Zombie Menace
Although Zombie films were pretty much an American thing, it was the Italians who pushed the Zombie genre to its extreme. Most were modeled after or ripped off George Romero's classic Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. In the hands of directors like Lucio Fulci, the Zombie menace was taken to its full effect; that was until someone thought up the idea of making these films funny.

Beyond, The- (1981) Italy aka Seven Doors of Death Dir- Lucio Fulci In an old decaying Louisiana hotel, a young woman wishes to open a restaurant and little does she realize the hotel she inherited has a few secrets. The hotel is built on one of seven gateways to hell, and the undead just doesn't want to remain dead. Strange events follow as a painter has a fatal fall, the plumber vanishes, and her friend breaks his neck. When she escapes to the hospital of a friendly doctor, she doesn't know what sort of danger awaits her. This classic zombie thriller was directed by none other than Lucio Fulci and features outstanding special effects by Gianetto DeRossi. The gore effects included are entirely convincing, and there are some eyeball impalements, flesh-eating spiders, a throat-ripping dog, and plenty of the gruesome gore Fulci is best known for. The film is sometimes referred to as a sequel to Gates of Hell and with its Zombie horde I would not doubt it. This is one of Fulci's greatest films and a real delight for those who are fans of Fulci's vomit inducing Zombie gore fests. This is one creepy, icky and disgusting film, Fulci is the master!
Braindead- (1992) New Zealand aka Dead Alive Dir- Peter Jackson Peter Jackson has outdone himself with this tasty number. The man who brought us Bad Taste and Meet the Feebles has turned out his best effort of the three. Imagine the standard boy meets girl story, throw in a rabid rat monkey, a bitch mother, and a whole slew of crazed zombies. The Dead Alive is all that and more! Peter Jackson had delivered what has to be the best all out splatter film in horror. The movie starts with the capture of a rare Sumatran Rat Monkey. The action then shifts to a small town; poor Lionel is at his mother's mercy. Shy and timid he soon meets the lovely Paquita, and destiny has shown they are meant for another. During an innocent date, the two are met by his domineering mother who is then bitten by the Rat Monkey. Mother has taken ill, and poor Lionel must help her, with this the FUN begins! During a sick luncheon, the mother falls apart in front of her guests and soon passes on. Poor Lionel is at a loss; that is until her mom comes back from the dead. Mum then attacks a few people, creating a small army of zombies. The funniest of which is a baby zombie birthed by the town Reverend and Nurse. We then see one zombie after the other giving poor Lionel and Paquita's chance for love a real test. When all else looks rotten, Lionel's scheming Uncle arrives hoping to steal Lionel's inheritance. He throws a party, the zombies come and make the guests into zombie food. This is where the movie goes ballistic. The results are both gory and downright funny. One of the best splatter movies ever made, The Dead Alive is the very example of what a good zombie movie should be. With literally million of gallons of blood at hand, Peter Jackson delivers a real gore delight. To say that the Dead Alive is fun is an understatement. This movie is the end all blood splatstick of all time. Let us remember the wise words of the Town Reverend: I Kick Ass For the Lord!! I have been getting so much e-mail why I don't have this film on my list, it is on my Best Horror of the 90's, but I guess it would easily qualify as being vile and nasty, but in a fun way!!!!
City Of The Living Dead- (1980) Italy aka Gates of Hell Dir- Lucio Fulci For those who have not seen a Lucio Fulci film they can all be pretty much summed up in a few choice words: gross, vile, vomit-inducing, bloody and this is why they are so fun to watch! The sudden suicide of a priest in the New England town of Dunwich opens the very Gates of Hell, and a whole army of zombies begins to walk the night. Can the Gates be closed before the dead arises and take over the world!!! Lucio Fulci is in usual form in this follow-up to his very successful Zombi movie. With enough guts and gore to make anyone puke their lunch, the film contains very practical effects and some terrifying scenes. Special note to bloodhounds, look for the cool scenes involving a power drill and a hapless boyfriend as well as the site where a woman vomits her intestines. Without a doubt one of the grossest films ever made, and like all Fulci films, I would avoid eating anything for a week.
Darkness- (1993) US Dir- Leif Jonker A small town is suddenly besieged by vampires that begin attacking people in a convenience store. A group of teens returning from a concert must deal with this threat before they fall victim to the vampire horde. Armed with shotguns, chainsaws, machetes and Holy water, the youths fight their way through multitudes of zombie-like vampires in a confrontation between the living and the dead. Leif Jonker directed, wrote and produced this very gory vampire tale that mixes elements of such films as Night of the Living Dead and a whole slew of Fulci Zombie classics. The small budget look adds significantly to this movie that has terrific special effects and plenty of vomit inducing gore. A great first effort by Leif Jonker. This one may be a bit hard to find, but it is an outstanding effort and proves anyone can make a bloody, gory zombie film!
Dellamorte Dellamore- (1994) Italy aka Cemetary Man Dir- Michele Soavi We all know in the movies that death is never eternal and if it is Italian you can be sure that the dead never rest. Francisco Dellamore is a custodian of a local graveyard in the town of Buffalora, a small town in northern Italy. He is always at work and never leaves his post, and for a good reason. It seems that the corpses buried there have a tendency to rise after seven days and run amuck. Dellamore does not question why this happens; he simply shoots them with his trusty revolver before they can claw their way to fresh meat. Along the way, he soon finds a new and weird way to dispatch those pesky zombies and then a few of the living as well, making this film more along the lines of Peter Jackson's Dead Alive. Chock full of wall to wall blood, sex (alive and dead) and other total weird things the film mixes horrific gore with the irreverent humor that Monty Python is best known for. Probably the silliest and most fun zombie effort next to Braindead/Dead Alive
Zombi 2 (1979) Italy aka Zombie Flesh Eaters Dir- Lucio Fulci An abandoned ship is found in a New York and the police discover a crazed survivor onboard. The owner's daughter wishes to investigate the disappearance of her father and travels with a detective to a Bahamas island where they find a mad doctor experimenting with dead bodies that are coming back to life. The voodoo spawned corpses begin to overrun the island and make it difficult for our heroes to escape. Easily the most famous and most well-known of Fulci's Zombie films the movie was an instant hit and drew in many fans when it was released as cash in on Romero's Dawn of the Dead. Not for everyone, the film boasts some rather disgusting and bloody gore effects including numerous zombie gut-munching scenes, mounds of maggots and an eye being impaled by a wood splinter. Also known as Zombie and Zombie 2, Lucio Fulci's grand master film would arrive as an unauthorized sequel to Dawn of the Dead but would stand on its own as an important horror film in its right. Some say this tribute to Romero while others say it is a ripoff, who cares! The splinter in the eye will make anyone cringe!