MartPol

The first Bond film is good fun and looks expensive, but what's striking is that things are so small scale for most of the film: mostly polite detective work and sauntering around in exotic locations. The story is mercifully simple to follow, and the actual villainous plot barely features. The thing about the stupid locals believing Dr. No has a dragon is very funny. But Dr. No himself, when he finally appears, is everything you want a Bond villain to be: sophisticated, great austere dress sense, talks in menacing euphemisms, irritated but not angry with 007, has an excellent base with unusual water features.

Fulci knows how to direct a horror scene effectively, that much is clear: the famous zombie vs. shark scene, for example, is jarringly good film-making given the dullness of much of what had gone before. The gore scenes are great, with neck-ripping and eye-gouging and dripping worms galore. And there are a few scenes with a fairly effective sense of creeping menace.

Generally, though, it's incredible that this film has such a good reputation. The acting and script are dreadful throughout, the voodoo plot is silly and banal (especially when you never see the 'natives'), and Fulci has zero sense of pacing. It's as if he doesn't care for any aspect of film-making other than the nasty bits.

I can name a dozen zombie films that are way better than this, but hey, if you're mainly in it for the rotting flesh, go ahead.