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Zombie Holocaust (AKA Dr. Butcher M.D.)

Zombie Holocaust (AKA Dr. Butcher M.D.)

List Price: $24.95
Your Price: $22.46
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Zombies, cannibals and brain surgery
Review: Probably the funniest - and one of the goriest - Italian zombie movies is this weird amalgam of zombies and cannibals. In fact, the zombies here don't even kill anybody!

They're being created by brain-swap wacko Dr. Obrero (Donald O'Brien, in a priceless trash performance), who has plenty of donors to work on - a whole island full of primitive cannibal tribesmen.

But heroic professor Chandler (Ian McCulloch), hoping to get to the bottom of a body-snatching case, stumbles on Obrero's crazy scheme. Now he has to fend off mad surgeons, hungry natives and brain-dead zombies!

The really impressive gore FX are sky-high - and include scalpings, eyeball-eating, throat-slashing and a head mashed by propellor - but this only adds to the movie's goofy charm.

ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST has moments of such stupidity that it's impossible to resist. For example, a suicide victim's body clearly smashes in two when he throws himself from a 20-storey window, but is back in one piece when the camera closes-up on him. Once O'Brien's medic starts one of his meaningful scientific speeches ("Patient's screams disturbing me - performed removal of vocal chords!"), this becomes Grade-A trash.

But it's so self-serious with its' stupid premise that it becomes inoffensive and genuinely hilarious.

Italian zombie fans will be well in their element, so I recommend this one wholeheartedly!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Really bad, but it's quite amusing.
Review: This attempt to cash in on the success of Lucio Fulci's Zombie (which itself was an attempt to cash in on the success of Dawn of the Dead) turns out to be a very silly and badly directed, but still quite amusing gorefest. Ian McCulloch is in this one, and he and Alexandra Delli Colli head to some jungle island to investigate a cannibalistic tribe. The gore is the movie's selling point, and the effects range from surprisingly good to hilariously awful, and the lovely Delli Colli does look quite alluring in the buff (note: she appeared about three years later in The New York Ripper, and somehow looked a dozen years older in that one!)

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: worth seeing
Review: This is your bsaci italian Zombie film with a cannibaL twist. worht checking out for any cannibal, zombie, or Itaian horror fan

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Classic
Review: Though I expected Zombie's running around in a big city, I still found this movie to be pretty good. The gore in this movie is quite good. The film kept me in suspence, while the acting is average. But, what would you expect from a 1980's horror zombie flick? This is a sure bet for your DVD collection. I simply enjoy this movie everytime I watch it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Cheesy film...great DVD! (Easter Egg Update...READ BELOW!!!)
Review: Well, I doubt anyone is going to put up an actual DVD review for this film, so I'LL do it!

Let me start off by saying that Zombie Holocaust is a pure cheese fest! The Italian cut (which this DVD is) is closer to serious than the infamous "Dr. Butcher" cut. This film is worth watching if you're a horror buff, or you just wanna watch something with a group of your buds! Anyway, to the DVD!:

Video: The film is presented in it's full 1.85:1 widescreen ratio (16X9 enhanced even!). Considering the budget of this film, the quality is SPECTACULAR!!! There is slight grain evident a couple of the night scenes, but other than that, the print used is crystal clear. No marks, scratches, nothing! Obviously the source print was a direct NTSC transfer (and not PAL to NTSC) as the color is perfectly balanced and there is no "motion blurring". Just perfect and no "bleeding"...no pun intended...

Video Quality: 10/10

Audio: The audio, however, still has a muffled sound to it. However, it is clearer compared to previous video releases and there is no popping or hissing, so it's probably the best it will be. Also, as a side note, being that this is the UNCUT print, this version contains Nico Fidenco's original (and in my opinion MUCH greater) music score.

