn of the Dead. In England, it was known as Zombie Flesh Eaters and banned as obscene. In America, it was called Zombie and advertised with the depraved tag line “We Are Going to Eat You!” Tisa Farrow (The Grim Reaper), Ian McCulloch (Contamination), Al Cliver (Cannibals), and Richard Johnson (The Haunting) star in this worldwide splatter sensation directed by ‘Maestro Of Gore’ Lucio Fulci (City of the Living Dead, The House by the Cemetery) that remains one of the most eye-skewering, skin-ripping, gore-gushingly graphic horror hits of all time!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Zombie comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD

Disc Size: 78.3 GB

Feature: 65.5 GB

Anyone who’s familiar with Blue Underground’s 2018 restoration of Zombie is sure to be wowed by how amazing this new 2160 presentation looks. Image clarity, black levels, and shadow detail look excellent, and color saturation looks perfect. Also, there are no compression-related issues, and the grain looks perfect.

Audio: 5/5 (Dolby Atmos English)

This release comes with six audio options, a Dolby Atmos mix in English, a DTS-HD 7.1 mix in English, a DTS-HD mono mix in English, a DTS-HD 7.1 mix in Italian, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian, and a Dolby Digital mono mix in French. All of the audio mixes except the Dolby Atmos and a DTS-HD 7.1 English track have been replaced by a DTS-HD 5.1 English track; the rest of the audio mixes are from Blue Underground’s 2018 Blu-ray release. For this review, we listened to the Dolby Atmos track. This new audio track sounds excellent. Range wise, the Dolby Atmos system provides a dynamic sound experience; the dialog comes through clearly, and the score and ambient sounds are well-represented. This release comes with these subtitle options: English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, Danish, Finnish, Dutch, Swedish, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and English for Italian audio.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an introduction with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (24 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a Poster & Stills gallery, four radio spots (2 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), two T.V. spots (1 minute 4 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), International theatrical trailer (3 minutes 46 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), U.S. theatrical trailer (1 minute 30 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an interview with Stephen Thrower, author of Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci titled When The Earth Spits Out The Dead (33 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio commentary is with actor Ian McCulloch and Diabolik magazine editor Jason J. Slater, and an audio commentary is with Troy Howarth, author of Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films.

Extras on the Blu-ray include a featurette titled Zombie Wasteland (22 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with producer Fabrizio De Angelis is titled Flesh Eaters on Film (9 minutes 38 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with screenwriters Elisa Briganti and Dardano Sacchetti titled Deadtime Stories (14 minutes 30 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with cinematographer Sergio Salvati and production/costume designer Walter Patriarca titled World of the Dead (16 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with special make-up effects artists Gianetto De Rossi and Maurizio Trani and special effects artist Gino De Rossi titled Zombi Italiano (16 minutes 34 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with composer Fabio Frizzi titled Notes on a Headstone (7 minutes 25 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with Lucio Fulci’s daughter Antonella Fulci titled All in the Family (6 minutes 8 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), and an interview with Guillermo del Toro titled Zombie Lover (9 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Extras not carried over from Blue Underground’s 2018 Blu-ray release include three different lenticular slipcovers, reversible cover art, a CD that contains the score for the film, and a 20-page booklet. This new release comes with a slipcover.

Summary:

By the time Lucio Fulci directed Zombie, he had already directed thirty-three films.  His filmography includes a diverse range of comedies, westerns, thrillers, and two adventure films.  And, while some of his pre-Zombie films contained horror elements, it wasn't until Zombie that he firmly established himself in the horror genre.

Zombie was co-written by Dardano Sacchetti as an action/adventure thriller before George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead was released in Italy. Dario Argento would recut Dawn of the Dead for Italian audiences and rename it Zombi. Because of Zombi's success in Italy, Dardano Sacchetti's script was reworked by Elisa Briganti to more closely resemble George A. Romero’s film, making Zombie (Zombi 2) a sequel in name only.

Anyone familiar with Lucio Fulci’s thrillers or horror films knows that he has a knack for creating tension and atmosphere in his films by delivering nightmarish visions on minuscule budgets. And Zombie has some of Lucio Fulci’s goriest set pieces. The most notable example is the eyeball being forced into a splinter sequence. That said, Zombie isn't full of great performances, but most of Lucio Fulci's work from the late 1970s on isn't about the actors as much as it is about using them as objects.

From a production standpoint, there is no area where Zombie does not excel. The well-paced narrative builds tension to a fever pitch by the time the finale arrives. Also, Sergio Salvati, who served as cinematographer on ten Lucio Fulci films. And with Zombie, he serves up a visual feast for the eyes as he uses every inch of the frame to capture all the carnage. Over the years, Lucio Fulci’s Zombie has built up a reputation that has made it a fan favorite and one of the zombie genre’s all-time classics.

Every time there’s a new home video format that comes along, too often there’s a rush to get products out into a new market, which often leads to inferior products. Fortunately, this is not the case with Blue Underground’s inaugural 4K UHD releases. If this release is any sign of what Blue Underground has in store for their future 4k UHD releases, then fans of cult cinema have a lot to look forward to. Blue Underground gives a flawless audio/video presentation for Zombie, highly recommended. 

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer