Were the zombies in Lucio Fulci's Zombi created by "voodoo", or something else?

[LuvablePsycho]

POSSIBLE SPOILERS

One of the things I found most interesting about this movie was that voodoo was often mentioned in this movie, and yet we never actually saw any voodoo being used to bring the dead back to life. We heard some voodoo drums being played by the natives of Matul and they clearly blamed the outbreak of zombies on voodoo but the doctor on the island who was studying the epidemic refused to believe in voodoo and was trying to find a more scientific explanation for the strange phenomenon.

My opinion about the movie is that it wasn't actually a voodoo curse creating the zombies like implied, but something unique to the island itself like maybe a disease that had never been discovered. I mean the zombies infected people when they bit them so that implies some kind of disease was involved like in most zombie movies. So I guess I agree with the character Dr. Meynard that it wasn't actually voodoo bringing the zombies to life but something else that modern science had never discovered before.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Sculpt]

POSSIBLE SPOILERS

One of the things I found most interesting about this movie was that voodoo was often mentioned in this movie, and yet we never actually saw any voodoo being used to bring the dead back to life. We heard some voodoo drums being played by the natives of Matul and they clearly blamed the outbreak of zombies on voodoo but the doctor on the island who was studying the epidemic refused to believe in voodoo and was trying to find a more scientific explanation for the strange phenomenon.

My opinion about the movie is that it wasn't actually a voodoo curse creating the zombies like implied, but something unique to the island itself like maybe a disease that had never been discovered. I mean the zombies infected people when they bit them so that implies some kind of disease was involved like in most zombie movies. So I guess I agree with the character Dr. Meynard that it wasn't actually voodoo bringing the zombies to life but something else that modern science had never discovered before.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Like what you said above, that I put in bold type... voodoo can't spread with a bite. Actually, I never thought about it being voodoo, I just assumed it was an infection. The film really just seems a dream scenario of the Dawn of the Dead situation, and I think that's what the director intended. I think the dream scenario is what basically all Fulci's films are, so it's really a fools erring to find any logic in his films.

[LuvablePsycho]

Like what you said above, that I put in bold type... voodoo can't spread with a bite. Actually, I never thought about it being voodoo, I just assumed it was an infection. The film really just seems a dream scenario of the Dawn of the Dead situation, and I think that's what the director intended. I think the dream scenario is what basically all Fulci's films are, so it's really a fools erring to find any logic in his films.

I guess you mean his movies didn't take themselves as seriously as Romero's movies did with the social commentary right?

But in this movie voodoo was mentioned a lot and some of the people (like Lucas) were blaming the dead coming back to life on voodoo and Brian even said that the other islanders tended to avoid going to Matul because they believe it was curse

I guess it's not too different from the guy in Dawn of the Dead talking about "When there's no more room in Hell". I guess it was all a matter of what each character wanted to believe it was. Lucas and the local islanders believed it was a voodoo curse, while Dr. Meynard believes that there had to be a scientific explanation even if he couldn't find it because the outbreak was spreading too fast.

And like I said we never saw any actual voodoo being performed in this movie which I think was meant to mean something.

[Sculpt]

I guess you mean his movies didn't take themselves as seriously as Romero's movies did with the social commentary right?

But in this movie voodoo was mentioned a lot and some of the people (like Lucas) were blaming the dead coming back to life on voodoo and Brian even said that the other islanders tended to avoid going to Matul because they believe it was curse

I guess it's not too different from the guy in Dawn of the Dead talking about "When there's no more room in Hell". I guess it was all a matter of what each character wanted to believe it was. Lucas and the local islanders believed it was a voodoo curse, while Dr. Meynard believes that there had to be a scientific explanation even if he couldn't find it because the outbreak was spreading too fast.

And like I said we never saw any actual voodoo being performed in this movie which I think was meant to mean something.
Yeah, I vaguely remember the natives saying it was voodoo and the dr wanting to find the scientific cause... but you know, what happened with that plot line? ::big grin::

I always look at Fulci's film The Beyond (1981) as an example... where impossible things happen, there's a lack of logic, and even chronological jumps or jump-cuts going on... leading viewers to assume it's a "dream sequence" or nightmare, or surreal film. This isn't unusual for the Italian Giallo films.

So even though Zombi 2 was made before The Beyond, I saw them in reverse -- and so I wasn't looking for Zombi 2 to make a lick of sense, and I wasn't disappointed there. ::wink::

And yes, to answer your question directly: no, I don't think Lulci took Zombi 2 seriously in the way Romeo did, or may have, for his Night of the Living Dead series. That is to say, Lulci has made a number of different types of films, including documentaries, so he isn't being incompetent, it's just his horror films aren't intended to be realistic; so I naturally balk at a conversation trying to establish a logical detail in one of his Giallo horror films. That's not to say there isn't any deep symbolism or cutting social commentary in the films, but that might be a wacky journey to find them.