Audio Quality: 7/10

Extras: JACKPOT!!! This is where we hit the motherload:

-U.S. "Doctor Bucther" Trailer
-German "Zombies Unter Kannibalen" Trailer
-Interview with Make-Up effects director Maurizio Trani
-Interview with "Tales to Tear Your Heart Out" director Roy Frumkes
-Unfinished footage from "Tales to Tear Your Heart Out" with Roy Frumkes audio commentary
-Zombie Holocaust still gallery
-Tales to Tear Your Heart Out still gallery
-Five minute deleted sequence (Peter VS. The Cannibal Duo)

Besides this, there are bonus trailers for "Beyond the Darkness", "Jungle Holocaust" (A.K.A. "Last Cannibal World"), "Eaten Alive" (The Umberto Lenzi Film), "and "Burial Ground" (A.K.A. "Nights of Terror"). The deleted scene, unfortunately, isn't in as good of quality as the rest of the film, but still decent looking. Basically, this scene was only in the U.S. and Japanese cuts. The disc, however, was missing the original international trailer, yet it was seen on the Burial Ground DVD! It's pretty much the same as the German trailer anyway, but worth having either way.

Extras Rating: 10/10

As I stated earlier, if you're a horror buff, this is worth the search. There is nearly an hour of additional features especially for this film, which does NOT include the "bonus trailers", which would add an extra 13 minutes to it. Forget about that old bootleg video, put away that worn out "Doctor Butcher" videotape, go out and get this!

Overall rating: 10/10

P.S.: This version of the film actually uses the opening and ending red credits which were meant for Italian viewers even though this version is in English! However, if you want to see the alternate English opening and ending credits, here's what to do...

1. Head to the Special Features section
2. Click on the "Special Thanks" section
3. When you get to the screen, press up. You should have highlighted the name Edwin Samuelson.
4. Click Play or Enter

There you go! It's basically the same as the credits in the film, except they are white and are in proper English. However, for collector's and completists, it's worth a look.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: One more 'hidden' extra
Review: What can I add that has not already been said about this movie?
Everyone knows the 'plot' (and I use that word with some hesitation) and all the DVD technical details.
What you may not have noticed is that Shriek Show have provided this splatter classic with a reversable cover.
One side the rather tame Zombie Holocaust design, but on the other....the totally over the top Dr Butcher design.
I know it's not much, but at least it is another 'extra' to what is already an excellent DVD package.

Would have got 5 stars if it included a commentary and a slightly more lively interview with the special effects guy who claims to have forgotten everything about the film apart from the fact it was all shot in Rome - no island in sight. You live and learn!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: .......And He Makes House Calls!
Review: With a snappy title like "Zombie Holocaust" you're lead to believe that this film has hordes of the living dead tearing into people like a 20 piece order of hot wings, but that's not the case. In fact, there are very few zombies, and though those few look really cool, they're relatively wimpy and harmless. Plus, they don't kill anyone and they're easily dispatched. The gory mayhem in this film comes from a cannibal tribe, and they certainly do excel in it. An earlier reviewer already covered the fact that this film is way too influenced by Fulci's Zombie, but I'm going to talk a little about that as well. It starts in New York(So does Zombie. Italian horror directors have an obsession with New York for some reason), and our cast of characters set out to find the island that the cannibals are coming from. Good ol' Ian McCulloch is once again in the lead(as in Zombie) as a New Yorker named Peter(as in Zombie) taking a trip to some doomed island of zombies(as in Zombie). In reality, these people wouldn't even go to the island, it would just be an open and shut case of murder....... but we wouldn't have a movie then, would we? Peter gets some servants to escort him to the island(one of them is a guy from Zombie who basically played the same role), and their boat goes on the fritz(as in Zombie). Once we get to the island we're treated to some creepy voodoo drum music(like the kind in Zombie), and our gang is assaulted by the cannibals! Alot of them get wasted in pretty gruesome fashion. The "jungle noises" sound like a guy repeatedly twisting a very rusty faucet(same "Jungle Sound" in Jungle Holocaust). Well, after slipping by the cannibals and zombies, our guy and gal end up at the lab of a deranged scientist doing wacky experiments involving zombies(as in Zombie). The doctor's sadistic to be sure, but comes across about as scary as the Three Stooges. And after the action packed climax of the film, the zombies and lab go down in flames(kinda like in Zombie).

