It was kind of a letdown when I finally saw it.
I love Paura nella citta dei morti viventi and L'adilla and collected as many of his films as I could during my student years. It was hard, like getting a piece of gold, like finding the holy grail. Now I'm glad that it is easier to get, but back then in the VHS era after 3 or 4 years of quest zombi 2 was a big expensive letdown. Maybe I got used to his surreal horror and didn't expect a "normal" gory zombi movie.
His prehorror era was almost "unfindable". Fulci himself was looking for a copy of Beatrice Cenci in the 90s.

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I have 16 of his movies and seen 1 more and would consider Zombie his best straight horror movie. It was also the movie that got me interested in his movies in the first place. It had a simple, but good story, good gore scenes, and good atmosphere (the island setting, voodoo drums in the background, music, and camera work all contribute to this).
He has also made some great movies that I wouldn't consider horror: Don't Torture a Duckling, Perversion Story, A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, The Smuggler, and one I saw recently Beatrice Cenci. These are all great movies that would probably get more critical acclaim than his horror movies if more people sought them out. When I first started to collect Fulci's movies on DVD these were unreleased or hard to find, but his post-Manhattan Baby horrors that few people seem to like could be found everywhere because it's easier to sell a horror movie by Fulci than to sell a period drama (Beatrice Cenci) by Fulci. Choosing the best one is hard, but I guess Zombie Flesh Eaters remains my favorite partly because it's the first one I saw, but I want to draw more attention to his earlier work too.

"What does it do?"
"It doesn't
do
anything. That's the beauty of it."

Okay, GillMan. That's enough. Settle down, settle down.
Don't get me kicked out of the Lucio Fulci message boards. Get me kicked out of the Miley Cyrus ones, but not the Fulci ones.
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(as Noel)
Yo, sorry I was late an beep but ma wife started bitchin her bitch mouth off so I punches dat beeyotch square in her beep beep bitch whore dick-sucking beep
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Butt-slappin' tacos, butt-slappin' tacos.
Taco banditos.
My piss tastes like Mellow Yellow.
"Noel you have been fined one credit for violations of the Verbal Morality Statute"
AWESOME!!!
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Noel in dis houuuzze bitchiz!!
Yo some zombie beep wants to start sum beep wit me that bitchass beep beep will git hiz azz handed 2 him YEAAHHHH YA HEAR!!! WHAAZZZUP!!! MIDGET AMPUTEE PORN!!!

I think, simply, because it's his most well-known. It's one of his most successful films in America, and one of the most heavily (and memorably) marketed. It's also theb68 most traditional. I mean, sure, Giallos are generally traditional murder mysteries, but they never really hit big over here. Zombie movies did, and, of all the horror films released in the states, I think Zombie is the one most "in league" with conventional mainstream movie-making and audience expectations. City Of The Living Dead, The Beyond, and House By The Cemetery are all, in truth, pretty weird. Especially if you're not a really experienced, Fulci-loving horror aficionado. Most people who get into horror may not wind up hearing about Lizard In A Woman's Skin or The New York Ripper, but even a cursory glance at the horror landscape will give you a glimpse of that familiar ol' rotted ghoul head with the wormy eye, and that well-worn catchphrase of "We're Going To Eat You!"
A lot of people have a harder time getting into the more odd entries in the Fulci filmography, and the more surrealistic, atmospheric, "nightmare logic" approach of City Of The Living Dead and The Beyond.
On top of that, Zombie has some of the most memorable set-pieces of any Fulci film. The splinter-through-the-eyeball gag comes to mind immediately, and it's an image that, though not something everyone's grandmother is familiar with, has, in many ways, penetrated and become a part of the pop culture landscape. The razorblade-through-the-nipple scene, meanwhile, though well-known to folks like you n' I, isn't so well-known to the public at large.
I think Zombie is Lucio's most acclaimed work, because it is his most accessible picture. When something isn't easily accessible, even when its brilliant (like City, which is actually my personal favorite), it's more divisive. Not everyone will see it's greatness, because not everyone will "get it." But it doesn't take much effort to "get" Zombie. It's a zombie flick, pure n' simple. And that tends to be its charm, and why it acts as a gateway drug for most future Fulci junkes the world over.
That's just my theory, anyway.
www.BeardedWeirdoReviews.blogspot.com

