Investigating an abandoned boat in a New York harbour, a patrolman is killed by a zombie before his partner chases it overboard. The dead patrolman's body is taken to the morgue. Anne Bowles (Tisa Farrow) is questioned by police, as the boat belonged to her father. She claims he is conducting research on Matul, a Caribbean island. A newspaper reporter, Peter West (Ian McCulloch), is investigating the story. He and Bowles learn that Bowles' father is suffering from a strange illness on the island. They hire a boat and two guidesâBrian Hull (Al Cliver) and his wife Susan Barrett (Auretta Gay)âto reach Matul.
Meanwhile, on Matul, Dr. David Menard (Richard Johnson), and his wife Paola (Olga Karlatos) have been researching the phenomenon of zombie reanimation. Paola wishes to flee the island but Menard insists on staying. That night, Paola is alone in the house when a zombie tries to enter. She pushes the door shut but it breaks through with one arm. Paola is dragged through the hole and killed, with her eye being gouged out by splintered wood.
Approaching Matul, Barrett dives in the ocean around the boat. She encounters a shark and flees behind a reef, only to be accosted by a submerged zombie. Surfacing, she reaches the boat while the shark and zombie attack each other. Eventually, the boat docks at Matul.
Menard is alarmed to find that one of his colleagues has died of the zombie infection; he waits for the body to reanimate before shooting it in the head. While digging a grave for the body, he hears gunfire and follows it to discover the boat group. Menard takes them back to his mansion, discovering Paola's corpse being eaten by zombies. The group fends off an attack and escapes in a jeep, with West suffering an ankle injury when the vehicle veers off-road. Resting in a jungle clearing, the group realise they have encountered a Conquistador-era graveyard; Barrett is killed when one of the corpses rises from the earth and bites out her throat.
As more corpses reanimate, the group flees to a hospital, where Menard explains that the dead are rising as a result of a voodoo curse which he has been trying to stop. The hospital is besieged by zombies, and Menard is killed by one of his former staff. As the zombies attempt to enter, those being treated for infection inside the hospital also reanimate, killing several hospital staff who have stayed behind. As the dead outside breach the door, Bowles sets the building on fire. The undead Barrett attacks Hull but is shot in the head by West. Bowles, West and Hull escape to the boat and leave the island.
At sea, Hull dies of his infection, and his body is locked in a cabin to be used as evidence of what has happened. However, as the boat approaches New York again, a radio broadcast reports that the city is under attack from zombiesâthe result of the initial attack in the harbour.
What kills Paola?
A zombie