ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST (a.k.a. DR. BUTCHER M.D.)

1980, Italy

Poster country of origin: Mexico

18” x 25”

Cannibalism is intraspecies dining on flesh. With regards to our species, this act is often committed for ritualistic purposes, and the diner is said to gain the power of his victim. Why anyone would want to gain the power of the slowest member of the opposing tribe is beyond me, but like they say, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. I’ll get back to you on that one.

In the film world, cannibalism can refer to the practice of creative thievery, wherein producers or directors “cannibalize” (read: steal) ideas from successful predecessors for their own projects. When looking back at Italian genre cinema, this practice proved to be very commonplace.

ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST (directed by Marino Girolami, a.k.a. Frank Martin) is likely the best example of creative cannibalism—if certainly not the best example of literal cannibalism—you’re likely to find in the Italo-gut-munch sphere. Borrowing heavily from Lucio Fulci’s ZOMBIE (which itself was a cash-in on George A. Romero’s DAWN OF THE DEAD), Joe D’Amato’s EMMANUELLE AND THE LAST CANNIBALS and Ruggero Deodato’s CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, this clunky, goofy and gory splatter piece never achieves the technical prowess of those from which it steals (these kinds of cash-ins rarely do), but makes up for its ineptitude in sheer insanity. Like the experiments of its central medical deviate (that’s what the “M.D.” stands for in its U.S. title DR. BUTCHER M.D.), ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST is what I refer to as a “Frankenfilm”—a product cobbled together from existing ideas, stock shots and heck, even Ian McColloch (star of Fulci’s ZOMBIE) swings in the save the day. Splitting itself right down the middle between the zombie and cannibal genres, ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST is a lesser, albeit important, entry in the Italian gore world.

This Mexican poster is an odd size for the region. I have yet to find others like it, and have ruled out its inclusion as part of a lobby card set (expect an entry on Mexican lobby cards in the future), so if any faithful readers care to enlighten me on the ins and outs of Mexican and other Latin American promo materials, feel free to do so. Otherwise—check out those cool ghouls!

 

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