Hello !
You must see "Il Miele del diavolo" (1986) !
It`s a great Lucio Fulci movie !
Grab A Friend before someone in the audience grabs you!
Deadly Friend (1986)

The first film I seen by Fulci was Zombie, because it seems to be his most popular film. I seen it, and didn't care much for it. I then went on to see City of the Living dead, and from there on I was a fan. I now go back to look at zombie, and I like it now go figure.
For indepth horror reviews, check out my youtube page: Horrorreviews123

Many horror fans consider 'Zombie' Fulci's best work because the movie was his international breakthrough. His work wasn't noticed where I live here in America until that movie was released in 1980 on the heels of the successful George A. Romero movie 'Dawn of the Dead' which put not only the zombie living dead craze back into the scene, but Fulci's film was the one that got him noticed in the USA as well as the rest of the world. That started Fulci's short-lived, but hugely popular and financially successful, string of zombie and horror films during the early 1980s, before he went into a slump with his later films which were not financially successful.

The underwater scene is the kind of surreal visual that will stay with people for a lifetime. That's enough to recommend the movie right there. The music is also great.

That is exactly how I feel when ranking Fulci's films!

Yeah, Contraband ain't bad. It's got some pretty memorable moments. Kinda dull and uninvolving though.

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i think zombi is one of the best zombie movies out there. it's certainly not an action movie. it seems much more real than most zombie movies. it's got a dark tone, the zombies are some of the best looking zombies you can find. really good music that gives you like a sense of dread.
i think the beyond is my favorite fulci movie, followed by zombi, then city of the living dead. i think those 3 on their own level, then comes the rest of them. wasn't really a big fan of house by the cemetary, but it's still pretty good.

I could watch City of the Living Dead and The Beyond, and maybe House By the Cemetary every day and not get sick of it! (Maybe that's an exaggeration, but point made).

Zombie was my first Fulci film and made me a fan.
I simply thought it was intense, atmospheric, and surprisingly memorable(all about Fabio Frizzi's score baby).
However, I can only praise his direction. The writing and acting weren't very good.
Right now, my favorite Fulci film is "City of the Living dead".although I would say "Dont Torture a Duckling" or "Lizard in Womens skin" would be his best films.
"I hate PG-13 horror flicks"- THIS IS MY SIG GENIUSES!

I've seen all his biggest films (Zombi 2, City of the living dead, the beyond, don't torture a duckling, and a few others), and I would say city of the living dead is my perennial favorite. I love that movie. I think it's a faster paced film than The Beyond and just as compelling as Zombi 2, which are tied for second place in my mind. Great films.

City of the Living Dead is my favorite. Maybe not his BEST (The Beyond and Four of the Apocalypse probably hold that title), but it's my personal favorite. It has the darkest, thickest mood of all his work. And the most memorable gore scenes (for me, at least). That ending, though

Oh man, I love City of the Living Dead. I appreciate the reply.

"
I cannot understand for the life of me why so many people consider Zombie one of his best. I've tried watching it 3 times now and just cannot get into it. I don't think it's nearly as entertaining as Dawn or Day of the Dead. I'm not bashing at all; like I said, I love him. It's just my least favorite and I'm trying to understand why everyone suggests that as his first. I accidentally saw House By the Cemetary, not knowing it was one of his films, after I saw Zombie. That is the movie that made me continue to pursue his films."
I like the gore effects, zombie makeup , the fight with the shark, and the music. I thought the movie had a good atmosphere and the shark fight was just plain awesome. I also how the movie was coherent unlike city of the living dead.

Why Zombie???
Why not? I like it and that is all that matters to me. I can, in a way, understand some not taking to it like I do. Each to their own thing in the end I suppose.
Zombie
House By the Cemetary
City of the Living Dead
The Beyond
Don't Torture a Duckling
I have these movies from Lucio, they are not in that order though.
Zombie
City of the Living Dead
House by the Cemetary
The Beyond
Don't Torture a Duckling
There that's better.
"Those that trespass against us, beware the shadows of dusk"