Woodoo - Die Schreckensinsel der Zombies

Der kristalline, reinste, fast jungfräulich übersichtliche und leichtsinnige Lucio Fulci. Aber im guten Sinne des Wortes. Woodoo - Die Schreckensinsel der Zombies ist der niedlichste Horror-Quatsch, den ich je gesehen habe. Der erste Euro-Trash, in den ich mich wirklich verliebt habe. Das exotische Milieu der tropischen Inseln, ein reizvoller sexueller Unterton, stupide Dialoge, beißende Gore-Unappetitlichkeiten, eine billige "Synthesizer-Midi-Musik" by Fabio Frizzi und einige wirklich ausgefeilte Zombie-Masken. Der Unterwasserkampf des Zombies mit dem Hai ist unglaublich! (21.09.2002)

It was my first encounter with Lucio Fulci and I can't say I was disappointed. Although he doesn't live up to his nickname 'king of death' until the last half hour, even until then it's still worth a watch. About halfway through there is an extremely charming, and for me personally unintentionally comical, fight scene between a zombie and a two metre shark. Although it’s quite short, it's definitely worth checking out, you won't see anything like it in another film. There are also small hints of morbid "appetizers", but the real carnage starts about 20 minutes before the end. A zombie picnic over a fresh corpse, desserts for zombies in the form of Molotov cocktails, blood spurting merrily in all directions, the zombies are cheerful, playful and want to cuddle, lol. The final shot of the zombies marching towards Manhattan and the absence of the classic happy ending is very satisfying. (21.09.2003)

With this film Fulci has finally won my heart. The zombies look great and the story is passable for 1970s Italy standards. The only thing that bothered me a little was the music and, especially the fact that, when facing an extreme situation, the heroes, instead of running away, stand in front of the zombies exposing as much skin as possible so the monster can comfortably take a bite. Regardless, this film was a very pleasant surprise and one of the best of the Italian school of horror – though it’s true that it can’t be compared with Romero, he made social satire, Fulci made horror. Thanks for that. (08.08.2008)

Fulci's image composition is, by default, stunning. He has plenty of ideas, and he added some clever and original elements to the classic living-dead extermination (thew incredible underwater action). The fact that there is also more emphasis on female sexuality elsewhere than in the roles of defenseless victims gives the film a much more erotic feel. Combined with the distant glances of the eyes of the fairer sex (note that the main characters' eyes are either green or blue), this creates a rather mysterious and much more provocative feel. On the other hand, I couldn’t help but notice that if the director had been more careful to control his own filmmaking process (finishing a scene as a whole, establishing shots, a bit of plot clearing of otherwise stagnant water) the whole composition of butchered bodies would have stood out much, much more. Although it has to be admitted that maybe that's what this Italian film wave was all about... (15.03.2007)

Wenn man einem Horrorfan Worte wie Splitter oder Hai nennt, wird er wahrscheinlich zu Hause sein. Fulcis größter Hit in seiner Karriere entfachte einen wahren Zombie-Hype, bei dem nicht nur in sonnigen Italien, sondern auf der ganzen Welt billige Horrorfilme zu diesem Thema entstanden. Wenige von ihnen waren jedoch so modrig, B-Movies, und unterhaltsam, obwohl es kaum Witze gibt. Die Schauspieler sind hölzern, sie lassen sich gerne freiwillig fressen, aber der Zuschauer stört das nicht. Dank Frizzis monotoner Synthesizer-Musik entsteht eine anständige Atmosphäre, die vor interessanten Ideen sprüht und vor allem mit den leckeren Gore-Effekten und Masken beeindruckt. Verfaulte Zombies, in hohem Verfall und mit Würmern in den Augenhöhlen, hatten einfach keine Konkurrenz zu dieser Zeit. (28.10.2011)

A film so clearly bad and shallow that you it’s impossible to be mad at it. If you fancy unbridled zombie appetite, stiff and ketchup-laden Italian gore, and a host of classic genre scenes, complemented by exotic settings and Fulci's boundless imagination for the most absurd (shark vs zombie) and best (detailed eye-piercing from the perspective of the victim) B-movie scenes, it may well be the absolute pinnacle of this area of unserious filmmaking. It's my fault that I don't really look for such bullshit and thus I was unable to appreciate all those delicate details under the weight of strong amateurism, omnipresent illogic and impossible character behaviour; otherwise, I could have had a lot of fun. 50% (28.03.2014)

The Italian answer to Romero's zombie films, where social commentary is replaced by creative gore effects. The fight between the zombie and the shark underwater is unforgettable. The first underwater zombie scene may have appeared in Zombies of Mora-Tau, but here it's a wonderfully absurd momentary crossover of zombie movies with Jaws – you really won't see something like this anywhere else. The infamous close-up of an eye pierced by a splinter will probably imprint itself on your memory, bringing to mind Buñuel's An Andalusian Dog. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is not so remarkable. The zombies don't come out properly until sometime near the end, and until then there's not much in terms of fun. Nevertheless, a must for fans of the subgenre. (20.10.2002)