_**Dull survival horror on a Caribbean island**_ A tourist bus on the Jamaican island of San Maria (fictitious) takes a group of vacationers to a supposedly real-life voodoo ritual deep in the woods under the moonlight. When the bus fails to start they have to travel by foot to the nearest abode while each member is horrifyingly removed from the equation. Despite the horror elements, “Zombie Island Massacre” (1984) is, at heart, a survival venture akin to the comic Adventure Into Fear #18 with the Man-Thing (1973); the story by Steve Gerber was called “A Question of Survival” and, like this film, involved survivors of a bus mishap traversing the jungle at night for succor. The key difference is that Gerber made sure to include engrossing human interest in his yarn while this movie unfortunately doesn’t. As a result, it’s tedious despite the great plot, authentic locations and decent main cast. To be fair, the story does finally perk up in the last act. Someone criticized the film on the grounds that there are “no zombies, gore, sex, action, or acting,” but there’s a zombie resurrection ritual in the first 20 minutes with plenty of gore; later on two tourists are impaled in a jungle pit and someone else gets his head lopped off. As for sex, the movie opens with a naked couple in their hotel room who have further shenanigans in a boat cabin; another couple mes…

Another Troma Team release. Not as entertaining as Return to Nuke 'em High or the Toxic Avenger but more so than Blood Hook. The movie doesn't go off the deep end like some of the others. It's light on the titular zombies; the gore is adequate if not excessive. Nudity/sex is roughly average for R-rated Troma fare.

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