The Zombie (Zombi, 1979)
Watercolor on 8.5 x 11 in. art paper
Created: October 29, 2025
Original and prints available — contact for availability.
Part of the 31 Days of Horror 2025 series
In Lucio Fulci’s Zombie 2 (Zombi / Zombie Flesh Eaters), the nameless corpse from the film’s cover art became a symbol of Italian horror excess — a mud-caked, worm-ridden ghoul rising from the grave with silent fury. This portrait zeroes in on that face: skin split like parchment, teeth bared in a permanent snarl, eyes clouded with the film’s signature rot. The muted ochres and mottled greens echo the Caribbean decay of Fulci’s world — where the dead walk slow, but the dread hits fast.
Fun Facts:
Zombie 2 was marketed as an “unofficial sequel” to Dawn of the Dead in Italy, helping launch Fulci’s international cult status.
The infamous shark-vs-zombie scene was performed underwater by a real shark — no CGI, just pure madness.
Makeup legend Gianetto De Rossi designed the film’s unforgettable decomposition effects, which still hold up over 40 years later.
Behind This Artwork:
I wanted to capture the tactile rot of that cover zombie — the flaky texture, the dirt pressed into flesh, the quiet misery of something that shouldn’t still be alive. It’s horror as still life, a moment between death and eternity. Even if you’ve never seen the film, you’ve seen this face on VHS shelves, grindhouse posters, or bootleg T-shirts — it’s the face that defined European zombie horror.
Explore More:
This piece is part of my 31 Days of Horror watercolor series. If you love Fulci’s atmosphere of decay, practical FX mayhem, and the beauty of cinematic rot, check out the rest of the collection.
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