Like most good cannibal affairs, “Zombie Holocaust” starts off in the big city but soon enough moves to a more suitable gut munching zone… the jungle. The plot moves along quickly; we are introduced to our characters and a catalyst in the disguise of flesh eating foreigners. A team is assembled to figure out why these foreigners are practicing cannibalism and why they all appear to have come from the same geographical location. Our leads are soon on their way. Included are a few notables; video nasty favorite, Ian McCulloch (Zombie), Alexandra Delli Colli, and Sherry Buchanan. Our adventurers are aligned with a local Doctor (Donald O’Brien) who shares his hospitality and workers to help them with their mission. They soon realize they are in grave danger as they are eaten off one by one. Zombie Holocaust’s onslaught of insanity continues as the Doctor who was once thought there to help them turns out to be responsible for the carnage. He has been practicing grotesque experiments that have resulted in the natives going awry and spawned a batch of murdering zombies.
A plot like this has enough substance and cheese to make three Italian gore fests, but here we are treated to just one bizarrely beautiful disaster. “Zombie Holocaust” sports a truly amazing score which seems so much more poignant and heartfelt than the film, itself. A major highlight are the top notch Italian splatter effects we have all grown to love; the slit throats are some of the best to grace dingy theaters anywhere. The clay molded zombies are cheap but effective and with the amount of innards spilled, it would be enough to feed a small horde of zombies. The dialogue is unintentionally hilarious and the sound effects match it. “Zombie Holocaust” has no shame in what it is; a cash in on successful films of the genre that have come before like “Emmanuelle and the Last Cannibals” and “Zombie” using Donald O’Brien from the former and Dakar, Ian McCulloch, and the locations from the later. “Zombie Holocaust” flows by at a fairly brisk pace giving us splatter or nudity when it can, never slowing down to realize how ridiculous the whole ordeal is. Directed by the father of Enzo G. Castellari, a very prominent director, Marino Girolami (with over 70 credits to his name) turns in a surprising horror exploitation number in a very capable way. “Zombie Holocaust” is a must for fans of Italian Cannibal and Zombie flicks. On this rare occasion, they are both in one film fighting for screen time. Another rarity this film can brag about is that we are spared the awful animal cruelty usually associated with the cannibal films from this time.
Severin’s release of “Zombie Holocaust” isn’t the first Blu-Ray release of the film, but I can assure you it has got to be the best. Included are two prints of the film, each on their own disc. One print included is the one that caused an uproar on 42nd Street in New York, “Doctor Butcher M.D.”. “Doctor Butcher M.D.” has got to have one of the most outstanding taglines of all time: “He's a depraved, homicidal killer...and he makes house calls!”. Just as outstanding is how the tagline came to be, created by the Aquarius Releasing to put asses in seats in the theater; this information is relayed by the owner of the company in a wonderful interview included on the disc. This cut of the film is trimmed for pacing and includes an alternate opening directed by Roy Frumkes (Street Trash). This opening was used to avoid paying extra for the title “Zombie Holocaust”. The scene is shoe horned in and forcefully made to look as if it is part of the affair; we are also given the scene separately on the disc to see as much as we can of the unfinished film. Both prints look great for these types of films and offer a grainy yet nice looking picture quality. A slew of extras and interviews round out the rest of the discs, including interviews with Sherry Buchanan, Ian McCulloch, Rick Sullivan (Gore Gazette), Jim Markovic, Rosario Prestopino (FX), Maurizio Trani (FX) , and Terry Levine. Other extras include locations now and then, trailers, a walk around with Roy Frumkes and Chris Poggiali, Enzo Castellari remembering his father, and more. The “Doctor Butcher” disc seems to focus on the theater experience, while the interviews with cast and crew from the film appear on the “Zombie Holocaust” disc. This edition even comes with a barf bag so you don’t make a mess from all the excitement.
Severin seems to have outdone themselves with the amount of care and hard work put forth on this release. It’s refreshing for Severin to have taken an exploitation film and given it the utmost respect and treatment that most wouldn’t. The best compliment you can give to a niche label is that they have given a film a treatment that it seemingly doesn’t deserve. Severin has given the vastly entertaining yet undeniably stupid film “Zombie Holocaust” just that.
Film 4/5: Let’s face it “Zombie Holocaust” isn’t winning any academy awards, but for what it is. It doesn’t get much better.
Release 5/5: Has more features than I could imagine on the disc. It looks good, sounds good, and has both cuts of the film, even a deleted scene that’s absent in most prints.
http://www.cavd.com/product.php?productid=2684
https://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Butcher-Zombie-Holocaust-Blu-rays/dp/B01GGPI1R6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468724812&sr=8-1&keywords=doctor+butcher
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