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Zombie Holocaust AKA Dr. Butcher M.D. AKA Zombi Holocaust AKA Island Of The Last Zombies Medical Dev
R2 - Scandinavia - Another World Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Sam Scott (10th February 2007). |
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The Film
 Another World Entertainment are a relatively new company to enter the highly competitive DVD market, and they are one that are going for the 'cult company' approach ala Blue Underground and NoShame. This is only the second disc I have I had a chance to see from them and I was left impressed by the first (Mountain Of The Cannibal God). This film is volume four of their 'Zombie Series' range and is a film that has so far seen more than one cut on DVD with the aptly named "Italian Version" being the longest available cut and I'm happy to say that Another World Entertainment have given us this longer uncut Italian Version. As with a lot of these 'exploitation' zombie and cannibal films, Zombie Holocaust has also been known under a slew of other names including Dr Butcher MD, Island Of The Last Zombies Medical Deviate and Queen of the Cannibals. Why these films were released with so many alternate titles, I'll never know but I wish they weren't to avoid the confusion it can cause the casual consumer. Directed by genre legend Enzo G Castellari's father Marino Girolami, Zombie Holocaust stars Alexandra Delli Colli (The New York Ripper) as Lori Ridgeway, who works at the hospital but has an amazing knowledge some islands off of the East Indies, where she grew up. After finding out that someone is stealing body parts from the dead people in the hospital that are used to show students parts of the anatomy, they soon manage to catch him. Getting away, he jumps out a window and to his death and when the police show Lori some photos of people who have also been stealing body parts she notices that two of them have the same tattoo on their chest. Joining up with Dr Peter Chandler (Ian McCulloch - Taggart) and George Harper (Peter O'Neal in his only film appearence) they travel to an island to investigate what exactly is going on. Also joining them is Harper's career driven journalist girlfriend Susan Kelly (Sherry Buchanon - The Last House on the Beach). After coming across many close encounters with the cannibals, they soon learn that Dr Obrero (Donald O'Brien - Images in a Convent) is performing mad experiments on the dead cannibals, bringing them back to life. Will they leave the island alive? You'll have to watch it to find out. Zombie Holocaust is pretty standard cannibal/zombie fare from later years of the exploitation boom, giving us a very formulaic film that uses a bare plot to lead to sick and disturbing scenes that will make your stomach churn. Despite the plot being paper thin, the special effects and the general horrific visuals of the film makes it above average. The principal cast is perfectly capable in their roles and the secondary cast, although not great, still manage to act to some degree of professionalism. This is a must buy for gore fiends with what are spectacular visual effects for 1980. Those who only have a passing interest in this genre might want to rent it first though.
Video
Another World have presented this film in a slightly cropped 1.78:1 asect ratio (1.85:1 being the OAR). I've seen this film a couple of times over the last few years and never have I seen it look as good. When the opening credits played, I thought I was in for a hideous sub-VHS quality, but as soon as those credits ended, I was instantly struck by the clarity of this clear print. There is some minor edge enhancement, grain and dirt, but nothing that you don't see on releases of films from last year, let alone films over 25 years old.
Audio
Another World have included just one track on the disc, and it's an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track. There are no problems with it other than some minor hiss in the background and one minor crackle during the credits, but this is certainly a film that would benefit from a DTS track, a DD 5.1 track or even just a 2.0 Surround track, just to make the viewer feel even more uneasy and to add to the atmosphere. Good, but underwhelming. Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish subtitles have also been included.
Extras
We start off the extras with an interview with special effects expert Rosario Prestopino. Running for a mammoth 33 minutes and 47 seconds, he tells us in detail about several asects of special effects in films including how he first became interested in this type of work, how the neck masks were made in order to let blood rush out for throat slashing scenes and how he prepares the special effects for films he is working on. Presented anamorphically at 1.78:1, it is in Italian with English subtitles.
Packaging
The film is packaged in a standard keepcase.
Overall
Another World Entertainment impress again and are starting to stomp their feet on the map of exploitation DVD.
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