Richard Johnson from Zombie died

[beat_truck]

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/201...chard--johnson He died on June 5th. RIP

[MoonSylver]

That's a shame. He brought a great sense of gravitas & drama to the role of Dr. Menard. RIP.

[shootemindehead]

Him and Ian McCulloch were the only ones treated with any kind of respect on the set apparently.

[Moon Knight]

RIP. Dr Menard was cool.

[JDP]

Him and Ian McCulloch were the only ones treated with any kind of respect on the set apparently. Sucks if that really happened, but if you think about it, they are the only real veteran actors in the film (Olga Karlatos and Al Cliver had considerable acting experience previous to Zombie, but not nearly as much as them.) - - - Updated - - - RIP. Dr Menard was cool. He was cool, but in a "kind of an a-hole" way. I mean, what kind of a fellow leaves his hot wife without any real protection (and no, leaving the wimpy gardener "armed" with a cigar and an equally wimpy small dog to watch over the house does not count as "real protection") in the middle of nowhere on an island being overtaken by zombies??? Did he really expect she was going to make it out alive?

[shootemindehead]

Well, according to McColloch, Fulci could be quite a dick at times. He wasn't particularly nice to Auretta Gay, IIRC.

[MoonSylver]

He was cool, but in a "kind of an a-hole" way. I mean, what kind of a fellow leaves his hot wife without any real protection (and no, leaving the wimpy gardener "armed" with a cigar and an equally wimpy small dog to watch over the house does not count as "real protection") in the middle of nowhere on an island being overtaken by zombies??? Did he really expect she was going to make it out alive? I got the impression that Menard didn't really know they were "loose" on the island or how widespread the problem had become. It seemed as though he thought he had the problem contained there at the church/clinic/quarantine.

[JDP]

I got the impression that Menard didn't really know they were "loose" on the island or how widespread the problem had become. It seemed as though he thought he had the problem contained there at the church/clinic/quarantine. I am pretty sure that Dr. Menard was well aware of the situation, he even had Lucas give him reports of what was going on with the increasingly nervous islanders and how they were fleeing due to the increasing zombie menace. He kept giving excuses to his wife to remain on the island so he could continue trying to figure out what was causing the disaster, telling her that the zombies were -for some mysterious unexplained reason which she obviously never really believed- politely confining themselves to "the other side of the island". Notice that when he leaves for the hospital he tells the gardener to watch the house and let "nobody" near it. "Nobody" here obviously includes a new type of "intruder", not just some island burglar. This guy knew very well how dangerous the island was getting to be. But what the heck did he expect the gardener would do if the zombies showed up? Scare them off with his cigarettes or the little dog??? The least he could have done is give the shotgun or the revolver to either his wife or the gardener so they could actually have a safer way of dealing with any zombies that might show up on the property.

[slickwilly13]

Maybe he wanted her to die. They were fighting continuously. Or he underestimated the situation, because of his own arrogance.

[JDP]

Maybe he wanted her to die. They were fighting continuously. I thought about that possibility, but if that is so, then why would he send the visitors to go check if she was OK? Why would he later on inquire what happened to his wife? His actions seem to argue the contrary: despite the arguments, he appears to have still cared for her. So then why would he leave her behind without any real protection on an island being taken over by zombies in the first place??? Or he underestimated the situation, because of his own arrogance. The guy had guns in his office for protection, went around the island with the revolver, and one of the staff (Lucas) fed him information on what the islanders were doing regarding the zombies (their actions are very clear: they are fleeing!) It does not look like he would have underestimated what was going on. He just kept giving excuses to his wife about the situation not being dangerous yet (which she obviously did not buy anyway; ravenous zombies politely confining themselves to "the other side of the island"? Yeah, right! To use an expression she used earlier: "How convenient for you!") so that he could continue his research.

[EvilNed]

He wasn't by any means a zombie expert - nobody had encountered them before. He didn't know how dangerous they could be, seeing as nobody had faced them before. All he knew of were isolated incidents in the villages. It's safe to say he underestimated the threat they posed to the life on the island as a whole. Think I might have to rewatch this classic this weekend. I have the steelbok blu-ray version. I love the transfer of it, it's beautiful.

[JDP]

He wasn't by any means a zombie expert - nobody had encountered them before. He didn't know how dangerous they could be, seeing as nobody had faced them before. All he knew of were isolated incidents in the villages. It's safe to say he underestimated the threat they posed to the life on the island as a whole. Think I might have to rewatch this classic this weekend. I have the steelbok blu-ray version. I love the transfer of it, it's beautiful. He went around the island armed with a revolver, had a shotgun in his office, had Lucas give him reports on what the islanders were up to regarding the zombie situation (and Lucas tells him that they are fleeing), was in charge of an improvised hospital with many "patients" on their way to become zombies, we see the common graves packed with bodies with shots on their heads, when the visitors arrive he describes the situation as a plague that is turning the island into "a wasteland of terror", later on he says that the zombie crisis began about 3 months before the events we see in the movie... there is no way this guy was not aware of what was going on. If anyone was a "zombie expert" in this movie it is this guy! In fact, he, his wife, and the hospital staff are the only people on the planet who have a pretty good idea of the alarming things that are going on.

[EvilNed]

He went around the island armed with a revolver, had a shotgun in his office, had Lucas give him reports on what the islanders were up to regarding the zombie situation (and Lucas tells him that they are fleeing), was in charge of an improvised hospital with many "patients" on their way to become zombies, we see the common graves packed with bodies with shots on their heads, when the visitors arrive he describes the situation as a plague that is turning the island into "a wasteland of terror", later on he says that the zombie crisis began about 3 months before the events we see in the movie... there is no way this guy was not aware of what was going on. If anyone was a "zombie expert" in this movie it is this guy! In fact, he, his wife, and the hospital staff are the only people on the planet who have a pretty good idea of the alarming things that are going on. I agree with you that he was the one who knew most about the situation, but that doesn't mean he knew enough about it to be considered a survivalist or anything like that.

[MrJeffHale]

Damn. R.I.P.

[LivingDeadGuy]

That's really sad. A lot of great actors are gone now... Anyways I always wondered what was up with his wife. The scene where she was taking medication seemed to imply that maybe she really did have a mental illness (possibly bipolar disorder which is what I suffer from) and she was accusing her husband of being sneaky and evil but nothing about him in later scenes seemed to reinforce her accusations he seemed to me like a doctor who was just doing his job trying to cure the infected islanders. Also I think he underestimated how bad the outbreak on the island really was I don't think he intended to let his wife get killed. Btw whatever happened to the gardner that was supposed to look after her? I guess he got killed by a zombie off screen.