catholiccsi While not as famous or based on a scientific study of voodoo the way "The Serpent and the Rainbow" is, this movie—under whatever title--seems to forecast the latter Wes Carven masterpiece. This film seems to have no basis in any facts about zombies or voodoo.However, the locale in Florida does give the impression of a tropical island. The makeup might be cheap but it is good. It works.Director Del Tenney does not take himself or his film too seriously and that redeems it. This is not a so-bad-that-it-is-good movie but a simple regression to much earlier horror films. The acting is immature-well awful and not the least believable but the music works. Editing and photography are done well. Watching this is much better than submitting to reruns of police investigative program early on Sunday mornings.

Woodyanders Cancer researcher Dr. Biladeau (the insipid Robert Stanton) develops a snake venom that when injected into the local voodoo-practicing natives on a remote Caribbean island turns said natives into mindless shambling zombies. Hunky pulp novel writer Tom Harris (the handsome, but hopelessly wooden William Joyce) investigates the bizarre happenings and tries to put a stop to them. Writer/director Del Tenney, who also blessed us with the gloriously atrocious "The Horror of Party Beach," totally misses the mark in many ways with this extremely cheap and crummy dud: the poky pace, clumsy and ill-advised attempts at broad humor, a throbbing tribal score by Lon E. Newman that's more annoying and overbearing than effective and appropriate, lousy zombie make-up (the disappointing zoms have ping-pong ball eyes and what looks like dried oatmeal smeared all over their faces!), a severe dearth of both tension and creepy atmosphere, way too much needless dreary padding (what's with all the protracted native dance numbers and drippy romantic interludes?), mild gore, chintzy (far from) special effects, poor acting from a lame no-came cast (platinum blonde Betty Hyatt Linton cops the top thespic dishonors with her insufferably whiny and irritating performance as unbearable loud shrew Coral Fairchild), and a fumbled explosive conclusion all add up to one incredibly beat and unimpressive wash-out of a celluloid stiff. Francois Farkas' crisp black and white cinematography boasts a few primitive fades and dissolves. On the plus side, the vibrant and appealing Heather Hewitt perks things up a bit as sweet and lovely virgin Jeannie Biladeau, there are lots of pretty gals in bikinis, and brawny, hairy-chested stud muffin on wheels Joyce takes his shirt off as often as possible (hubba! hubba!). But overall this drivel is much too flat, lifeless, and meandering to amount to anything more than an instantly forgettable yawnfest.

Steve Nyland (Squonkamatic) Pretty slick little number here, a way low budget zombie voodoo potboiler filmed on the quick in Florida at the height of the early James Bond craze. Expect lots of palm trees, swept back wayfarer sunglasses, a big brassy orchestra with twangy guitars + bongo drums, boozy bimbos swooning by the pool, and some sort of novel mode of transportation, in this case an airplane that is destroyed in the movie's biggest laugh.The film concerns itself with a swinging playboy writer who is dispatched to darkest Key West to get to the bottom of some wacky voodoo cult and meets a couple of decent looking dames between stops for cocktails. The natives use a powerful narcotic which transforms them into the living dead and explains the jungle being just a mess after all this time. The damndest thing is that Carey Grant would have felt right at home in this movie, even with the ping pong ball zombie monster makeup.The movie is awful for sure but it works in some miraculous way, partly due to the fact that it was aware it was an awful movie employing awful actors, using awful cinematography, awful music, and awful script, etc. The good news is that everybody participating was apparently briefed before hand lest any sort of sweeping performances or actual cinematic artfulness sneak past the dime store tiki torches, wet bars, and matching salt + pepper shakers. Some good one liners though, I guess that's harmless enough to allow without tempting anybody to take it too seriously. Then again with a title like that, who can?It's kitsch, bounding with energy and some decent smarmy humor that will either get on your nerves or catch you with a belly laugh when you aren't expecting one. I like another reader's comment when writing that they had enjoyed this film more than the three A list big budget event films they rented at a Blockbuster: PRECISELY! Yes, that's the spirit! They were able to relax and just watch this god awful no-name movie for what it was -- rather than being primed to have the world saved or the universe explained by Leonardo di Caprio -- and ended up having a pretty good time. Caught them by surprise probably. You can buy it on DVD for a dollar, probably less, and keep it for your very own. Try it.4/10

catfish-er *** CONTAINS SPOILERS *** I just started working my way through the Chilling Classics 50 Movie Pack Collection and EAT YOUR SKIN is the fourth movie in the set. I EAT YOUR SKIN owes a lot to WHITE ZOMBIE (included in the Horror Classics 50 Movie Pack Collection, also by Mill Creek Entertainment).As others have mentioned, I EAT YOUR SKIN falls into the category of the more traditional zombie movie, with the undead being subservient to a voodoo practitioner. The back-story is quite muddled, with a scientist located on the island, to discover a cure for cancer using cobra venom; and, a tribe relocated from Africa, with some misguided mythology concerning human sacrifice.All of the actors are dreadful. The plot is even more so. The dialog is the worst yet.I am surprised that no one reviewing this film has mentioned the ending – both, for when the doctor reveals someone else's plan to take over the world with unconquerable zombies AND the computerized self-destruct mechanism on the island. I mean, where did those come from?!?