These Zombies Crave Fettucini Aldredo not Brains - Italian Zombies in NYC!
Okay, so straight from the horses mouth:
Zombo Italiano
The Italian Zombie Film Movement, 1972 - 1985
$10 a screening, $7 for students with valid ID or with zombie make-up
* discount for zombie make-up available in person only
All screenings will be held at the Museum of Arts and Design
2 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019
212.299.7740
New York, NY (June 23, 2010)- Italian zombie cinema comes alive at the Museum of Arts and Design this summer in its latest film series, running from July 8 through July 29. At once gruesome and poetic, the 10 films showcased in "Zombo Italiano: The Italian Zombie Film Movement" underscore the prolific visions and technical achievements of noted Italian directors-including Lucio Fulci, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and George A. Romero-who pushed the boundaries of low-culture through pioneering special effects to deal with the body at its most material. Presented in conjunction with MAD special exhibition Dead or Alive, which explores how contemporary artists incorporate once-living materials in their work, the series marks the first time a cultural institution has highlighted the under-recognized Italian zombie film movement, emphasizing the zombie's role as a profound symbol of nature and humanity.
The MAD Theater will screen 10 characteristic works, including:
- Dawn of the Dead (1979), directed by George A. Romero, crammed with social critiques of capitalism and consumerism and innovative horror and gore, which became the definitive blueprint for the modern zombie genre;
- Demons (1985), directed by Lamberto Bava, the son of Italian horror master Mario Bava, which served as Italy's entry into the 1980s punk rock zombie canon, with a score featuring works by Billy Idol and Mötley Crüe, and spawned five sequels;
- Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974), directed by Jorge Grau, a ground-breaking merging of the zombie genre with a critique of technology's effect on the natural world;
- Pigsty (1969), directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, two tales of forbidden flesh and unruly appetites woven into a biting critique of modern society, and considered by some to be the Italian master's most intriguing film;
- Zombie 2 (1979), directed by Lucio Fulci, featuring the infamous "zombie vs. shark" scene, which along with other "eye gags" made Fulci a legend of the genre.
"These films have too often been dismissed as low-culture trash for their gore, ghoulish humor, and punk scores," says Jake Yuzna, the manager of MAD's public programs. "By taking the monstrous aspects of nature and humanity as their raw material, these film directors created savage commentaries on class, society, and existence itself, yet only recently have they been acknowledged for altering the cinematic landscape and mass culture."
Click here to download the full schedule of films.
Click here to read the full release
I Ate Human Flesh and I Quiver with Joy: The Italian Zombie Film Movement
As the world markets plummeted in the early 1970s and economic recessions spread throughout Europe and the Americas, new hordes of the undead began to emerge out of Italy.
Focused on bleak visions of a future doomed, the Italian Zombie Film Movement developed past its roots in the cannibal and Giallo genres to usher in a new cinematic model for terror that would come to define the modern horror film.No longer relegating visual horror off-screen, a generation of directors focused the viewers' attention on visceral depictions of gruesomeness committed by an ever-growing legion of the undead.
Soldiers torn in two, eye-popping shards of wood, dismemberment and rotting flesh all took on a never-before-seen complexity and authenticity as a breakthrough group of FX artists, including the seminal Giannetto De Rossi and Tom Savini, utilized new materials and processes to advance gore and gruesomeness to new heights of sophistication.
Merging this attention to the visceral with new forms of cutting edge progressive punk, heavy metal and post-punk scores by bands such as Goblin, Billy Idol, Mötley Crüe, Dead Can Dance and The Smiths, the Italian Zombie Film Movement pushed forward a breakthrough vision of terror.
Too often dismissed as unrefined low-culture trash for its lush use of gore, punk music and humor, this body of work utilized the brutal aspects of nature and humanity as raw materials to bring into focus critiques of class, society and existence itself.
Lasting throughout the recession of the 1970s and 1980s, the Italian Zombie Film Movement continued until its popularity waned as the economic boom of the 1990s began.
As the zombie genre currently experiences a popularity unlike anything seen before, with zombie flash mobs, pub crawls, comics, video games, novels and films growing at an increasing pace, the Museum of Arts and Design presents this influential wave of directors and films that forever changed the cinematic landscape and mass culture.
Zombo Italiano is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Dead or Alive, on view from April 27 - October 24, 2010. View the complete calendar of Museum events here.