[LuvablePsycho]

Yeah, I vaguely remember the natives saying it was voodoo and the dr wanting to find the scientific cause... but you know, what happened with that plot line? ::big grin::

I always look at Fulci's film The Beyond (1981) as an example... where impossible things happen, there's a lack of logic, and even chronological jumps or jump-cuts going on... leading viewers to assume it's a "dream sequence" or nightmare, or surreal film. This isn't unusual for the Italian Giallo films.

So even though Zombi 2 was made before The Beyond, I saw them in reverse -- and so I wasn't looking for Zombi 2 to make a lick of sense, and I wasn't disappointed there. ::wink::

And yes, to answer your question directly: no, I don't think Lulci took Zombi 2 seriously in the way Romeo did, or may have, for his Night of the Living Dead series. That is to say, Lulci has made a number of different types of films, including documentaries, so he isn't being incompetent, it's just his horror films aren't intended to be realistic; so I naturally balk at a conversation trying to establish a logical detail in one of his Giallo horror films. That's not to say there isn't any deep symbolism or cutting social commentary in the films, but that might be a wacky journey to find them.

You want to see an Italian zombie movie that doesn't make one lick of sense? Check out Bruno Mattei's "Hell of the Living Dead" sometime. ::big grin::::wink::

[Creature]

This is an interesting topic. I've watched Zombie quite recently, and tend to think the cause of the zombies was intended to be perceived as a balance between voodoo and disease -- a way to keep the viewer guessing. Although who knows? Perhaps it's all just a typical inconsistency in the script (you find those in Fulci flicks) which not even the creators of the film have an answer to...

[Sculpt]

This is an interesting topic. I've watched Zombie quite recently, and tend to think the cause of the zombies was intended to be perceived as a balance between voodoo and disease -- a way to keep the viewer guessing. Although who knows? Perhaps it's all just a typical inconsistency in the script (you find those in Fulci flicks) which not even the creators of the film have an answer to...
I hadn't seen it recently, and when I did, I wasn't concentrating on the cause of the zombies. So as far as you remember the film didn't reveal a cause?

I seem to remember the locals thought it was voodoo, and the scientist was trying to find the cause, perhaps mentioning thinking it was a disease, but I don't recall him finding anything.

[black_gloves]

Hello everyone

I recall that Blackest Heart Media (closed) released a Zombie comic book back around the time of the original DVD release, if not earlier. It was purported to have material from the original script that was never filmed, including an introduction to a voodoo priest.

Unfortuneately, there's no apparent evidence remaining outside my memory that I could find, but if anyone has ever seen a script...

That aside, I think that the zombies are voodoo created based on what's currently in the film, and figure that "magic" can be bite transmitted as well as some sort of infection. Vampires are the other instance of magic being transmitted through a bite.

[Sculpt]

Hello everyone

I recall that Blackest Heart Media (closed) released a Zombie comic book back around the time of the original DVD release, if not earlier. It was purported to have material from the original script that was never filmed, including an introduction to a voodoo priest.

Unfortuneately, there's no apparent evidence remaining outside my memory that I could find, but if anyone has ever seen a script...

That aside, I think that the zombies are voodoo created based on what's currently in the film, and figure that "magic" can be bite transmitted as well as some sort of infection. Vampires are the other instance of magic being transmitted through a bite.
Is the werewolf bite magic too? ::smile::

[black_gloves]

Is the werewolf bite magic too? ::smile::

Yes! Should have thought of that.

[Ferox13]

I don't think there was much logic to the causes - zombies could be created by a bite much like a disease but there was a scene in a graveyard where a centuries old zombie rose from a grave (more like a curse or voodoo).

[kerr9000]

I think a lot of these types of film like to keep you guessing and filling in blanks yourself.

I find its sort of a mirror of real life a doctor saves someone's life and I'll go thank goodness we have the skills and science to save this person, someone else will say oh thank goodness I prayed and god saved him. We all look at our own views while making sense of what's around us, so a scientists likely to see zombies as a disease and natives are likely to look to voodoo. Leave it unanswered and the viewer puts his own views on it.

[Sculpt]

I think a lot of these types of film like to keep you guessing and filling in blanks yourself.

I find its sort of a mirror of real life a doctor saves someone's life and I'll go thank goodness we have the skills and science to save this person, someone else will say oh thank goodness I prayed and god saved him. We all look at our own views while making sense of what's around us, so a scientists likely to see zombies as a disease and natives are likely to look to voodoo. Leave it unanswered and the viewer puts his own views on it.
Yeah, it was probably left obscure on purpose. We were trying to remember what the film actually did say/indicate. Apparently not much.