Customer Reviews

Zombie Island Massacre [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This Troma-distributed movie follows the adventures of a group of tourists who end up on a tropical island. Once there, they must confront a bunch of zombies who start killing them in various graphic ways. This 1983 film has most of the elements you would expect from a Troma release (in other words, nudity and gore), plus a neat surprise ending. It also stars ex-Playboy model Rita Jenrette as one of the tourists. If you can get past the bad acting, not-so-special effects and overall sillyness, you should give this classic B-movie a try (especially if you are a gore fan).

This is not a zombie movie (warning: spoiler will follow). Even with its bad acting and horrible lighting (could be the tape) this is an at times enjoyable mystery which uses the zombie theme to throw the viewer off the track of what is really happening. A group of tourists take a visit to an island apparently in the Carribean (I know; not much more specific than saying an island surrounded by water) where they take a bus to an outdoor ritual apparently being performed to raise a zombie. A commotion occurs during the ritual sending the tourists hurrying back to the bus only to find the driver and the distributor cap missing. They decide to trek to a house one of the tourists recalls seeing on the way to the ritual to hopefully call for help. They are pursued by a creature dressed as a bush (no, I do not know what kind of bush). One by one the tourists are being offed mysteriously on the way to the house until only a handful of them make it to the house to hold up against whatever is pursuing them. As it turns out, one of them is carrying a payoff for a shipment of drugs and the pursuers are after the drug traffickers (just using the so-called zombie tactics for the element of fear). The first half hour of this film drags, however, after that it does maintain an element of suspense. It is not a particularly intelligent movie, but it may appeal to someone who would like a mystery with a supernatural backdrop.-Bob

This movie sucks it has nothing to do with zombies all the movie is about is group of Americans who decide to visit an island and witness a voodoo ritual and eventually get killed off by some guys that dress like ninjas or some crap! Don't waste your time with this movie.

Maybe it's because I've studied voodoo history and island cults for years in grad school, but I highly suggest that you add "Zombie Island Massacre" to your movie collection now.

A group of tourists decide to venture over to the remote island of Who-Knows-Where - Mistake #1. The tourists are too busy screwing around to notice the island is inhabited by blood-thirsty (and might I add, very scary) zombies - Mistake #2.

A few voodoo ceremonies and ritulistic killings later and you're knee deep in a pool of terror! The director does an excellent job of making the picture really dark and grainy, so half the time, you have no idea what's going on. Brilliant!

Throw the lovely and talented Rita Jenrette ("The Malibu Bikini Shop") into the fold, and what you have here is a horror film that is destined to be a cult classic for years to come.

If you don't add this to your movie collection soon, that might be considered... Mistake #3.

For starters any film featuring 'internationally acclaimed superstar' Rita Jenrette is a must see for every man, woman and beast. Add to this a title to rival 'Demented Death Farm Massacre', 'hedge' zombies, and a bus load of amateur actors (some seem animated in death even without the aid of zombification), and Troma have another glorious money spinner on their hands. As the cod-Vincent Price voice-over tells us in the trailer, we're in for a 'wonderful' holiday of "violence, terror, torture and death." Well, can you remember a holiday brochure that provides the customer with what it promises? All of it though, is shot through with such an endearing sense of fun that it will remain on your video shelf for many holidays to come. Many will criticise the film for its distinct lack of zoms- giraffe-necked Simon (from the Steven Spielberg school of minge)proclaimed, "It's just a man disguised in a bush!" upon watching it, refusing to wait for the denouement when the 'supernatural' element of the film is revealed; notably Jenrette's gravity-defying assets. The beauty of this film is in refusing to provide the audience with what they expect and instead presenting them with a post-Robert Sabbag mystery adventure revolving around cocaine-trafficking. And the character of Reginald Chumley Jones is perfectly indicative of those tour-guides who mislead the general public and contribute to a truly hellish holiday (anyone in England who has seen Judith Chalmers on 'Wish You Were Here?' will understand what I mean.) Perhaps the mystery at the centre of the film is why the Caribbean band that is seen at the beginning is comprised of half 'JOLLY BOYS' and half 'JOLLY BROTHERS'. Are half of them simply wearing skinny rib T-shirts or is a far more sinister implication being made about gangs of men who stick together? Best moment of the film is when the hairy simian-looking boyfriend of Jenrette manages to find a loaded gun in the back garden of a deserted house before Jenrette reveals an intimate knowledge of the joys of cannibalism that would put Jeffrey Dahmer to shame- "German, French and Italian, and its all on cannibalism!" Finally, the art of chowing down on your fellow homo-sapien kindred has gone multi-national and on 'Zombie' island there is even archival proof. Another nugget of wisdom from the end of the trailer....."On Zombie Island, you might lose your heart...you'll also lose your head." With its intellectual complexity and moments of heart-rending emotion, 'Zombie Island Massacre' finally delivers its last promise. Definitely five-star!

I'll never forget the first time I saw the terrifying preview for "Zombie Island Massacre" on Pay-Per-View. Even though I was just a child, I remember being strangely attracted to the thought of a movie featuring voodoo rituals, tribal chants and sacrificial killings.

I actually stole the Pay-Per-View authorization key from my parents' room so I could watch the movie in my basement... by myself... BIG MISTAKE! This movie was 10x scarier than I expected it to be. Not even the presence of Rita Jenrette ("The Malibu Bikini Shop") could ease my nerves.

Why this is considered a "B-Movie" is beyond me. It has all the thrills and chills of a good, big-budget horror film. Hurry up and buy this movie before it goes out of print.

By the way, my parents' reaction to seeing "Zombie Island Massacre" on their cable bill was equally as terrifying.