Island of the Living Dead

Director - Bruno Mattei (Rats: Night of Terror)
Starring - Yvette Yzon (Zombies: The Beginning), Gaetano Russo (The Hell's Gate), and Alvin Anson (Death Match)
Release Date - 2007
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Where the hungry dead feast on the flesh of the damned"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Zombie films used to be something of a gold nugget in the pile of films that was horror before the sub-genre was watered down with The Walking Dead clones.  Zombie films were always the fan favorite and we have George A. Romero to thank for that with his groundbreaking classic Night of the Living Dead to thank for that.  As important as zombie films were to the horror fan, the cream of the crop was the Italian zombie films following the release of Lucio Fulci's Zombi.  These films were always brutal and jaw dropping especially when compared to their American counterparts.  One Italian director that contribute several films to the Italian zombie movement was Bruno Mattei who is mostly known for his Hell of the Living Dead film.  In 2007 Mattei returned to the sub-genre with his film Island of the Dead that was filmed back to back with the film's sequel, Zombies: The Beginning.  Both films were recently released by Intervision who was nice enough to send me a review copy.  Thanks guys,  

    The film follows a group of treasure hunters who break down out at sea and seek refuge on a nearby island they assume is uninhabited.  They split up and start looking around the island.  One group stumbles upon an abandoned Conquistador fortress while the other finds an old cemetery.  While in the cemetery they discover that they are not alone on the island but the inhabitants are dead and cursed.  They attack the group killing one of the members forcing them to run until they meet up with the others.  They try to come up with a plan to get themselves off the island when they slowly start to unravel why the zombies are there and why the Conquistadors could never leave once they invaded the island looking for gold.

      Italian zombie films were always top notch and the recommended viewing for any zombie fan. Sadly, the films of Bruno Mattei are a required taste that not a lot of horror fans tend to enjoy.  In fact, his films are hit or miss with me.  His film Hell of the Living Dead was a film I never enjoyed the first few times I watched it when I was younger but over the years it has really grown on me.  His film Rats: Night of Terror is one of his that I really enjoy so I was open minded about this one when I first threw it in.  It was fun though it was extremely flawed.  The acting in this one not the best I have seen but that is something you come to expect when watching a Mattei film.  The cast just simply read their lines and refuse to show any kind of emotion or shred of acting.  They give no attempt at creating believable characters and that makes this one a little hard to follow.  The story for this one is nothing new, in fact, it is one we had seen just four years prior when famed "bad" director Uwe Boll released House of the Dead.  Both films feature people on an exotic island only to be slaughtered by Conquistador zombies and forced to fight for their lives.  It is not a new story but it still has it's moments.  Finally, the film is full of on screen kills and bloody, gut--wrenching practical effects.  The kills are nothing spectacular but they do use practical effects that looks great making them entertaining.  Overall, Island of the Living Dead is solid Italian zombie film that replaces originality with sleaze and gore.  Check it out but don't expect a modern Zombi.