

Zombie Flesh Eaters
After an abandoned boat sails into New York harbor with a zombie aboard, a reporter teams up with the daughter of the boat's missing captain to investigate the island where he was last seen conducting research—the site of an alleged zombie outbreak.
Critics Sentiment
Susan Barrett encounters underwater zombie fighting a live shark
Anne, Peter, Brian Hull, and Susan Barrett sail toward Matool
The film swings from its dullest stretch during the slow voyage to Matool (5.5) to the universally celebrated zombie-versus-shark underwater battle (9.2), a jump of 3.7 points that represents the moment Fulci's film transcends its genre limitations.
Zombie Flesh Eaters follows a clear arc from a competent but slow-building first act through a series of escalating gore set pieces that divide critics and delight fans. The film's reputation rests almost entirely on a handful of extraordinary practical-effects sequences, most famously the zombie-shark fight and the eye-gouging scene, which reviewers consistently describe as genuinely original and technically impressive. The connective tissue between these moments is widely acknowledged as weak, with bad dubbing, flat acting, and clichéd plotting dragging the score down, but the cumulative effect of Fulci's gory imagination and Fabio Frizzi's haunting score earns the film its cult status.
Full cast

Tisa Farrow
Anne Bowles

Ian McCulloch
Peter West

Richard Johnson
Dr. David Menard

Olga Karlatos
Paola Menard

Al Cliver
Brian Hull

Auretta Gay
Susan Barrett

Stefania D'Amario
Menard's Nurse

Ugo Bologna
Ann's Father (uncredited)

Omero Capanna
Zombie (uncredited)

Lucio Fulci
Newspaper Editor (uncredited)

Franco Fantasia
Matthias (uncredited)
Captain Haggerty
Boat Zombie (uncredited)

Ottaviano Dell'Acqua
Worm-Eye Zombie (uncredited)

Dakar
Lucas (uncredited)

Leo Gavero
Fritz (uncredited)
Leslie Thomas
Coroner (uncredited)

James Sampson
James (uncredited)

Mónica Zanchi
Zombie (uncredited)
Crew
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