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fun Italian Splatter
Review: Zombi Holocaust (A.K.A. Doctor Butcher M.D.) is in a category by itself among Zombie, Cannibal, and Mad Doctor movies because it is all three in a tropical setting. In how many other movies do you get a mad doctor doing Frankenstein experiments, cannibals running amuck, scientists getting lost on the right island, a manniquin leaping to it's death, and Alexandra Delli Colli getting body painted all in one movie. The zombies in this movie are more appropriately automatons (Frankenstein's monsters). They are living beings which have been brought back to life by the mad doctor to do his bidding (of course if they ever got a good look in a mirror they would kill him on the spot). This movie does consist of its good parts and its so bad its good parts. The basic story begins in the city (what city?...who cares) where a rash of cannibalism breaks out (stay with me). In some of the cases the cannibal had a tattoo of an ancient symbol belonging to a group of islands in the Archipeligos. A group of doctors and a reporter take an excursion to an island in the Archipeligos which was pointed out to them by a fellow doctor who attends to the natives on these islands. Unfortunately, they have engine trouble and have to dock the boat at a different island. Then the fun begins. I will not ruin this for those who have not seen this movie. I will say that I have watched this several times and still enjoy it. The four star rating is for the fun factor not the artistic factor (certainly not). Be aware that this is a gory movie; if that does not bother you, then enjoy.-Bob

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good movie, but confusing title
Review: Zombie Holocaust is a good Italian flick that has suspense and turns. It contains every genre included in any Italian horror movie (bad dubbing, lots of gore, zombies, cannibals, and nudity), but it does have a negative side to it. Well, here's the story.

At a hospital, corpses are being cut, revealing missing body parts and organs. The head doctor becomes suspicious of the whole mess and plan to see who the culprit is. One night, one student is caught taking a heart out of a corpse and in the process of eating it when he is caught red-handed. But he commits suicide by jumping out of the window in one of the most hilarious scenes ever filmed. (If you want to know if that was his real arm coming off his body, then you are a fool. That was a stunt dummy falling on the ground on the tape.)

The female doctor, who is also educated in anthropology, spots a tattoo on the victim's chest. It is revealed to be a symbol of Keto, a far off island. She brings this to the attention of a local policeman, played by famed Italian horror hero Ian McCulloch. so, the female doctor, the cop, his assistant, and a nosy reporter head to the island of Keto to find out what is going on. Then, like in every zombie or cannibal movie, they face horrible dangers ahead.

Now to the negative aspect. Just in the same dilemma as Cannibal Apocalypse (which I also reviewed), the title of the movie, Zombie Holocaust does not really fit the plot. Through the movie, you only spot five or six zombies, all of them never killing anybody in sight, and in one scene appear to be saving our future heroes from being cannibal meat. Now, if I saw over 100 zombies killing live human flesh, I would consider it be a zombie holocaust, but as far as I'm concerned, it could be named Island Holocaust. Also, what is the whole purpose of the mad doctor killing humans and implanting their soul into other corpses? Just like other Italian movies, the plot doesn't mesh.

But this is a good movie to watch. There are some good extras on the DVD so go check it out.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good movie, but confusing title
Review: Zombie Holocaust is a good Italian flick that has suspense and turns. It contains every genre included in any Italian horror movie (bad dubbing, lots of gore, zombies, cannibals, and nudity), but it does have a negative side to it. Well, here's the story.

At a hospital, corpses are being cut, revealing missing body parts and organs. The head doctor becomes suspicious of the whole mess and plan to see who the culprit is. One night, one student is caught taking a heart out of a corpse and in the process of eating it when he is caught red-handed. But he commits suicide by jumping out of the window in one of the most hilarious scenes ever filmed. (If you want to know if that was his real arm coming off his body, then you are a fool. That was a stunt dummy falling on the ground on the tape.)

The female doctor, who is also educated in anthropology, spots a tattoo on the victim's chest. It is revealed to be a symbol of Keto, a far off island. She brings this to the attention of a local policeman, played by famed Italian horror hero Ian McCulloch. so, the female doctor, the cop, his assistant, and a nosy reporter head to the island of Keto to find out what is going on. Then, like in every zombie or cannibal movie, they face horrible dangers ahead.

Now to the negative aspect. Just in the same dilemma as Cannibal Apocalypse (which I also reviewed), the title of the movie, Zombie Holocaust does not really fit the plot. Through the movie, you only spot five or six zombies, all of them never killing anybody in sight, and in one scene appear to be saving our future heroes from being cannibal meat. Now, if I saw over 100 zombies killing live human flesh, I would consider it be a zombie holocaust, but as far as I'm concerned, it could be named Island Holocaust. Also, what is the whole purpose of the mad doctor killing humans and implanting their soul into other corpses? Just like other Italian movies, the plot doesn't mesh.

But this is a good movie to watch. There are some good extras on the DVD so go check it out.


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